Immigration - Change.org: LDS Membership to Church Leaders on Immigration: 'Take a Hike'

LDS Membership to Church Leaders on Immigration: 'Take a Hike'

Published December 02, 2008 @ 08:26PM PT

Daniela Aguado was a star student at her high school in Arizona and wanted to attend college. Just one problem: she was undocumented. Acting on some dodgy legal advice, she left the country to apply for a student visa to try to qualify for a scholarship to Brigham Young University.

"And that's when they told me I couldn't receive the student visa because i have lived in the states without a student visa before. And that probably I was taking advantage of the country and the government." Daniella recalls.

And now she's stuck in Mexico.

BYU was the university I first attended after high school. The school's motto is "The World Is Our Campus," an extension of the LDS church's goal to become a global institution. With over 50,000 missionaries spread out around the world, learning the language and absorbing the culture of almost every country on the planet, the church's membership is remarkably cosmopolitan. Many of those missionaries return to the States--or come here from their homelands--to attend BYU.

But that didn't stop Republican voters in Utah County--which includes Provo and BYU--from sending diehard conservative Chris Cannon packing in the primary election earlier this year. (This was a rare victory for a restrictionist politician--the trend has run the other way for the last two years.) The main reason for Cannon's defeat at the hands of former BYU football player Jason Chaffetz: he was too conciliatory to immigrants, and had some kind words to say about Utah's Latin@ population.

From the article, I see that Daniela attended church regularly with her family before they were separated indefinitely ... planning to attend BYU ... I'll go out on a limb and guess that she's a baptized member of the LDS church.

One who now can't attend the LDS school of her choice, find an LDS spouse there, excel in a career in the U.S., or even see her family in this country.

How this advances the goals of the church to keep LDS families together and build a global organization is not clear. The church itself intervened earlier this year when the Utah state legislature was on the brink of passing an Oklahoma-style enforcement-only bill. One member of the legislature characterized the church's position as "Take a step back, be calm, and above all remember that we are dealing with human beings here." The bill that passed wasn't good. But it could have been much worse.

But the individual members of the church who voted for Chaffetz weren't thinking about Daniela or her family. They weren't even listening to the church leadership. It's one reason the institutional church's worst enemy is sometimes its own membership (passage of Prop 8 is another, though that had support from the top).

(via)

Comments (6)
Like
Share this:

Comments

When I joined this cause I thought it was against illegal immigration. I also thought we can drive home the point of no anchor babies either. Why can we not have open causes? There is always two sides to everything. I think this change dot org is not balanced. At least my web site is open to all sides on issues. Not having open American issues is definitely not change. But rather more of the same and hindering on Adolf Hilters burning of books pre-world war two. I am almost sure this commit won't even make it passed the screeners.

Posted by William Landers on 12/03/2008 @ 02:54AM PT
- Report close
  You must be signed in to report content.
- Reply
- Like
For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment. In the process we will also create a Change.org account for you so you can track this and future conversations. Don't worry - we won't spam you. We just want to promote constructive dialogue and find that people are more respectful when they are not anonymous.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

reply to thread started by by William
Check Spelling
- Email me when there are new posts to this thread
- Comment Policy
Cancel Reply
Now you know. This site is pro-migrant, not anti-migrant. 'Anchor babies' is an offensive and misleading term. There are far more than two sides to any issue, and no, I am not a journalist or a scholar, I'm an activist and I am pushing for change, not for some Platonic vision of "balance" that exists only in Chris Matthews' demented dreams.

Apparently I'm also Hitler. That's a new one.

Posted by Dave Bennion on 12/03/2008 @ 05:29AM PT
- Report close
  You must be signed in to report content.
- Reply
- Like
For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment. In the process we will also create a Change.org account for you so you can track this and future conversations. Don't worry - we won't spam you. We just want to promote constructive dialogue and find that people are more respectful when they are not anonymous.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

reply to thread started by by Dave
Check Spelling
- Email me when there are new posts to this thread
- Comment Policy
Cancel Reply
If you go to Jason Chaffetz's website (jasonforcongress dot com), you will see that he campaigned on the principle of FIXING LEGAL IMMIGRATION.

