Health & Fitness
‘Nuns on the Bus’ Coming to Charleston on Saturday
The national tour by a Catholic organization promoting immigration reform makes its stop in Charleston on June 1.
A “Social Justice Lobby” operated by nuns of the Catholic Church is coming to Charleston as part of a three-week tour promoting immigration reform.
Calling it the “Nuns on the Bus” tour, the NETWORK group will meet the public at 7 p.m. on Sat., June 1 at the Circular Congregation Church in Charleston (150 Meeting St.).
Following their presentation and rally on immigration, attendees are invited to join the sisters for a three-block walk to the Old Slave Mart Museum (6 Chalmers St.).
Find out what's happening in Charlestonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The country’s current address to immigration “is broken,” the group says.
“Our nation needs an immigration system that reflects our faith values and the needs of the 21st century,” NETWORK says in its press release about the tour, and calls for reform that will provide immigrants with a direct route to citizenship, as well as prevent separation of family members.
Find out what's happening in Charlestonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
“Such a system reunites families and allows workers the opportunity to come forward without fear to pay taxes and earn legalization.”
A U.S. Senate committee recently passed a bill calling for new immigration laws and a revised path to citizenship for the approximately 11 million non-citizens currently in the country illegally.
Republicans in the House, however, have squabbled on the issue, and state they will create their own bill that strongly varies from the Senate version.
South Carolina has approximately 55,000 illegal immigrants who account for about 2.1 percent of the state’s workforce, according to a 2011 study by Pew Research Center.
The three-week tour by “Nuns on the Bus” began in New Haven, Conn. on May 28, will proceed down the Atlantic Coast to Winter Park, Fl., then move westward through the southern-most states, ending June 18 in San Francisco.
The NETWORK organization conducting this bus tour calls itself a “National Catholic Social Justice Lobby.” Formed in 1971 by 47 nuns directly involved in their communities, the organization began lobbying for laws and policies pertaining to social and economic justice.
Aside from the current issue of immigration reform, NETWORK advocates affordable housing, universal healthcare, equal wages, retirement security, fair trade, and government response to poverty and hunger.