Sister’s goal: ‘walk a path’

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff writer

Sister Janet Cashman

GALLUP — Sister Janet Cashman is hoping to “walk a path” alongside local immigrants in need of assistance.

Documented workers or undocumented, Catholic or non-Catholic, Spanish-speakers or others, Cashman is hoping she will be able to assist any or all of them with their immigration-related paperwork, English skills, and attempts to become U.S. citizens.

Cashman, the newly hired immigration specialist at Catholic Charities of Gallup, recently opened the Office of Immigration Services at the Catholic Indian Center, 506 W. U.S. Highway 66.

In an interview on Thursday, Cashman explained the Gallup office is an extension of the immigration services program offered by Catholic Charities in Farmington. The local office will assist immigrants who need help with paperwork required by the U.S. government, who need assistance with the translation of official documents like birth and marriage certificates, and who need someone to accompany them to meetings with immigration officials.

Cashman, who speaks fluent Spanish, is currently available to meet with immigrants; she is also available to meet with individuals during evening or weekend appointments.

By January, Cashman also expects to have a computer lab open where immigrants can work on their English skills or study for the U.S. citizenship test. Once the Gallup Office of Immigration Services is up and running, Cashman explained, she hopes to extend the program’s services into the portion of northern Arizona covered by the Diocese of Gallup.

In addition to being fluent in Spanish, Cashman has a basic knowledge of French and Haitian Creole. With a background in public health, Cashman worked for two years in Haiti as a nutrition consultant for a hospital, and she worked for 22 years in Peru where she managed a clinic for the uninsured and was the director of the Health Care Ministry for the Archdiocese of Piura-Tumbes.
But after a year-long sabbatical, Cashman said she felt being led in a different direction.

“It kind of called me and spoke to me,” she said of her current work with immigrants.

During the past year, Cashman learned more about immigration issues through an internship with Washington’s Network and Center of Concern, she attended the national conference of the Justice for Immigrants Campaign of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and she gained certification from the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc.

Although Cashman believes the political climate in the United States “has turned somewhat anti-immigrant” in recent years, she said U.S. Catholic bishops and other Catholic Church leaders remain firm in their support of justice for all immigrants.

“They have supported this ministry,” said Cashman of church leaders, “in their pronouncements and their actions.”

Sister Janet Cashman can be contacted at (505) 722-4407 ext. 120. Community members interested in volunteering with the program are also encouraged to call Cashman.