Filner Hails ‘Holy Cause’ of Immigration Reform With Path to Citizenship

Mayor Bob Filner called comprehensive immigration reform “a holy cause” Thursday at a church garden ceremony attended by Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders.

“Those who are in this country, working hard to make this country better, who may not have the papers that say that exact thing—they are entitled to the dignity and the respect and pay, benefits and legal protections that everybody else [has],” said the San Diego mayor.

Arriving almost an hour after the event began at the downtown St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, Filner quietly declined to have his feet washed.

He also was too late to join Chula Vista Councilwoman Mary Salas, labor leader Lorena Gonzalez and others perform the Holy Thursday ritual evoking the humble actions of Jesus in his final days—as promised in a news report.

Filner, who stayed about 10 minutes, said he had been occupied with meetings and a visit from Sen. Barbara Boxer.

But standing in front of a banner for the Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, the Jewish mayor said good afternoon in English and Spanish, as well as shalom and salam—peace in Hebrew and Arabic..

“We’re not in any way going to deport 12 million people,” Filner told a crowd that had dwindled from as many as 120. “So what’s the alternative? For people to come out of the shadows, to participate fully and openly and legally in our economic and political life.”

Earlier, San Diego City Council President Todd Gloria noted his mixed ancestry—Filipino, Puerto Rican, Dutch and American Indian—and said: “The moment has come, and it’s up to us to seize it. We know that no matter your political stripe, you understand our [immigration] system is broken.”

Hailing San Diego’s status as a border town “full of immigrants,” Gloria said: “Our leaders in Washington need to know that the eighth-largest city in this country … wants comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship.”

Gonzalez, a Democrat running for a vacant seat in the 80th Assembly District of South County, didn’t mention her candidacy but assailed politicians “saying the right words” who “refuse to make that phone call” to the Mission Valley Hilton, which she said was threatening undocumented workers with firing for asserting “their rights as workers.”

“Those workers are why it’s essential that we fight for comprehensive immigration reform with a path to legalization and citizenship,” said Gonzalez, herself the daughter of an undocumented immigrant.

The Rev. Jamie Gates of Point Loma Nazarene University and Laurie Coskey, a rabbi in residence at St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral spoke as president and executive director of the interfaith committee, respectively—which Coskey called “emissaries for justice and comprehensive immigration reform.”

“We all have collars and titles and wonderful experiences,” Gates said, gesturing to “much power even stands behind me. But in a foot-washing ceremony, we set all that power aside. …. It’s an inversion of power.”

Also speaking—and later kneeling on a pillow wrapped in a light-blue towel for the foot-washing—was Hanif Mohebi, executive director of the local chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

“Prophet Jesus taught us through this symbolic act that the service is to God’s creation,” said Mohebi, adorned in colorful cleric-style attire. “In the heart of hearts, do we have the audacity to serve others?  When you serve, you are freeing your soul.”

Among the seven women and five men in the first session to have their hands and feet washed was Iggy Ponce de Leon, a lifelong resident of Imperial Beach.

A Eucharistic minister at St. Charles Catholic Church in south San Diego, Ponce de Leon called the experience “very humbling.” He noted the presence of clergy from many faiths.

“Worker justice is what brings us all together,” he said after having his feet washed by a nun. “All religions want worker justice. All religions want world peace.”

He said he’s had his feet washed before—but would eventually be on the other side.

“Seems to me that they invite me every year,” he said.