Paul Ryan to hold first town hall in nearly two years and these priests want to be there

On Monday night, House Speaker Paul Ryan will hold his first town hall open to the general public in his congressional district in nearly two years when he appears alongside CNN's Jake Tapper at the Racine Theatre Guild.

The Rev. Tony Russo would like to be in the room and plans on applying for an invitation. CNN will handle the attendance.

Russo is among 12 members of the Priests of the Sacred Heart in Franklin who over the past few months engaged Ryan on the issue of immigration.

They have communicated with Ryan's staff and exchanged emails and letters, including receiving one letter from Ryan.

"He may not agree with us," Russo said. "And that's OK. That's the way life is. But at least hear us out. We think there is a way people can change their opinions if they hear the larger story."

The issue of Ryan and town halls is complex. He has said he wants to reach out to constituents without them going into a "harassing environment." His opponents contend he hasn't been holding public town halls because he doesn't want to hear the unvarnished opinions of voters.

Ryan has held invitation-only sessions at businesses and telephone town halls.

Even though he didn't vote for him, the Rev. Johnny Klinger said he had hope that Ryan, a fellow Catholic, would help the U.S. solve issues related to immigration.

"I want to see results, but I don't get that feeling," said Klinger, who has ministered in places as diverse as inner city St. Louis, the Rio Grande Valley in Texas and the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

RELATED:House Speaker Paul Ryan casts doubt on President Donald Trump's plan to cut legal immigration

Ryan has four main priorities on immigration: securing the border; enforcing the laws on the books; encouraging legal immigration; and giving "people a chance to get right with the law."

According to Mark Peters, justice, peace and reconciliation director of the Priests of the Sacred Heart, the group believes that migrants and refugees should be afforded basic human rights and families should not be torn apart.

On March 6, four of the priests had a video conference with a member of Ryan's staff to discuss immigration. The meeting came as President Donald Trump's administration fashioned a new immigration order.

"We were concerned, especially with the fact that this country is made up of immigrants," said Russo, whose parents came to the United States from Italy. "Immigrants are important. Those families built this country."

Russo, born and raised on Chicago's south side, has been in the priesthood for decades and ministered in Houston in the 1980s, the last time Congress signed off on immigration reform.

Russo said he sought to invite Ryan to the U.S.-Mexico border area "to see another side of immigration, the faces of the people coming over here, especially the children."

After the meeting, letters were exchanged between the priests and Ryan's staff.

"In regard to your specific concerns related to immigration reform, it seems we agree that our current immigration system is broken and the evidence pointing to that is overwhelming," Ryan wrote Peters in April.

The priests sought to engage Ryan with specific questions on the Catholic Church's teachings to open what they called "respectful dialogue." They said they didn't get far and grew frustrated, especially when none of them received an invitation to participate in Ryan's phone-in town halls.

Ian Martorana, a Ryan spokesman, said: "The speaker and his team have always been accessible and (he) is happy to keep up a dialogue with any constituents who want to share their views."

On telephone town halls, Martorana said: “If constituents want to be notified ahead of time, we always invite them to provide their contact info to our office. Typically, telephone town halls are conducted by contacting folks in a similar geographic area, usually by county.”

So, if Russo happened to get a chance to speak with Ryan at Monday's town hall, what would he say?

As if picking up a microphone, Russo said he would give his name and religious order, talk about the discussion with the congressman's aide and express gratitude for being invited to the forum.

If invited, Russo said, "we're getting a chance to say something about our concerns."

And the question? "Why is it that not only criminals are being deported but people coming here asking for asylum are being deported?"