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Little Girl’s Immigration Message To The Pope Went Viral- But The Truth Just Came Out
The seemingly spontaneous, sweet incident where a 5-year-old girl approached Pope Francis and hugged him during the Washington, D.C., parade was actually a carefully crafted, well orchestrated meeting by a group supporting illegal immigrants.
Jose Gutierrez of the Full Rights for Immigrants Coalition talked openly to the Associated Press about the group’s efforts to draw attention to the plight of illegal immigrants. He said the group began planning such an encounter from the moment it was announced the pope would be visiting the United States.
“We have been working for a while now trying to sensitize the American public that dealing with immigration is not just dealing with the people who came in without proper documents but that we also have … countless children whose parents are undocumented,” Gutierrez said.
The group’s strategy is to use the children of immigrants to catch the eye of the Pope, who is already a supporter of immigrants. The group made a similar move during a parade with the pope in Rome. In that case, they used a 10-year-old girl. In each case, the girl presents a handwritten note and a T-shirt to the pope or a bodyguard.
“We have been looking for children to make the case that we as adults have been making for years,” Gutierrez said.
The case in the United States, as Gutierrez identified it, is to save the stalled program known as Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Legal Permanent Residents (DAPA). President Barack Obama initiated the program to allow the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants currently living in America to apply to legally stay and work. The program was blocked in February by a federal judge in Texas after 26 states challenged the constitutionality of the plan and the way the president implemented it.
The group carefully selected the little girl in Washington, D.C., identified as Sophie Cruz of Los Angeles, Calif., for this mission. Gutierrez said she “impressed us all so much that we felt she would be our best spokesperson.” Sophie was determined and wouldn’t leave the pope until one of his bodyguards took her letter and T-shirt.
Her note detailed her fears that her parents, who illegally came to the United States from Mexico, would be deported. Under the Obama administration’s current policies, that is unlikely as the president has issued an executive order offering reprieves in most cases.
“I believe I have the right to live with my parents,” Sophie told the AP after her moment with the pope. “I have the right to be happy. My dad works very hard in a factory galvanizing pieces of metal. All immigrants just like my dad feed this country. They deserve to live with dignity. They deserve to live with respect.”
Gutierrez insists that Sophie’s letter was written completely by her and that the group didn’t coach her on her media interviews. The little girl has been interviewed by several news outlets, and met with Mexico’s ambassador to the United States on Sept. 24.
Gutierrez said the group was prepared to shadow Pope Francis’s visit to New York and then Philadelphia to try the stunt multiple times if security officials stopped Sophie in the nation’s capital.
Source: http://www.westernjournalism.com/little-girls-immigration-message-to-the-pope-went-viral-but-the-truth-just-came-out/
