‘From Mercy to Hope’

PATERSON  Three immigration lawyers came to the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist here on Jan. 12 for a seminar on “Know about Immi­gration.” All gave a key piece of advice to undocumented and documented people: secure the services of an attorney right away, if they are faced with urgent legal or immigration matters.

About 250 people from the cathedral parish and around Paterson came to St. John’s Rodimer Center last Sunday afternoon to get some insight from a panel of lawyers from the Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey. They spoke about immigration issues that relate to detention, fighting deportation, custody and Special Immigrant Juvenile Visas, visas for battered spouses and crime victims, sponsoring family members from overseas and citizenship. This was the first event sponsored by the cathedral’s “From Mercy to Hope,” a new outreach that is committed to address the pressing human needs of its parishioners in a deep way.

“We are responding to the needs of the people here in the Cathedral and the community of Paterson by putting in place a vision for Pope Francis’ vision of the New Evangelization — that people come to the faith if they know they are loved and it is faith that then sustains love. We have been blessed with many new people coming to our St. John’s community,” said Msgr. Geno Sylva, St. John’s rector and diocesan vicar for special projects, who put together an eight-person “From Mercy to Hope” committee last year to poll parishioners about their most pressing needs. Then the committee formulated an action plan to address the three top requests: legal assistance and immigration services, alcohol and drug-addiction services and college and career counseling. “We will continue our outreach to help meet the needs of the community,” he said.

One committee member, Sole Anselmi, who has a law degree, put together the “Know about Immigration” seminar, which featured talks by Ada Nunez, president of the Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey; Cesar Martin Estela; and Carmen Carrillo. These immigration lawyers spoke for an hour in Spanish. Then, they took questions from the audience and met with some of them briefly on an individual basis to assess their cases. Many people set up appointments with the lawyers at their offices. The Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey provides legal help to immigrants, who cannot afford it, they said.

In his talk, Estela urged undocumented immigrants to seek legal assistance “right away” if they are charged with a crime or come into contact with the U.S. immigration system in some way. A lawyer will “look at the facts, see if the case is worth fighting for and then come up with a legal strategy.” Immigrants, who face harm if they return to their respective native countries, can apply for asylum or Temporary Protected Status, which would grant them residency. It’s best if cases are resolved out of court, Estele said.

Carrillo spoke about the Special Immigrant Juvenile Visas for unaccompanied young people up to 19 years old. Children, who have been abused or face other difficulties in their native countries, can apply for this visa. It is important that they are in school or it is tough for them to obtain legal papers. Undocumented people also might be eligible for a visa if they have been married for two years and can speak English. If an immigrant is a child of a citizen, he or she can apply for a visa for immediate families, Carrillo said.

“Don’t fill out anything [related to legal or immigration matters] without an attorney,” Carrillo said.

In her presentation, Nunez said that immigrants who are caring for and making decisions for someone who is mentally or physically incapacitated could apply for legal status. She also emphasized that there is no way to clear a criminal record to be considered for legal status.

“Today, we want to educate people about immigration — giving them what they need to know — and also to let them know that they are not alone — that the Church is here for them to embrace their needs,” said Anselmi, who also is a member of the board of diocesan Catholic Charities.

Last year, Msgr. Sylva handpicked members of the committee, comprised of men and women from St. John’s, St. Joseph’s Medical Center, Eva’s Village, Diocesan Catholic Charities and law enforcement agencies, all in Paterson. Last summer they polled 700 St. John’s faithful after Masses one weekend about their pressing needs, filling out a survey in English and Spanish. Then, the committee members tabulated the results, Msgr. Sylva said.

In the fall, the committee met to develop an action plan for the top three requests: legal assistance and immigration services, alcohol and drug-addiction services and college and career counseling. One subcommittee has been working on addressing the legal and immigration issues, while another has been working on events about college and career counseling, they said.

Other members of the committee are: Deacon Brian Beyerl, who serves Assump­tion Parish in Morristown and is a neurosurgeon affiliated with several hospitals who assists at Straight and Narrow, Catholic Charities’ substance-abuse treatment facility in Pater­son; Pilar Pedraza, a counselor at Passaic High School; Joseph Rivera, a recovery specialist at Eva’s Village; Sailys Cabral, patient care coordinator at Active Orthopedics & Sports Medicine in Bergen and Essex counties; Cloris Bustamante, specialist in clinical education at St. Joseph’s Healthcare System; and Hector Jimenez, retired detective first grade of the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office.

“We are just scratching the surface [on ways to serve St. John’s parishioners and the surrounding community],” Msgr. Sylva told The Beacon last fall. “In this outreach, we must both meet their needs and accompany them on their journey to getting those needs met. This will require that we form our parishioners to be new evangelizers, ready to invite and accompany those in need to where they can find healing and hope. Bishop Serratelli is excited about what we are doing. This mission is essential to the heart of the cathedral,” he said.

One St. John’s parishioner who attended was Raul Gonzalez, 19, a catechist assistant at the cathedral. He has family members with immigration issues.

“This [event] gave me information that I can use. I feel more educated about the issues. I’m hopeful that people in my family can get the help that they need. This was a positive experience,” Gonzalez said.