Franciscan Sister speaks at immigration conference

HOUSTON, TX (06-03-2005) - Sister Veronica Schueler, FSE, JD, presented on immigration law at the Second Annual Summer Institute at the University of St. Thomas. The event focused on the social, economic and political dynamics of immigration. She also took part in a panel discussion about recent developments in the federal and Texas state legislatures.

The conference took as its theme reflections on the Pastoral Letters written by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on immigration issues. The keynote speaker, Cardinal Oscar Andrés Rodriguez Maradiaga, SDB, of the Archdiocese of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, emphasized the need to alleviate the suffering of new arrivals to this country, especially those fleeing persecution or extreme poverty.

Sister Veronica currently practices immigration law at the St. Francis Cabrini Center for Immigrant Legal Services at Catholic Charities in Houston. She also assists the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist with legal issues. Sister received her Juris Doctor degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School, Lansing, Michigan, in 1993. Prior to entering the field of law, Sister Veronica received a Bachelor of Arts in Writing from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master of Science in Criminal Justice from the University of New Haven. She also worked in corrections for ten years in Federal and State prisons. She is licensed in four states.