A major part of his seven-point plan is to make becoming a U.S. citizen easier and faster. It sounds like you could be a great asset to Jason if you want to volunteer help him. But those who are here illegally will have to go to the back of the line and apply for citizenship like those who are doing so legally.

It is a shame about Daniella being separated from her family -- but it doesn't have to be that way. Her family, which I presume is also in the States illegally, can return to Mexico and join her, and all can apply for citizenship together. With your help, I am sure they will do just fine. :-)

Posted by Sallie Young on 12/03/2008 @ 06:49AM PT
- Report close
  You must be signed in to report content.
- Reply
- Like
For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment. In the process we will also create a Change.org account for you so you can track this and future conversations. Don't worry - we won't spam you. We just want to promote constructive dialogue and find that people are more respectful when they are not anonymous.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

reply to thread started by by Sallie
Check Spelling
- Email me when there are new posts to this thread
- Comment Policy
Cancel Reply
Sallie, Daniella did just that, she left hte U.S. and tried to apply legally and was denied.

Posted by Ann B on 12/03/2008 @ 07:26AM PT
- Report close
  You must be signed in to report content.
- Reply
- Like
For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment. In the process we will also create a Change.org account for you so you can track this and future conversations. Don't worry - we won't spam you. We just want to promote constructive dialogue and find that people are more respectful when they are not anonymous.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

reply to thread started by by Ann
Check Spelling
- Email me when there are new posts to this thread
- Comment Policy
Cancel Reply
Daniella should have joined the DREAM Act Portal. They would have told her that her student visa would have been denied and that BYU was evil. There are other mormon universities that have a more christian appraoch to the children of undocumented immigrants.

Posted by Ann B on 12/03/2008 @ 07:27AM PT
- Report close
  You must be signed in to report content.
- Reply
- Like
For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment. In the process we will also create a Change.org account for you so you can track this and future conversations. Don't worry - we won't spam you. We just want to promote constructive dialogue and find that people are more respectful when they are not anonymous.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

reply to thread started by by Ann
Check Spelling
- Email me when there are new posts to this thread
- Comment Policy
Cancel Reply
We need our borders sealed tight, but legal immigration of decent human beings wanting to become Americans has always been a boon to this country. Another way we can help Mexico and the U.S. though is encourage radical change in Mexico itself. The Mexican people in Mexico deserve better jobs and a government that is not corrupt and exploiting them. Mexico is rich in natural resources. They should be as well off as us.

Posted by Charlie Reed on 12/05/2008 @ 04:56AM PT
- Report close
  You must be signed in to report content.
- Reply
- Like
For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment. In the process we will also create a Change.org account for you so you can track this and future conversations. Don't worry - we won't spam you. We just want to promote constructive dialogue and find that people are more respectful when they are not anonymous.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

reply to thread started by by Charlie
Check Spelling
- Email me when there are new posts to this thread
- Comment Policy
Cancel Reply

Add a Comment

For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment. In the process we will also create a Change.org account for you so you can track this and future conversations. Don't worry - we won't spam you. We just want to promote constructive dialogue and find that people are more respectful when they are not anonymous.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

Comment

Check Spelling

Email me when there are new posts to this thread
Comment Policy

Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the ideas covered in the posts. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; that contain ad hominem attacks; or that are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion.

Get weekly news and action alerts about Immigration

Author Biography

Dave Bennion: Philadelphia, PA; David is an attorney in Philadelphia, PA, where he helps immigrants to the U.S. navigate the complex immigration legal system. Views he expresses at change.org are his alone and don't represent the views or opinions of his employer, Nationalities Service Center. The information contained on this site is intended for educational and advocacy purposes only.