Luis Miguel - Noche de Paz

Bah Mitzvah

Image via Wikipedia

I just returned this weekend from my grand-niece's Bah Mitzvah.  it was a beautiful ceremony rich in faith and tradition.  As the sacred Torah was handed down from one generation to the next, I was in absolute awe and so impressed with the sacredness of the faith and sense of tradition of the people.  If you have an opportunity to attend a similar service, I would highly recommend it.

Human traffickers and Dreamers

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeImage via WikipediaThere is a law that has been trying to get passed for a long time.  It is called the Dream Act, and the people it will affect are called Dreamers.  The Dream Act would give a path to citizenship for young people who were brought to this country before they were 16 years old and are guilty of no crime and high school graduates.

I truly believe if the people who oppose this legislation would not if they realized how much these innocent dreamers have suffered.  They are unable to work.  They are unable to get a license to drive.  This is particularly difficult for single mothers who need to take the children here and there and cannot wait for buses because of the fast-paced life they are forced to lead to survive.

Some of these dreamers are victims of Human Trafficking.  PBS showed a documentary a couple of weeks ago showing how these young people are captured by Immigration they are imprisoned without access to lawyers.  One woman was raped by a male guard.  When she complained to a female guard, thinking she would get support from her, she was told not to say anything or it would be worse for her.  She begged to be returned to her homeland because of the inhumane treatment, leaving 4 young children in the United States.  Her family had no idea what happened to her because she had no contact with her family.  Terrorists at Guatanamo Bay were able to have access to lawyers, but these people who were looking for a better life had none.  They are invisible.  Unlike the terrorists at Guatanamo Bay, they are not given any media attention.

Related articles

• Undocumented Immigrant Released From Detention, Pushing For Reform (huffingtonpost.com)
• Deportation Threatened Against DREAMer Held in Florida (lawprofessors.typepad.com)

More on Human Trafficking

Image via WikipediaImage via WikipediaSo much more, I learned about human slavery!  Slavery is illegal in every part of the world, but there are about 27 million people still held in slavery, that is actually more than when slavery was an open acceptable form in societies.  (I should say it was acceptable as long as you were not the slave)  Today, human slavery is much more covert and it is a billion dollar business.

There is different types of slavery:  forced labor, commercial sexual exploitation of children, trafficking which involves transport and/or trade of humans, usually women or children, for economic gain.  Often migrant women and girls are tricked and forced into domestic work and prostitution.

Today people are still bought and sold as commodities.  They are often abducted from their homes, inherited or given as gifts.  This is common in West Africa, particularly Mauritania.

Related articles

• How many slaves work for you? (feministphilosophers.wordpress.com)

Please join me and the young ladies at the Benedictine Academy in Elizabeth, N.J. in trying to wipe out human slavery.  To these young women, nothing is impossible with God's help.  Their goal is zero bystanders on the issue of human trafficking.  They are raising the awareness to the problem.  They have gone to the U.N. and talked to Senators.  Knowing that the lack of education leads to the ignorance that allows young people to get caught in human slavery, they begged for donations to building a school in Sierra Leone.  When the young people in Sierra Leone could not go to the newly built school because of lack of water, the Benedictine students got more donations and had a water pump built so the they could go to school.

See what these amazing students have done on their website www.benedictineacad.org  Look under Campus ministry, then under human trafficking.

Human Trafficking

Today, I was supposed to go to Lancaster with a friend.  When we go, we like to spend time outdoors.  Unfortunately, today was the first day of the autumn to experience snow, as well as lots of rain.  So, we cancelled.  I took this opportunity to go to a workshop on Human Trafficking.  It was hard to listen to.  However, as I listened, I realized as difficult as it was, it was important to educate the world about this horror.  As long as it is kept in the dark, unscrupulous men and women can continue to make their billions off the disadvantaged in this world.

I was so inspired by a group of young high school girls from Benedictine Academy in Elizabeth, N.J.  The Benedictine Academy is a small girls' high school comprised of mostly poor young ladies.  They have single handedly taken on the human trafficking problem.

One of the many things I learned from these young ladies is that every 10 minutes, a woman or child is trafficked in the United States for forced labor.  They have more on their website www.benedictineacad.org  under campus ministry/human trafficking.

Please write to your congresspersons for stricter laws.  The Senate bill (S596) includes a number of provisions that strengthen global and domestic anti-trafficking programs and services.  The House bill (HR 2830) also includes important anti-trafficking measures.

Are Courts Fair To Abused Women?

Recently I went to court for a custody hearing.  The woman I saw there was typical of clients that I see that are abused, some physical, some psychological.  These women have been intimidated for years.  It takes a lot of courage and planning for them to leave the man and step out on their own, especially when children are involved.

I was shocked to see what seemed to me a grossly unfair hearing.  The man was represented by a lawyer, and the woman had no one.  The lawyer had studied law for years; he knew the legal system inside and out.  He was taking notes.  He objected when he knew that something was legally amiss.  Each parent had a chance to ask the witnesses questions, but she did not know what questions would be legally acceptable, whereas the experienced lawyer knew exactly what to focus on.  She did not know to object.  The lawyer knew exactly when to object.  As an outsider to the legal system, this struck me as grossly unfair.   

Questions came to my mind?  Where was the money coming from to pay for the lawyer?  Could it have been money better spent on the children?  Did the judge know beforehand that one would have a lawyer and the other not?  Or did the man lie about getting a lawyer?  Was it a surprise to the woman and the judge when the man showed up with a lawyer?  Should this thing be permitted?

They are just questions that come to my mind.  I do not know the outcome of the decision as I was unable to stay.  I can only hope the judge took into consideration that this woman was unable to be on the same legal par as the husband's lawyer.

Vacation

I arrived in Florida on July 2 at night and joined a party at my niece's house.  On July 4, we had about 16 people for a picnic supper, including my niece and her family from Georgia.  On July 6 at night My borther-in-law, a friend, and I went to a Phillies game here in Florida. I think there were more Phillies fans than Marlin fans there. The players must have experienced it as a home game. They won 14-2. The winning pitcher was Cole Hamels. It was loads of fun. We had the best seats. They were not the most expensive but they were the best. We were on the fourth row just a little north of 3rd base. We could see balls and strikes real well. We had a good view of the infield and outfield, as well as the Phillies bullpen. We were surrounded by other Phillies fans. It was a great night!