Loving the Stranger

Some Ancient Wisdom

2012-02-09T17:44:00.000-08:00

Its walls are patrolled day and night against invaders,
but the real danger is wickedness within the city.

--Psalm 55:10 (NLT)

We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

The Justice Conference this February 24+25, 2012 in Portland

2012-01-29T15:47:00.000-08:00

Coming very soon. The Justice Conference. Join us in Portland. February 24+25, 2012.

We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

Transformational Love and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

2012-01-15T10:13:00.000-08:00

" I do hope that everyone will breathe a prayer of gratitude to God
this weekend for gracing our planet with Dr. Martin Luther King."

~Tweeted by Bill Hybels, 13 January 2012

In 2007 I was invited to write the following essay on Martin Luther King, Jr. words from his "Love, Law, and Civil Disobedience" and an application to the current day issue of immigraion that was published at Non-violent Migration, a blog that explored the principles of nonviolence and social change with the words of Dr. Martin Luther King. Many of Dr. Kings words, speeches and writings and harder hitting the the MLK quotations that are repeated every January. I am reprinting my essay here as a tribute to the 2012 MLK Holiday. I invite you to interact about your own role in making the world a better place.

. . . we come together to work toward a better world of equality and justice. This . . . essay is a response to the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. submitted as part of a group effort to have a conversation about using nonviolent principles to bring human rights to migrant populations.

In 1961, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. addressed the annual meeting of The Fellowship of the Concerned with a speech about “Law, Love, and Civil Disobedience.” This was addressed to an interracial group of professional people who may have been discouraged because of a lack of progress and the violence that faced some who would carry their civil rights ideals forward. The problem, as described by Dr. King, is resistance in the south to the Supreme Court ruling (1954) that outlawed segregation. This has been met with counter resistance and civil disobedience of local ordinance from the student movement to move desegregation forward. This struggle needed to continue then. It needs to continue today. It is a struggle, as those who have privileges will not surrender them voluntarily. This is true today as it was in 1961.

The question to be answered by King in this speech is—how will the struggle be waged? The answer is profound. Everyone is transformed in the process—the oppressed and the oppressors. No one remains the same. God’s agape love is the catalyst.

Historically, the two most common ways to deal with the problem is either to surrender or to rise up with counter violence. King proposes a third way. It is the way of non-violent resistance. This approach was not intuitive or easily understood. King took a principled approach and worked hard to build a movement on those principles.

King is aware that the struggle is against an unjust system not against people. He says:

“There is something else: that one seeks to defeat the unjust system, rather than individuals who are caught in that system. And that one goes on believing that somehow this is the important thing, to get rid of the evil system and not the individual who happens to be misguided, who happens to be misled, who was taught wrong. The thing to do is to get rid of the system and thereby create a moral balance with society.”

Some of my learning about the civil rights struggles and the evils that were fought has been through movies. For some readers here, most was learned through books and the telling of stories in film. Cinema has a way of vilifying people by creating suitably hateable characters. This makes movies that sell tickets.

In the real world, identifying individuals who personify evil may merely be a distraction. There are plenty from whom to choose. Insert the name of the one you love to hate. Everywhere one turns on the Internet there are bloggers, and commenters, newscasters and talking heads, who are bashing someone to objectify the antithesis of their point-of-view. We need to focus on changing the systems. Changing people’s minds and hearts will lead to transformed culture and changed systems. Use God’s agape love to love the people we do not like. Until we change the system that supports injustice, the injustice will continue to oppress the weak. Focus on what is important. For Dr. King it was the segregated South. Today, it is the failed immigration system, unjust exploitation of immigrant labor, and international policies that devastate foreign economies.

That some laws are just and others are unjust, and that people have the capacity to understand the difference is essential to the founding of our county and the Christian faith’s pulpit from which Dr. King preached. King says:

“ . . . A just law is a law that squares with a moral law, it is a law that squares with that which is right, so that any law that uplifts human personality is a just law. . . . An unjust law is a code that the majority inflicts on the minority that is not binding on itself. . . .An unjust law is a code which the majority inflicts upon the minority, which that minority had no part in enacting or creating. . . .Individuals who stand up on the basis of civil disobedience realize that they are following something that says that there are just laws and there are unjust laws.”

