Before I started my internship at Kingdom Causes Bellflower, I wanted to understand the legal rights of undocumented immigrants in the community. I asked a lot of questions regarding what the organization could do to help address some of the struggles and needs of these individuals and their families. For my independent research, I contacted a professor by the name of Hiroshi Motomura who works as an immigration law professor at UCLA Law School. He suggested that I read his book Americans in Waiting: The Lost Story of Immigration and Citizenship in the United States and so the past month has been a really eye-opening experience to the historically varying ways that immigrants are viewed in the United States. The book did not digress into the topic of undocumented immigrants, but it helped me to understand that with the hardships that legal residents have in obtaining a citizenship, it is that much harder for an illegal resident to obtain rights by naturalizing as US citizens. Unfortunately there is nothing that can be done legally to help an undocumented immigrant, but it really challenged me to continue my future studies in order to bring about an awareness of the moral and ethical situations that revolve around the everyday life of illegal residents. Overall, my time at Kingdom Causes Bellflower has been a true blessing in that I have ultimately realized that it is through the guidance of the Word and of the Holy Spirit that will enable me to be effective in all my future undertakings. Thank you for having me on board and blessing me through this experience, Bellflower!
