An Open Letter to President-elect Obama:

Fidel “Butch” Montoya

As you prepare to take the reins of our government and move forward with an aggressive economic stimulus package to help restore confidence and hope in our economy, we stand prepared to pray with you and assist you in whatever request you may have of us.

As ministers of the Gospel, we can sense the uncertainty that many Americans are feeling today. There is a sense of confusion, hopelessness, despair, and thoughts of frightening consequences as we ponder our country’s future.

Hundred of thousands have lost their homes because of bank foreclosures. Millions more have lost their jobs as corporations try to retool and restructure their businesses. Thousands of small businesses are closing down because of the lack of business, and this is creating another economic emergency in many small towns that depend on these businesses for goods and services....and jobs.

The jobs which may be available, offer little incentive for a worker used to making a decent living by earning a fair wage and benefits. Instead today, we see an economy that is struggling to avoid the worse recession since 1987.

Our economy was moving forward creating new and better jobs as technology opened new doors of advancement. It appeared as if our economy was set to continue to grow in this period of posterity and good and plentiful jobs.

Slowly we have seen what the greed and criminal element within the ranks of high level bankers, investors, and corporate giant business managers have done to create a world wide economic crisis. Because of their criminal behavior, millions of people today are suffering the ramifications of no oversight on these businesses.

Respected business leaders left to their own oversight created a greedy and criminal enterprise that has robbed billions of dollars from so many hard working people who placed their hard earned investments and trust in these businesses.

We now know what it feels like to be destitute, hopeless, and frightened.

Mr. President-elect, we are learning a difficult lesson that thousands of undocumented immigrants in our country have already learned. While we had a strong economy, we didn’t care much about administrative violations by undocumented immigrants. We needed these workers because many were strong, loyal, and hard working individuals. Many of these workers even began to believe in the American Dream as their own dream.

Many immigrants are facing the same fate as average good American workers. They too are losing their homes or small businesses because the job market essentially is drying up. Millions of Americans are without jobs and have little or no expectation of finding a decent job in the near future.

The only difference in this economic mess is that undocumented workers who are part of our economy have little or not recourse to pursue a better future. In spite of the fact that many neo conservatives claim undocumented workers have little or no impact on our economy. Undocumented immigrants play a key role in providing good workers during a time when competition for workers is necessary.

However, the fear of Homeland Security's anti-undocumented immigrant policies and ICE have always lurked in the minds of so many of these workers. The fear of going to church on Sunday morning, or going to work on Monday because ICE agents might raid the places they assemble.

Families ripped apart, children left without parents, wives and husbands sucked into a detention system leaving families without bread winners. Families which only sought to work hard and contribute to our way of life, have been nabbed and sent to detention centers for administrative violations of the law, with no expectation of having a fair hearing or contacting a lawyer or agency to help them.

In this dire economy, the only business which seems to be a growing enterprise is the building of detention centers for undocumented immigrants. We continue to build these detention centers by criminalizing families for living and working in our country. Many of these people have not committed a single crime, and yet are now being labeled as criminals by our own government.

Homeland Security officials have created a new class of criminals by creating policies that our elected leaders have been unwilling to challenge or change. Not wanting to be labeled as soft on terrorism, Homeland Security has successfully inserted all undocumented immigrants as a threat to our country and the need to detain them or deport them without fair hearings.

Mr. President-elect, as you face the many issues that need your immediate attention, we ask that you not forget the “the stranger in our midst.” We call upon your Christian ethic and compassion to stop the raids, stop building the wall between Mexico and our country, and stop this insane business of building detention centers that have become home for so many hard working families.

While the future looks bleak and our economy still faces numerous challenges, we will ride out this perfect economic storm and our prayer is that once again we can return to the days in which good jobs and wages will be available. That is our hope for the future, but along with that hope, we ask that you put an end to the strong arm tactics of ICE and stop putting innocent people in jails. Please stop the raids the day you take office.

Our hope is that you can guide and navigate our country through the difficult days ahead. As ministers, we pledge to offer you guidance and a shield of prayer for you and your Cabinet. Our pledge is that we will continue to perform our Godly task as the spiritual consciousness of our country and uphold our leaders in daily prayers.

Fidel “Butch” Montoya
H. S. Power & Light – Latino Faith Initiative