Thomas Jefferson and the other signers of the US Declaration of Independence, carried it even further saying,

“Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed . . . But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”

In the Christian faith tradition, there are biblical directives to both obey the civil authorities, and, when contradictory to God’s laws, to reject them. The Christian Bible says that civil authorities have the responsibility to ensure that people can live peaceful, quiet lives (2 Timothy 2:2) and to govern rightly and ensure order (Romans 13). When faced with a choice to obey God or the law, the Apostle Peter declares that they will obey God and disobey the civil and religious laws of men (Acts 5:29). In the biblical narrative, there are times when the government is clearly in the wrong and described as a dragon or a beast causing death and destruction (Revelation 13).

#

When we choose to engage in civil disobedience, we must be explicit about the meaning of any such activity. Without explicit, carefully written and spoken words to explain what this action means, we may be wasting our precious resources. I do not believe that some of the recent actions that I have been aware of have been carefully planned and explicitly interpreted by the initiators. When words come, it seems to be an after thought. This is not only because it is being drowned out by louder voices of opposition, but also that may be part of the reason.

Recently the local NPR affiliate radio station here did a story on some arrests of protesters at a federal detention facility downtown. The reporter who covered the action seems to be a progressive and enlightened about what the basic issues are. But there was no articulation of how these arrests where directed at anything going on within the detention facilities, which I assume houses people picked up in ICE raids awaiting hearing or not and departure from the USA. There was nothing available on the website of the organization whose representative was quoted by the reporter. The representative called the action civil disobedience as the arrests were anticipated. But nothing beyond that was offered. Let’s not undervalue the importance of adding meaning with explicit descriptions of how the actions are to be interpreted. I wrote about this here and here.

#

I am not always hopeful. Sometimes I am near despair. There is so much injustice that remains. The opposing voices are so loud, disturbing, ubiquitous. I borrow hope from the words of Dr. King: “This movement is a movement based on faith in the future. It is a movement based on a philosophy, the possibility of the future bringing into being something real and meaningful. It is a movement based on hope.” I mentioned this to someone recently and he reminded me that Dr. King caught a bullet. Little has changed, he said. I know that.

King reminds us “. . .that [the] students [of his day] had faith in the future. That the movement was based on hope, that this movement had something within it that says somehow even though the arc of the moral universe is long, it bends toward justice. And I think this should be a challenge to all others who are struggling to transform the dangling discords of our Southland into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.” Today the discords of our Southland are on our southern border. The symphony may be made up of mariachis.

Dr. King was able to say this when his home had been bombed and churches were bombed. And people died. It is not be easy, but there is hope. Changing people’s hearts will change systems; changing systems changes the future.

###

Note: for an easy to understand and compelling description of the different kinds of love to which Dr. King alludes: storge (affection), phileo (friendship), eros (romantic love), and agape (charity or God-love) see C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves (1960).

We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

A tribute to Joaquin Luna by Senator Richard Durbin

2011-12-06T22:55:00.000-08:00

... on the floor of the United States Senate. Thanks to the Senator for these kind and supportive words.

If you need help, you can get help. Call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1-800/273-TALK (8255). Ask your friends, your school counsellor, your pastor. There is help.

Someday, we will do better as a country on the issue of immigration. Many have gone before you and there is hope. My thoughts and prayers are with Joaquin's family.

We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

The Justice Conference this February 24+25, 2012 in Portland

2011-12-06T10:10:00.000-08:00

An Invitation To Justice from The Justice Conference on Vimeo.

