Students rally against new legislature

IMMIGRATION, page 1 brenner, a Republican from Wisconsin and the House Judiciary chairman, and Peter King, a Republican from New York and the Homeland Security chairman. This bill passed with a 239-182 vote.

Cabrini students have taken an interest in this issue. It was brought to the school’s attention through their partnership with CRS. Immigration has been a major theme on the campus for the past couple of years, and, also, Mother Cabrini is the patron saint of immigrants, so it is fitting that Cabrini would take a stand against this issue. Lindsey Bullick, a junior elementary and early childhood education major, said she was “appalled by the bill, especially because it makes children who were born in the United States to undocumented parents felons, and they will be forced to leave. If they’re born in America, aren’t they American citizens?”

The bill makes being in the United States undocumented an aggravated felony. Other examples of aggravated felonies are rape and murder. There are currently 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States and 1.6 million of those are children. All of them would be classified as felons under this bill.

Also included in the Sensenbrenner-King Bill are stipulations for the people who provide assistance to these undocumented immigrants. According to this bill, anyone caught helping these immigrants is aiding and abetting a felon and faces fines and up to five years in prison. This group includes social workers, charity workers, students who tutor undocumented children, priests, nuns and other volunteers.

On Jan. 25, staff and students from Cabrini College, St. Joe’s University, Villanova University, Immaculata University and Rosemont College as well as representatives from CRS, PICC and the Jesuit Conference met to discuss actions and strategies that could be taken against this legislation. Jenna Viggiano, a junior elementary and special education major, is interested in taking action. “It concerns me because I’m going to be a teacher and I want to teach in inner-city schools where many of the children could be affected by these laws,” Viggiano said.

Currently, the bill has sparked the need for immigration reform. This issue is now being deliberated in the Senate Judiciary Committee headed by Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter. Senator Specter is drafting a Chairman’s Mark of the bill. This means that Senator Specter will pull different points from the many immigrant legislations that have been drafted. The Sensenbrenner-King Bill is expected to be included.

Aspects that are included in the Chairman’s mark, according to the American Immigration Lawyers Association, are to make all undocumented immigrants leave the United States and the return legally, creates more work visas for immigrants and allows for more visas for