Dear Santo Toribio
After Oklahoma passed the toughest anti-immigration bill in the country, a Catholic church in Tulsa was looking for help, so they created a shrine to Santo Toribio, the patron saint of immigrants.
2013 / Sarah Geis / This Land Press / State of the Re:Union, USA
After Oklahoma passed the toughest anti-immigration bill in the country, a Catholic church in Tulsa was looking for help, so they created a shrine to Santo Toribio, the patron saint of immigrants.
In 2007, Oklahoma passed a bill making it a felony to give someone without papers a job, a ride, or a place to stay overnight in your home. The law was designed to scare undocumented immigrants, and it did. But in Tulsa, a mostly Mexican Catholic congregation also saw it as an opportunity: they imported a statue of the patron saint of immigrants to be a symbol of hope.
Voices in Dear Santo Toribio include Father Tim Davison, Juan Miret, Simon Navarro, and Josephine Olmos.
With this story we welcome producer Sarah Geis to Third Coast as our new managing director. What experiences and ideas (and chocolate preferences) does she bring to the team? Find out in EXTRA.
produced by
Sarah Geis (she/her) is a long-time editor, producer and educator who is influenced by oral history, documentary theater, and Lynda Barry.
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