Join renowned Hebrew Testament scholar, Dr. Walter Brueggemann, at The Justice Conference this February 24+25, 2012 in Portland, Oregon. thejusticeconference.com

We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

Tragic Suicide of “Dreamer” Joaquin Luna

2011-11-30T09:51:00.001-08:00

We have all suffered a tragic loss this week in the untimelypassing of “Dreamer” Joaquin Luna. Joaquin was an 18-year old senior at Juarez LincolnHigh School in Mission, Texas. Hehad aspirations of going to college and becoming an engineer so that he couldimprove his family’s life. Becauseof the failure of the Dream Act to pass in Congress almost one year ago,Joaquin had lost hope. On Friday,November 25 around 9 p.m., he dressed up in a suit and tie, kissed his family,and shot himself in the restroom with a small handgun. Joaquin left suicide lettersindicating that he was troubled by his immigration status. In the words of his mother, Santa LermaMendoza, “He was saying he was going to do this because he wasn’t going to beable to continue with his college.”

May we all pause to reflect upon this terrible tragedy andask God for ways that we can support the Luna-Mendoza family and dignify thememory of Joaquin Luna.

Robert Chao Romero
Assistant Professor
UCLA Chavez Department of Chicana/o Studies and AsianAmerican Studies

We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

2011-11-27T07:02:00.000-08:00

If Justice and Injustice were in the flesh, what would they say to us? Which would commend, which would rebuke—and whose voice would be most familiar?

The Voice of Justice from The Justice Conference on Vimeo.

This short film was shown on the first night of The Justice Conference 2011.
The Voice of Justice from The Justice Conference on Vimeo.

The next Justice Conference is a 2-day conference on February 24+25, 2012 in Portland, Oregon sponsored by World Relief and Kilns College.

We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

More about Shattering Families

2011-11-26T21:22:00.000-08:00

From Colorlines, the national magazine on race and politics: "As parents are detained and deported, an increasing number of kids are stuck in the foster care system, with little hope of reuniting with their mothers and fathers. It's an injustice that hurts everyone."

See Juan Martinez on this topic here.

We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

A society that does not believe in the family

2011-11-16T22:21:00.001-08:00

On November 3, 2011 a report on the status of U.S.-born children whose parents have been detained or deported by immigration agents was released (Shattered Families). According to this study, there are more than 5,000 American children who are in foster care and are unable to be reunited with their detained or deported parents. Of course, this figure does not include children who have been left in the custody of relatives due to deportations and detentions. This situation has become increasingly more problematic, because the U.S. Government has increased the number of deportations and detentions to record-breaking levels.

These children are U.S. citizens, so they cannot be deported. However, the system is practically turning them into orphans. The anti-immigrant argument of some is that these children are “anchor babies”, an attempt by their parents to guarantee that they can permanently stay in the country. However, the “anchors” are clearly not working—the children’s undocumented parents are unable to stay. What this situation is doing is leaving these children adrift. According to congressman Jose Serrano, New York representative, if this situation is not corrected, these children may have to be adopted by other families.

The immigration system also has a lot of undocumented minors detained. These children crossed the border without their parents, often with the goal of being reunited with their parents who are living in this country. These children are being detained, without the possibility of meeting up with their parents. Some of them are in a legal state of limbo, as their undocumented parents are afraid of trying to come claim them.

This situation is particularly painful for me personally, because many of the people who are against fair and comprehensive immigration reform claim to be in favor of “family values.” However, they don’t want exceptions to exist to the deportation policy that would take into consideration the situation of children born here in the United States. It’s even more sad that many of these people are Christians who get angry when the political and social policies of this country attack the family. But it’s clear that their perspective only applies to certain families…not to poor or immigrant families.

It’s time to call our sisters and brothers who support policies that separate families and leaves children at the mercy of government systems to repentance. If we really are pro-family, it’s time for us to show this at all times, in all circumstances. It’s time for us to look for a fair solution to the issue of undocumented people and their children who have been born or raised in this country. If we are not prepared to work for them, then it’s time for us to recognize that we are not pro-family, to recognize that our politics are more important to us than our family values.

Dr. Juan Martinez is associate provost for diversity and international programs and associate professor of Hispanic studies and pastoral leadership at Fuller Seminary. Since coming to Fuller in 2001, Dr. Martínez has also served as director of the Center for the Study of Hispanic Church and Community. Among other topics, his current research focuses on the history of Latino Protestantism, Latino Protestant identity, ministry in Latino Protestant churches, and Latino and Latin American Anabaptists.

