Our Semper Reformanda intern
reports from Washington
[2-19-02]
Jenny Lin was named by Semper
Reformanda, which is now a strong part of the Witherspoon Society, as
its first Robert J. Stone Intern serving in the Washington
Office of the Presbyterian Church. These are her reflections after six
months of service there.
I remember vividly the nerve-wracking night at the
General Assembly Semper Reformanda dinner. As the recipient of the
Robert J. Stone Recognition internship, I was invited to the podium,
with a short notice, to introduce myself to the members of Semper
Reformanda and the Witherspoon Society. That night, I spoke about a
responsibility to advocate for social justice and an anticipation that
the Presbyterian Church's Washington Office would serve as a nurturing
environment for me to develop advocacy ability, wherever the future
might take me. Although I was right about opportunities of learning with
the Washington Office, it was more like baptism by fire than nurturing
in the post-September 11th environment.
Nevertheless, I am grateful to be here in DC and to
serve under the guidance and leadership of the Rev. Elenora Giddings
Ivory. Most important, my experience here has allowed me to be the
stubbornly passionate young woman that God once called me to be. While
still an undergraduate student, I felt stifled because I had to justify
the rights to cheaper medicine for curable diseases in terms of economic
vitality and human capital in a class discussion about "Jubilee
2000 campaign." Now, I even get paid to advocate for a vision of an
inclusive global community where human rights need no justification.
As an intern, I work on domestic immigration policy
and monitor the role of the U.S., the godfather of weapons of mass
destruction, and the development and wholesaling of arms. These two
apparently unrelated issues are linked by the systemic violation of
human rights that manifests itself as racism and sexism within our
domestic and foreign policy. These are demonstrated by our immigration
policy and its feeble and diffident compassion toward the poor, the
vulnerable, and people of color.
From the passage
of the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act
(IIRIRA) in the 106th Congress until now, those who flee
persecution and oppression in their homeland and come to the United
States seeking asylum are routinely detained, handcuffed and shackled,
and deprived of basic human needs. This inhumane treatment is also
applied to children asylum seekers. Every day, the Immigration and
Naturalization Service (INS) detains over 475 children, and holds an
estimated 5000 children a year in U.S. shelters and jail. Joan M.
Maruskin, director of the Immigration and Refugee Program of Church
World Service, compared the number and ethnicity of asylum seekers, and
people in detention of the same year. She found that asylum seekers of
European descent were less likely to be detained than asylum seekers
from Asia, Middle East and Africa.
Furthermore, a new
procedure under the IIRIRA, commonly referred to as expedited removal,
gave INS inspectors unprecedented power to determine legitimacy and
eligibility of asylum claims - a responsibility previously entrusted to
immigration judges. Expedited removal allows INS inspectors to summarily
remove a person without judicial review; for people fleeing from
persecution, it is a matter of life and death. One bill which tries to
limit the routine use of expedited removal to extraordinary immigration
emergencies is "The Refugee Protection Act (S.1311)" sponsored
by Senators Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT). The effort to
limit expedited removal in the asylum procedure is aimed at restoring
fairness and humane treatment to people who are destitute and uprooted.
It would call the United States government to a higher standard of human
rights and would protect the fundamental right of asylum seekers to due
process of law. However, the hostility toward asylum seekers in the
post-September 11th environment is turning this campaign into an
uphill battle.
Whether
it is "Speaking Truth to Power" or "David versus
Goliath," the experience of working in on-going campaigns reminds
me of the empowering moment that Moses experienced as he witnessed the
burning bush, yet humbly took off his sandals. In many ways, the past
few months have been just like that. I sincerely thank the many
supporters of this internship, as they encourage young persons like me
to continue living out the extraordinary vision of Reverend Stone at
this historic time.
