Listening Session
Bishop David Wilson (right) addresses parishioners of Iglesia Comunitaria, a Hispanic congregation in south Omaha on Jan. 18. The bishop was able to communicate to the group with the help of translator Veronica Enriquez and Pastor Juan Carlos Veloso. (Photo by Todd Seifert)
Great Plains Annual Conference | Jan 22, 2025
OMAHA, Neb. — Concerns about the complexities of the immigration process, racial profiling, and especially the safety of children were key topics shared Jan. 18 during a listening session of attendees of a Hispanic church in Omaha hosted by Bishop David Wilson.
The bishop, accompanied by Eastern Nebraska District Superintendent Rev. Stephanie Ahlschwede, visited with about 30 people from Iglesia Comunitaria, which shares a building with Grace United Methodist Church in south Omaha. The bishop came with no agenda except to listen to the stories of people in attendance, which ranged in age from new parents with infants to senior citizens.
Learn about Caring for Immigrants
The Great Plains Conference strives to live up to the teaching of Jesus found in Matthew 25 about welcoming the stranger among us. View a list of resources and find links to helpful organizations on the Immigrant Care portion of our website.
“I appreciate hearing your stories,” Bishop Wilson said. “The stories are very hard to hear, very difficult. The stories I hear from here and from across the country break my heart. I just want folks to know that I share often who we all are as people of God — beloved people of sacred worth.”
Bishop Wilson said he wanted to visit because of the fears expressed by people in the immigration process as the new presidential administration comes to power with its promises of mass deportations and the resumption of building a wall between the United States and Mexico.
The bishop heard stories from Iglesia Comunitaria members who were seated around a square made up of 8-foot plastic tables. Attendees started by sharing their home countries: Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Venezuela, among others. They spoke mostly in Spanish, with the bishop receiving translation assistance from church member Veronica Enriquez, who was born and raised in Chicago but who has lived in Omaha for about 30 years.
One attendee expressed frustration over the immigration process. The man told of how his wife started the legal immigration process through her brother. Fourteen years later, the wife is still waiting to receive her permanent residency papers.
Another attendee said he had filed for exile because of violence in his native country. The process can take five years or longer, he said, and there are no documents to show where a person is in that process while the U.S. government makes its determination of whether residency will be approved.
Some stories involved challenges with local police officers. Though quick to point out that not all officers had treated Spanish-speakers poorly, people who shared stories expressed frustrations over racial profiling.
Enriquez explained one of the interactions.
“It sounded like on Monday, one of the men got stopped, and he was OK because he had his passport and stuff like that, but his partner did not,” she recounted. “So, the officer kept asking about a green card instead of just an ID. That was surprising to him.”
The longest and most visibly passionate discussion related to children, specifically the steps parents have to take to ensure their children are cared for and safe if parents are detained while the kids are at school.
The result: Long lists of family members and friends so schools could keep calling down the list until a caregiver is found if a child is left at school.
“They have to have long lists for that reason,” Enriquez said. “They have to make sure they have somebody to help them instead of having the children taken by the state. They want somebody that they trust so they can know if they get deported that their children can be safe.”
The day prior to the meeting at the church, Bishop Wilson met with officials for CIRA — the Center for Immigrant and Refugee Advancement — in Omaha. The organization started 28 years ago at Grace UMC as Justice for Our Neighbors-Nebraska and is known for its legal clinics, its service as a refugee resettlement agency, and for the comprehensive services it provides to immigrants across the state. It has 26 fulltime attorneys and 10 social workers. In preparation for the new administration, it is working with school districts regarding unaccompanied children and is educating people on rapid responses in the event of immigration-related interactions with law enforcement.
At the Iglesia Comunitaria listening session, Pastor Juan Carlos Veloso, who has served the church of 85 to 90 people since its inception in 2020, noted that CIRA and organizations like it with legal expertise are badly needed.
“We really need immigration lawyers that we can trust,” he said. “We need lawyers that would be available because if something happens (with the new administration) a lot of people may be contacting them. As a church, we need a connection, so they know who we are. Lawyers are the most important thing the next four years. Access is important. It is the biggest roadblock that we have.”
Bishop Wilson explained that the Great Plains Conference is launching the Bishop’s Task Force on Immigration, with Veloso joining six other people from Kansas and Nebraska to study the issues surrounding immigration and then training others on how best to respond.
“The members are mostly Latino pastors and lay people,” Bishop Wilson said. “We’ll talk about how we do education, with train-the-trainer events. Our goal is to teach other pastors and lay people who want to help. We will work with some of our superintendents to talk with elected officials and people they know throughout the area to advocate for the work that we’re doing.”
Bishop Wilson, scanning to make brief eye contact with everyone around the table, told attendees that from the Council of Bishops to United Methodist churches across Kansas and Nebraska, immigrants were not alone as they face these concerns.
“We have many people working to help with this situation,” the bishop said.
Contact Todd Seifert, communications director, at tseifert@greatplainsumc.org.