This article was originally posted at Caminando con el Pueblo, Protestant Digital and is cross posted at Sojourners' God's Politics Blog. Translation by Loving the Stranger blogger David Schmidt.
We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

Una sociadad que no cree en la familia

2011-11-16T21:16:00.000-08:00

El día 3 de noviembre salió un reporte sobre el estado de niños nacidos en los Estados Unidos cuyos padres han sido detenidos o deportados por los agentes de migración (Shattered Families). Según este estudio hay más de 5000 niños estadounidenses en cuidado temporal sin poder unirse con sus padres detenidos o deportados. Por supuesto que este número no un incluye a los niños han quedado bajo la tutela de familiares por causa de las deportaciones y detenciones. Esta situación se ha hecho cada vez más problemática porque el gobierno estadounidense ha incrementado la deportación y detención, rompiendo récords de deportaciones.

Estos niños son ciudadanos estadounidenses, así que no pueden ser deportados. Pero el sistema los está haciendo prácticamente huérfanos. El argumento anti-inmigrante de algunas personas es que estos niños son “niños ancla”, un intento de parte de los padres de garantizar su permanencia en el país. Pero claramente la situación no le está sirviendo de “ancla” a los padres indocumentados. Lo que sí está haciendo es que está dejando a los niños a la deriva. Según el congresista José Serrano, representante de Nueva York, si esta situación no se corrige es posible que estos niños tengan que ser adoptados por otras familias.

El sistema de migración también tiene detenidos a muchos menores de edad indocumentados. Estos niños cruzaron la frontera sin sus padres, muchas veces con la intención de reunificarse con sus padres que están en este país. Los niños están detenidos sin posibilidad de unirse con sus padres. Algunos están en un limbo legal porque sus padres indocumentados no se atreven a tratar de reclamarlos.

Personalmente esta situación es particularmente dolorosa porque muchos de los están en contra de una reforma migratoria justa e integral se declaran “pro-familia”. Sin embargo, no quieren que existan excepciones a la política de deportaciones que tomen en cuenta la realidad de los niños nacidos en los Estados Unidos. Más triste aun es que muchas de esas personas son cristianas y se enojan cuando las posturas políticas y sociales del país atacan a la familia. Pero es claro que su perspectiva sólo se aplica a ciertas familias, no a las familias pobres e inmigrantes.

Es tiempo de llamar al arrepentimiento a mis hermanas y hermanos que apoyan una política que separa a familias y que deja a niños a la merced de sistemas gubernamentales. Sí en verdad somos pro-familia es tiempo que lo mostremos en toda situación. Es tiempo que busquemos una solución justa a la problemática de los indocumentados y de sus hijos nacidos o criados en este país. Si no estamos dispuestos a trabajar a su favor es tiempo de que reconozcamos que no somos pro-familia o que nuestra política vale más que nuestros valores familiares.

Dr. Juan Martinez is associate provost for diversity and international programs and associate professor of Hispanic studies and pastoral leadership at Fuller Seminary. Since coming to Fuller in 2001, Dr. Martínez has also served as director of the Center for the Study of Hispanic Church and Community. Among other topics, his current research focuses on the history of Latino Protestantism, Latino Protestant identity, ministry in Latino Protestant churches, and Latino and Latin American Anabaptists.

This article was originally posted at Caminando con el Pueblo, Protestant Digital and is cross posted at Sojourners' God's Politics Blog and Undocumented.tv.

We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

Love is a Thread

2011-11-12T15:46:00.000-08:00

In the garment of justice, your love is an irreplaceable thread. The Justice Conference is February 24+25 in Portland, Oregon.

Love Is A Thread from The Justice Conference on Vimeo.

