Happy Easter!

First of all, I want to take this opportunity to greet each and every one of you a blessed and joyful Easter Sunday --one of the holiest days of Christianity. The Resurrection distinguishes us from other religions. Without the triumph of risen Christ over death, Christianity would just be like any other ancient tradition reduced to the dustbin of forgotten history and mythology.

Our immigrant communities here in the US also found a way to celebrate the Holy Week in any way they can in keeping with the usual Filipino customs. Though constrained by the chill of spring weather or the limitation of priests and open churches, and their own busy schedules, Filipinos still found a way to practice Visita Iglesia, confessions, and attending the Holy Week services. It is important to continue to observe these traditions not only for spiritual enrichment but also to serve as an example to the younger generation to continue and nurture the value of practicing these acts of faith.

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There has been a flood of activities going on in the immigration front since President Trump was sworn into office. If you have been following the myriad of executive orders and policies that have since been issued, you would lose track and just get confused. And we are not taking into account the various lawsuits that have been filed against these orders as well as the decisions ordered by various courts at all levels. If we have to describe it in one word, I would say it is chaotic. In their rush to do a lot of things in a short time, it is inescapable that mistakes are made such as when a US citizen gets detained or a green card holder gets deported. I understand and even applaud the deportation of those who have criminal records or are engaged in illegal activities, but there has to be better coordination between federal enforcement and state and local officials.

On the other hand, now that the Republicans have control of the House of Representatives and Senate, they should use their power to show to the American people that immigration reform is at the top of their priorities as what they usually promise during campaign season. They should not let this golden opportunity pass without seizing this invaluable and precious time to finally pass meaningful legislation that addresses the plight of millions of immigrants who are undoubtedly the backbone of this country.

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April 15 was the last day to file tax returns. Lately there have been reports that undocumented immigrants who otherwise wanted to pay their taxes are now very much afraid to file their returns. This is in response to the latest interagency agreement between the Department of Homeland Security and the Internal Revenue Service where the IRS agreed to share personal information of taxpaying immigrants. This collaboration between the two government agencies is highly criticized by pro-immigrant advocacy groups as they consider it a betrayal against immigrants who thought and were encouraged to pay their taxes believing that performing this sacred civic duty would somehow help them by showing to the government that they are valuable and law-abiding members of society.