The Rev. Gary Graf, 67, pastor of Our Lady of the Heights in Chicago Heights, said he’s on a walk to mobilize Americans toward compassion.
The Rev. Gary Graf will walk more than 800 miles from the south suburbs of Chicago to New York City’s Ellis Island to speak out against the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts.
“What is now happening to immigrant families in the United States, and especially to children, is an assault on those fundamental values of people of all faiths. Children taken from parents, little ones weeping in fear, families torn apart again and again. We are left with the same truth. There must be a better way,” Graf said Monday morning.
“To tear families apart is to wound the very heart of God. We must announce these actions for what they are: immoral and un-American policies and enforcement actions that divide families and fracture our nation.”
Graf, 67, is the head pastor of Our Lady of the Heights in south suburban Chicago Heights and a member of the group Priests for Justice for Immigrants.
Before beginning his journey Monday morning, Graf received blessings from a few dozen supporters in front of the boyhood home of Pope Leo XIV in Dolton.
“This pilgrimage is intended to mobilize Americans from every state to demand that compassion, humanity and helping hands be restored to the immigration process. It is about families and children and about walking in faith. Step up, speak out,” Graf said.
Graf’s walk comes as the Trump administration launched “Operation Midway Blitz” in September, rounding up undocumented immigrants and others across the Chicago area and detaining them. Two people have been shot in the operations, one fatally. The immigration operations have sparked many protests.
On Sunday, Gov. JB Pritzker said he was told that troops from Texas would be sent to Illinois, Oregon and other locations. He received word Saturday that 300 troops from Illinois were being mobilized.
Graf said there’s a reason he’s starting at the home where Pope Leo grew up. He wants to highlight the plight of immigrants. Graf’s great-grandparents came from Ireland and Germany decades ago.
“This country, from Pope Leo’s childhood home right here to Ellis Island in New York, reminds us that immigrants and their families built our nation. They deserve not bullets, night sticks and tear gas, but rather compassion, dignity and respect,” Graf said. “We are speaking the truth because it is not being told.”
Graf said he does not use the phrase “illegal immigrant” to describe folks who come to the United States without the proper documentation.
“Twelve years ago I had the opportunity to cross over from Nogales, Arizona, to Nogales [Mexico] and came into this country illegally without permission. I jumped the fence, and I turned myself into the sheriff in Nogales, Arizona,” Graf said. “I said to the sheriff, I did this to make a statement that an illegal act does not make someone illegal. If that were the case, how many of us who have at any time in our lives offended or violated or broken the law in this nation of laws would be in the same net now and be sent away?”
Graf said he wonders if the country still welcomes immigrants.
“This is the message that we carry to Lady Liberty: the truth that all immigrants are not strangers, but rather our brothers, sisters, sons and daughters, and America must welcome people of good will and embrace them and give them a way forward,” Graf said.
Graf’s journey will be documented on social media, including Facebook and TikTok. He said he will be raising funds to be donated to needy immigrant families.
Patricia Martinez, 33, is a member of Graf’s congregation.
“It’s an amazing thing that he’s doing. I mean, I don’t know anybody better for this but Father Gary. He’s an inspiration to all young people and everybody in our community. We are truly blessed to have him in our community,” Martinez said.
Graf said he hopes to reach Ellis Island by Dec. 1, but he will need to walk up to 20 miles per day.
The Rev. Larry Dowling is with the group Priests for Justice for Immigrants. He said Graf will end his walk by holding a church service with people of various religious faiths.
“This journey is not just a journey of Catholics, but it’s a journey of all Christians, of all faiths,” Dowling said. “The culmination of Gary’s walk will be at Ellis Island, where there will be an interfaith service that we will celebrate and raise up awareness of all of this that is happening to our children and to these families in our society.”
Michael Puente is a reporter and weekend anchor for WBEZ.
No comments:
Post a Comment