This is in the news here in Virginia today.
WASHINGTON -- Dozens of Virginia immigrant-rights advocates marched to the steps of the Vatican's Washington liaison office yesterday seeking the pope's help regarding U.S. immigration policy.
"We are here because we believe our voice is not strong enough," Ricardo Juarez said in delivering a letter for Pope Benedict XVI. The pope, who arrives in Washington on Tuesday, is making the first papal visit to the U.S. in nine years.
Pointing to families who may soon be split apart because of a recent immigration roundup in Prince William County, Juarez said: "We are suffering a very bad situation."
Juarez is the coordinator of Mexicans Without Borders, the advocacy group that sent a letter to the pope asking him to intercede to "stop the division of our families by raids and deportations."
Behind Juarez, more than 40 immigrants and their families held signs that said "Stop Dividing Immigrant Families."
Federal immigration officials arrested more than 30 people suspected of being in the country illegally at CMC Concrete Construction near Manassas on March 24. A raid this week at Lansdowne Resort in Loudoun County resulted in 59 arrests of workers suspected of being illegal immigrants.
Several of those arrested and awaiting deportation hearings attended yesterday's rally in Washington.
"We want to tell [the pope], he can stop raids, stop separating families," said Diana Cortez, whose three children are U.S. citizens. Her husband faces deportation after being arrested during last month's raid, she said.
Other immigrant advocates said that despite the historic nature of the pontiff's visit, it likely will not change the congressional politics that last year dimmed any hopes for reforming immigration laws.
"I can do nothing, only pray [for] them," said Blanca Rodriguez of Manassas, who anticipates she'll have to say goodbye to several friends this month.
Officials at the Vatican's office declined to comment on the letter or whether the pontiff would speak about U.S. immigration policy, which largely affects families from Latin America -- a heavily Catholic population.
But a spokeswoman at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops said the pope clearly has the American immigrant community in mind, which is why he recently taped part of his video remarks about this upcoming trip in Spanish.
"He's recognized already the presence of an important group in this country," said Mar Mu?oz-Visoso, a spokeswoman for the conference. But Benedict would not think it is "the pope's place" to comment on domestic policies, she added.
"The message is one of compassion, one of understanding the plea of immigrants . . . without taking anything from the rights of nations to create borders and defend those borders," Mu?oz-Visoso said.
If Benedict does speak about immigration during his White House meeting Wednesday or in Thursday's papal Mass at Nationals Park, it would not be the first time he touched on the subject.
In this year's annual message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees on Jan. 13, the pope mentioned laws that can make life difficult for immigrants.
Speaking primarily about the plight of highly educated immigrants who struggle in new countries, the pontiff ended that day's message with a reference to keeping families united.
"I invite . . . host communities to welcome the young and very young people with their parents with sympathy," he said.
Contact Neil H. Simon at (202) 662-7669 or nsimon@mediageneral.com.
