The Beginning

I am officially all moved in to the Columbus Community here in the heart of NYC, where I will be living through June of next year! Laura and I (my wingwoman) arrived here after our commisioning ceremony at the Sacred Heart senior sisters' convent on Monday afternoon. (There, I was able to enjoy a Colorado-brewed Blue Moon beer at the BBQ...I love that the sisters have beer at their events!) Once at Columbus, Laura and I got straight to work unpacking our things...while great, orientation and all of its moving left us in DIRE need of a sense of place. My suitcases, which seemed SO huge and bothersome in transit, didn't yield much to work with in terms of decorating my blank walls. Considering my need for color and art, I have a little work to do, but I've made headway with the few scarves that I have as decor. I'm pretty resourceful. :)

After a long day Monday, I woke up bright and early Tuesday morning for my first day of work at Cabrini Immigrant Services, where I have spent the last two days beginning to learn the ropes. The previous missioner, Gina, is helping pass the torch, which is great seeing as I will essentially be performing two jobs--food pantry coordinator and office manager. Among other things, I successfully womanned the door for our food distribution day. Seeing as we are located in Chinatown, a great deal of our clients only speak Chinese, so it's pretty essential that someone literally blockades the door to keep traffic manageable--some of those older women are quite intense! It was interesting seeing the diversity of some of the clients we serve with the food pantry. While the majority are of course Chinese, there were plenty of other ethnicities represented, the next largest being Latino. During my time running the door, I actually encountered a Chinese man who, upon realizing I didn't speak Chinese, asked me if I speak Spanish. I was both taken aback and happy to be chatting with a Chinese man in Spanish!

Today I continued some database work and Gina and I paired up for the enormous task of taking down and returning the 100+ voicemails that have accrued since last week. The office has been short-staffed, and in addition to that, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) has had the office in a whirlwind. Our lawyer--the director--and our social worker are taking appointments like crazy. They are aiding youth in the process in hopes of helping them present a workable case to Homeland Security. For those who don't know, DACA is Obama's attempt at making the DREAM act more of a reality for immigrant youth. It temporarily grants a limbo status to undocumented immigrants who meet certain requirements, which are as follows:

1. Were under the age of 31 as of June 15, 2012;
2. Came to the United States before reaching their16th birthday;
3. Have continuously resided in the United States since June 15, 2007, up to the present time;
4. Were physically present in the United States on June 15, 2012, and at the time of making their request for consideration of deferred action with USCIS;
5. Entered without inspection before June 15, 2012, or their lawful immigration status expired as of June 15, 2012;
6. Are currently in school, have graduated or obtained a certificate of completion from high school, have obtained a general education development (GED) certificate, or are an honorably discharged veteran of the Coast Guard or Armed Forces of the United States; and
7. Have not been convicted of a felony, significant misdemeanor, three or more other misdemeanors, and do not otherwise pose a threat to national security or public safety.

While this is NOT a path to citizenship, it does (allegedly and hopefully) alleviate the risk of deportation for the thousands of should-be citizens who populate our nation's schools and universities. I have been astounded at the diversity of applications we are currently processing...Dominican Republic, Guyana, Trinidad, Honduras, Ecuador, Nigeria, Jamaica, China, St. Vincent (which I didn't even know existed), Mexico, and many others.

I am incredibly excited to learn more about the laws and legislation that are currently affecting immigration policy in the U.S. and look forward to attending events where I am able to hear the stories and experiences of some of the amazing youth who are trying to blaze a pathway to citizenship. It's a blessing to be able to be in this environment in the midst of the whirlwind of policy changes that are going on, and I feel like even in these initial stages I am where I am supposed to be...

...even if being where I am supposed to be sometimes means misunderstandings in Spanish, making sassy Chinese women exercise patience, entering data upon data into the computer, and hating Verizon for the fact that their internet does not work when it rains...this is the work of the Lord. This is holy.