The Justice Conference. February 24+25, 2012. Portland, Oregon. Follow them on Twitter: thejusticeconf

We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

Arizona Voters Consider Recall of Russel Pearce

2011-11-08T10:10:00.000-08:00

Voters in Arizona will consider the recall of Republican Russell Pearce who has devastated human rights in that state through anti immigrant legislation such as AB 1070. Some bits from emails this morning:

From a youth pastor in Phoenix: "We will be out canvassing again today and reminding folks about the election. It will be our last day for awhile. Students are excited and energized still after all this work! A lady told me yesterday as I spoke at her door that she has been watching students walk up and down her street all year. She said she was thankful for them and proud youth in her community care and are trying to help. With Promise Arizona we have registered now over 14,000 low propensity Latino voters.

Pray that people who try to suppress voters will themselves be suppressed. Pray that everybody who wants to vote is allowed to vote. Pray that people remember the elections and are not confused by all the tricks and lies Pearce has used. He put a fake candidate with a Hispanic surname on the ballot to split the vote. He sent out 20 different mailers claiming he supports public education when he has cut more from K-12 budgets as Senate President and Appropriations Chair than any legislator in history. He is down in the polls but within the margin of error. It's going to be close. Pray with us."

From the news: "Russell Pearce, the Republican Arizona state senate president whose SB 1070 anti-illegal immigration law continues to inspire similarly strict immigration laws in other states, could lose his seat to a recall Tuesday."

See more news here: http://multiamerican.scpr.org/2011/11/the-russell-pearce-recall-election-a-referendum-on-arizonas-immigration-politics/

A prayer from the Hebrew Scriptures:

Psalm 94 (Common English Bible)
1 LORD, avenging God—
avenging God, show yourself!
2 Rise up, judge of the earth!
Pay back the arrogant
exactly what they deserve!
3 How long will the wicked—oh, LORD!—
how long will the wicked win?
4 They spew arrogant words;
all the evildoers are bragging.
5 They crush your own people, LORD!
They abuse your very own possession.
6 They kill widows and immigrants;
they murder orphans,
7 saying all the while,
“The LORD can’t see it;
Jacob’s God doesn’t know
what’s going on!”

8 You ignorant people better learn quickly.
You fools—
when will you get some sense?
9 The one who made the ear,
can’t he hear?
The one who formed the eye,
can’t he see?
10 The one who disciplines nations,
can’t he punish?
The one who teaches humans,
doesn’t he know?
11 The LORD does indeed
know human thoughts,
knows that they are nothing
but a puff of air.

12 The people you discipline, LORD,
are truly happy—
the ones you teach
from your Instruction—
13 giving them relief from troubling times
until a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 The LORD will not reject his people;
he will not abandon
his very own possession.
15 No, but justice will once again
meet up with righteousness,
and all whose heart is right
will follow after.

16 Who will stand up for me
against the wicked?
Who will help me against evildoers?
17 If the LORD hadn’t helped me,
I would live instantly
in total silence.
18 Whenever I feel my foot slipping,
your faithful love steadies me, LORD.
19 When my anxieties multiply,
your comforting calms me down.

20 Can a wicked ruler be your ally;
one who wreaks havoc
by means of the law?
21 The wicked gang up
against the lives of the righteous.
They condemn innocent blood.
22 But the LORD is my fortress;
my God is my rock of refuge.
23 He will repay them
for their wickedness,
completely destroy them
because of their evil.
Yes, the LORD our God
will completely destroy them.

We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

Profits, Slavery and the Law

2011-11-06T14:20:00.000-08:00

A woman came to our job program office and said she risked everything to be there that day. She was not allowed to leave her job in a sewing factory south of downtown. She was given a place to sleep inside the factory. She worked when she was awake.

An ICE officer tells a group of students on a tour of downtown that the neighborhood they are in is notorious because of the immigrants who are forced to work to pay for the services provided to get them to this country when they were brought here with the offer of a job. Law enforcement has few or no tools to change what is going on.

A teen in a church youth group tells one of the leaders that he was offered a job in the United States by another youth in his Costa Rican hometown if he would just go with him north--a trip that included riding on top of trains and being smuggled across multiple international borders. When he arrived in the United States he was given a package of drugs to sell. If you refused, the penalty would be death.

Slavery in the US exists and is fueled by a lack of reasonable laws to protect the vulnerable. What intellectual capital do you bring to help the situation?

