MCALLEN, RGV – Sister Christine Stephens, a key player in the Industrial Areas Foundation, passed away last week at the age of 78 years.
Stephens served on the National Executive Committee of IAF from 1999 to 2008 when she became one of four National Co-Directors until 2012. Most recently she served as Co-Director of the West/Southwest IAF region.
Among her accomplishments was establishing IAF organizations across Texas, including Valley Interfaith in the Rio Grande Valley.
Indeed, Stephens was lead organizer for Valley Interfaith during the period in the late 1980s when state legislation brought millions of dollars to the Valley for water and wastewater in the region’s colonias.
She also guided the development of new West/Southwest IAF organizations in Louisiana and mentored organizers across the West/Southwest of the United States.
For its tribute, the Rio Grande Guardian has pulled two articles from its archive to highlight Stephens in action and words. One is from September 2008 when Stephens penned a guest column in preparation for Valley Interfaith’s 25th Anniversary celebrations. The other is a news story from October 2010, when Stephens spoke at a conference held at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in McAllen that focused on a document authored by Texas bishops from various denominations titled “Principles for Humane Immigration Reform.’
Here are the articles:
In the run-up to Valley Interfaith's 25th Anniversary Convention, which takes place on Sunday, October 12, 2008, at the McAllen Convention Center, the Rio Grande Guardian will be running a three-day series on the group, featuring the recollections of former Valley Interfaith leaders. In this issue, Sister Christine Stephens, lead organizer for the group from 1985 to 1990, offers her view.
McALLEN, October 10, 2008 – I was the lead organizer with Valley Interfaith from 1985 until 1990. It was during this time that Valley Interfaith along with the other IAF network organizations, particularly EPISO in El Paso and The Border Organization in Del Rio/Eagle Pass, forged the political will, designed and passed the legislation that funded water and sewer projects for the colonias of the Texas border areas.
From our work in the colonias, we figured that there were 150 colonias (that actually turned out to be a minimal count) and if we were to get Community Development Block Grant monies for each of these colonias for water and sewer (one grant per year) it would take 150 years to get all these colonias money for water and sewer.
Through the IAF work in San Antonio with COPS/Metro and in Houston with The Metropolitan Organization our organizations had developed relationships with state-wide officials – Gov. Bill Clements, then Gov. Mark White, Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby, Texas Treasurer Ann Richards plus others. Working as an IAF Network, we got commitments from White, Hobby and Richards to provide money through the Texas Water Development Board for water and sewer projects in the colonias.
There were many trips to Austin to design the legislation and to rally on behalf of the legislation. Because of that work, water and sewers came to Las Milpas, Cameron Park and many other colonias along the boarder areas of Texas. It transformed these areas but more importantly it transformed the leaders in our organizations.
Many extraordinary leaders made this happen and continued to build Valley Interfaith and win on the issues of indigent health care, funding for education, living wages and single-member districts.
This 25th anniversary of Valley Interfaith is an opportunity to celebrate the work of these leaders. Congratulations to the Valley Interfaith congregations and leaders for all your good work. Because of you the Rio Grande Valley is no longer the overlooked area of Texas. Keep Valley Interfaith strong for the many challenges ahead.
McALLEN, October 14, 2010 – With immigrant-bashing on the rise, the work of Valley Interfaith and its nine sister organizations across the state is more important than ever, says Sister Christine Stephens.
Stephens, co-director of the Industrial Areas Foundation, spoke at a Valley Interfaith-sponsored conference on Wednesday that drew 400-plus churchgoers.
The conference, held at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in McAllen, focused on a new 1,700-word document authored by Texas bishops from various denominations titled, “Principles for Humane Immigration Reform.’
“I think we are fighting for the soul of Texas,” Stephens said, urging Valley Interfaith to mobilize a large turnout for the November elections.
Stephens is based in Austin and scrutinizes legislation that may be harmful to working families. She said Valley Interfaith and other IAF groups will have to be vigilant next session because a raft of anti-immigrant legislation will be filed.
