c. 2003 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ Immigrant workers and their supporters, including members of the faith community, rallied at the Capitol Thursday as they neared the end of the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride.

The ride is aimed at raising awareness about immigration issues and influencing legislation that will help undocumented workers hold jobs legally in the United States. It is modeled on the civil rights freedom rides of the 1960s.

Riders departed nine cities in September and have been making their way to New York City, where a final rally is scheduled for Oct. 4. Along the way, they have stopped in San Francisco, Tucson, Chicago, Nashville and other cities.

At Thursday’s rally, about 1,000 people shouted “We are one” and “We won’t be divided” as they waved flags from Mexico, El Salvador, Puerto Rico and China _ countries where many have left families behind to find work in the United States.

Members of Congress who addressed the crowd pledged to support undocumented workers’ rights.

The workers want Congress to pass legislation that would make it easier to become legal citizens if they were already working undocumented in the United States.

Retired United Methodist Bishop Jesse DeWitt of Chicago rode from Detroit to Toledo, Ohio, with the migrants. DeWitt said in a telephone interview that the faith community should lobby for “legitimate resolutions” granting rights to immigrant workers.

“I have talked with people who have been exploited because of the fact that they were immigrant workers,” he said. “Our faith indicated that we are to be identified with those who are suffering and those who are poor. And many of those immigrant workers are poor because they are paid low wages.”

Kim Bobo, executive director of the National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, said a main goal of the freedom rides was to dispel misconceptions about immigration policy.

“People have no idea of the level of undocumented exploitation,” she said. “We see people getting paid two and three dollars an hour, we see child labor, we see immigrants asked to remove asbestos without protection.”

As the freedom riders made their way to New York, they relied on supporters across thousands of miles for food and shelter. Often, members of the local religious community welcomed the riders as they entered new cities, a familiar role for those who say their faith calls them to serve the disenfranchised.

“We’re all immigrants,” said Kevin Appleby, director of migration and refugee policy for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “The Catholic Church is a universal church and it knows no national boundaries. Our job is to welcome the newcomer, welcome the stranger.”

One-third of the membership of the Catholic Church in America is Hispanic.

Many Catholic churches offer legal assistance to workers, help them find homes and help them reunite with families in their home countries. During the freedom rides, churches also held prayer and interfaith services, provided hot meals and arranged overnight housing for participants.

“Immigrants are part of our congregations, part of the church community, so naturally the church would want to respond to their needs,” Appleby said.

Stephen Colecchi, a spokesman for the Catholic diocese of Richmond, Va., said his diocese is trying to solidify the partnerships that formed during the freedom rides and continue to support immigrant workers in the future. Meetings have been scheduled that bring together Virginia civil rights, labor and religious leaders to support immigrant workers’ rights.

Immigrant worker Pedro Menjivar was born in El Salvador but has been in Miami since 1992, when he came to America by way of a smuggler _ a “coyote.” He left behind his wife and four children, and his 90-year-old parents. Menjivar found work mowing lawns.

Although he had a work visa, Menjivar was unable to bring his family to America until 1997. Even then, his two eldest sons could not leave El Salvador without visas of their own.

“I’ve done everything I could to be able to get my visa,” he said. “I pray all the time. Thank God, that dream was granted.”

In the midst of the rally on the Capitol lawn, Menjivar grew solemn while talking about family members he has not seen in 11 years. He stood apart from the crowd, the blue El Salvador flag tied around his shoulders billowing in the early-morning breeze.

“Hopefully, someday people can be reunited with their families,” he said.

DEA END GABRIEL