Solutions to this will come with reasonable laws and structures that will make slavery less profitable and value people regardless of their origin. What can you do to stand up for the most vulnerable?

HT to Jubilee a nonprofit band for posting the video.

We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

Seeing the One Who Sees

2011-11-03T09:58:00.000-07:00

There is something powerful in seeing. In the moment we begin to understand we say, “my eyes were opened,” as if we had been walking around blind before. When the Apostle Paul began to live in the light of Christ, something like scales fell off his eyes and he could see. Last year I took a trip with the Christian Community Development Association board to the Arizona/Mexico border. It felt like a collective eye opening moment. When it came to concern for undocumented immigrants, some of us had never looked before, some of us had our eyes down on other things, and some of us were seeing the situation in a new light. Whatever the case, after our trip together, we all see the issue of immigration differently than we did before.

On the bus ride back from the border we watched the movie, “Crossing Arizona”. There is a scene where a Minuteman rally takes place in a hotel ballroom. As the speaker rants about immigrants taking away jobs and ruining our society, the immigrant hotel workers are cleaning up and serving those in attendance. As the viewers watching the scene we were left asking, “How can they not see that the people serving them are the ones they are railing against?” How can they not see?

How can we not see? How can we not see that thousands of people have died in the desert trying to reach a better life for their families? How can we not see the complexity and hypocrisy of a system that on one hand invites people in and on the other provides no way to come? How can we not see the millions of undocumented neighbors who work and live among us every day contributing to our communities?

Often when we talk about Comprehensive Immigration Reform we say we need a way for people to “come out of the shadows”, a way for people to be seen, to have their presence acknowledged and accounted for. As we drove through the desert I thought of a migrant woman who went out to the desert feeling used by people that didn’t acknowledge her or her contributions. In Genesis, Hagar encountered God in the desert and she gave Him a name, “You are the God who see me,” she called Him. The God who sees. It seems like such an obvious recognition and yet profound when I think of how often we walk through life not seeing what is really going on.

God sees. He sees the poverty and circumstances that prompt immigrants to come here. He sees their fear and courage. He knows the dreams and hopes that motivate them to press on. And He sees our confusion, concerns and questions as we seek to sort through the mess we are in as a nation. He sees our tension between law and compassion, protection and generosity. He is the God who sees.

Next Monday, November 7 at 6pm we are gathering in an attempt to see our immigrant neighbors, to voice our non-immigrant questions and pray together that the God who sees would see us in our good intentions and wrestling and lead us to unity and justice. And we trust that in coming together and seeing one another we, like Hagar, will not only be seen by God but can look and say, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”

If you are in the Southern California area join us for the Immigration Prayer Vigil- Monday November 7 at Newsong Church in Irvine- 18842 Teller Ave. We are fasting during the day and breaking the fast with a simple meal at 6pm. The prayer vigil will start at 6:30pm. Hope to see you there!

My DREAM for Change, part 2

2011-10-14T16:05:00.000-07:00

My life has most fully been lived on a little street in Fullerton, CA.

This neighborhood means so much to me. It's where I fell in love with my husband. It's where I discovered who I truly am. It's where I have experienced Jesus in the deepest way. It's where I learned to dream BIG dreams for those I love, even if they are not able to dream them for themselves.

My neighborhood is far from "beautiful". There is trash everywhere, gangsters hanging out on the corner, worn down apartments, and I have broken up a fight or two. But it's not this physical place, full of imperfections, that has so deeply impacted me. It's the perfect God I have experienced through my neighbors that is what brings me to a deep place of reflection.

In the countless meals I have shared, walks to Target I have taken, and conversations had at the food trucks, I have come to realize how connected I am to my neighbors. We are not all that different. We all want to be safe, provide for and protect our families. We all want to be valued.

We all want to dream.

As similar and connected as we are. There is a stark difference between me and my neighbors: I have been given the right to dream. In fact, I have almost been forced to dream. I grew up with the idea that I could do anything. I was free and even entitled to follow my dreams, whatever they may be.

My neighbors? Sure they can dream, in theory. They can imagine being doctors, engineers, teachers, artists, musicians, lawyers, politicians...but the reality of their circumstances often crushes those thoughts before they even fully play out in their heads.