In the past, moderate Republicans like state Rep. David Swinford, R-Dumas, would help block anti-immigrant bills that were clearly unconstitutional and merely designed to whip up hate, Stephens said.
Swinford is not a Catholic but he praised the Catholic Church for looking after many immigrant children in Dumas after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had raided a local meat-packing plant and deported their undocumented parents, Stephens said.
Swinford chaired the State Affairs Committee and he would prevent anti-immigrant bills from getting a public hearing, Stephens said. “David Swinford was good and honorable,” Stephens said. The bad news, however, is that Swinford is not running for re-election, she said. “In today’s climate, Swinford did not even run for re-election because he could not win.”
Stephens predicted that controversial immigration legislation similar to that passed in Arizona would be debated in committee during next year’s legislative session in Austin. Under SB 1070, if an undocumented immigrant is identified by law enforcement in Arizona, he or she can be prosecuted and deported. The bill makes failure to carry immigration documents a misdemeanor. It also gives the police broad powers to detain anyone suspected of being in the country illegally.
“We are hearing that at the legislature this session anti-immigrant bills will be heard; will be debated. That is going to be a major change,” Stephens said.
Stephens was quick to point out that “no one” expects such bills to pass. However, just having a debate will be extremely harmful, she said.
“I would be horrified if the bills did pass. But it is a change in the way we think about immigration in this state and not a good change because it will allow those who want to bash immigrants and whose constituents want to hear that, to use these bills as a drumbeat,” she said.
Stephens said it is going to be up to groups like Valley Interfaith to show up in force in Austin to “fight against those kinds of bills and that kind of sentiment.”
Stephens told the audience that the chances of Congress passing comprehensive immigration reform any time soon are not high. She that was a double tragedy because one, immigrant families will have to continue to wait before being given a pathway to citizenship, and two, it will allow state lawmakers to step in and say that, because the federal government has not acted, his or her state must do so. “It is the excuse they used in Arizona,” Stephens said.
Ten years ago, Valley Interfaith “faced up to the fact” that a fast-growing county north of Dallas, Collin, would consistently outvote the entire Rio Grande Valley, which has a much bigger population, Stephens said.
The IAF and Valley Interfaith do not endorse candidates or parties, Stephens said, but they do encourage people to vote.
“Who votes in the Valley is going to be important. I would say that what you (Valley Interfaith) are doing here in terms of education and taking this (Humane Immigration Reform) document, which is a wonderful document, into your congregations and teaching this is going to be essential because people have got to be challenged before they vote,” she said. “They have to be challenged by the Gospel, by the Scriptures, by this kind of document so that when they go to vote they have a context.”
Stephens concluded her speech by challenging Valley Interfaith members to work hard to make sure Texas does not go the way of Arizona. Ensuring a good turnout in the Valley was part of that work, she said.
Stephens’ speech dovetailed earlier remarks by Ernesto Cortes, a pioneer in the development of the IAF. In his speech, Cortes said there is an ugly “nativist” mood in the country right now because of the state of the economy. “You’ve got to blame somebody and immigrants are close at hand,” he said.
Cortes said that as a result of the Arizona law, hardworking immigrants are leaving the state. “I hope we do not get to the point where people leave Texas because we cannot protect them. One of the things that has been good about Texas is it has been one of the places people can come who want work, be productive and obey the law. We have not, yet, given to the hysterical politics of fear and anxiety and hate,” he said.
Towards the end of the conference, Elizabeth Valdez, leader of Valley Interfaith, acknowledged her group and its sister organizations in the IAF have a lot of work to do in educating people about the important role immigrants play in the community and mobilizing opposition to legislation that would do them harm.
“There is a grave risk in the state of Texas that they will try to pass anti-immigration legislation. We are going to have to be vigilant at the state level to make sure that does not happen,” Valdez said.