When I first moved into my neighborhood I was an idealistic 19 year old. I thought with a little love and imagination this neighborhood could transform. What I have come to realize over the last 7 years is that love and imagination will only take you so far. I pray everyday not to lose my idealism, but I have accepted the reality that transformation takes time. It takes work and it is often times very difficult. When it comes to the reality of my neighborhood, there is just so much we have to overcome. We have systemic poverty, slum lords, a broken education system, and too many kids who don't know how to dream. We have generations of people who can't see past the corner of Garnet and Placentia and the second they do they are quickly reminded that for them, there is no point. Over the years I have also come to realized how deeply connected these issues are with the fact that so many of my neighbors are undocumented. When you don't belong, you have no rights, and you are treated like a second class citizen, what's the point of dreaming? I fear our lack of just Immigration policy is robbing our neighbors of their God given right to dream.

I think, as the Church, we need to acknowledge this as a viable possibility.

We also need to begin repairing the damage we have caused by allowing our big corporations to cause systemic poverty in our neighboring countries, taking advantage of cheap labor, creating a demand for drugs, weapons and prostitution, and allowing years of outdated and unjust laws go unchanged. Too many people want to criminalize the acts of those who came here unlawfully, but I think we need to take responsibility for our role in this mess.

We were so busy asserting our American right to dream for power and prosperity that we forgot about the dreams of our neighbors.

I know that changing our immigration laws will not instantly make everything better. There will always be poverty, corruption and injustice. But for my neighborhood, and countless other Immigrant communities across the nation, we will not see our dreams of transformation fully come to fruition without it. What Comprehensive Immigration Reform would do is restore my neighbor's ability to dream...something we had no business destroying in the first place.

Perry Wastes Opportunity in Presidential Debate

2011-10-10T07:28:00.000-07:00

By Steve Arredondo

Ratherthan articulate a well thought common sense response for supporting in statetuition in Texas for undocumented students, Rick Perry chose the path ofinarticulate emotionalism, which has plagued much of the immigration reformdebate. To be sure, immigration isan extremely complex issue that does not readily lend itself to sound bites,however, there are some common sense arguments to be made that should give eventhe reddest of tea partiers pause (okay not likely but one can hope). After allthese are the same people who talk about wanting small government, except forthose small exceptions for Social Security and Medicare.

Forone, as baby boomers life expectancy increases you will need more high-wageearners to prop up the Social Security program. Undocumented students thatqualify for entry into Texas universities would fit the bill as potentialhigh-wage earners. It makes nosense to take promising students who have the potential to earn high wages andrelegate them into the underground economy jobs that pay minimum or subminimumwages. In the long run such shortsighted public policy decreases the tax base which supports the publicinfrastructure. Second, the numberof Texas undocumented students eligible under the Texas in-state tuition law infiscal year 2010 was fewer than one percentof all Texas college students. Thus,the argument that undocumented students are taking up space of documentedstudents or would bust the budgets of Texas universities does not hold water.

Whilethese two simple arguments may not be sound bite worthy, they at least morethoughtful and analytical response than simply stating that opponents of instate tuition “have no heart”. Ofgreater concern is the lost opportunity to elevate the immigration debatebeyond xenophobic rants.

Steve Arredondo is daddy to Rafael II and Emma. He is also the Supervising Housing Attorney at the Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice, a non-profit legal service agency in East Los Angeles. A member of Whittier Area Community Church, Steve serves on the community outreach team. Steve also serves on the boards of the Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance and the Interfaith Food Center of Whittier.

We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

Prayer Vigil November 7

2011-10-07T12:06:00.000-07:00

Join the Christian community as One Church with our immigrant brothers and sisters for our second annual fasting and prayer vigil for immigration on November 7. We will share stories of compassion, struggle and transformation to learn what is like to be the stranger and how God's word compels us to listen and be active agents of His love with the immigrant in our midst.

We will be sharing a communal meal to break the fast at 6pm followed by a prayer vigil. More information to come soon!

We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

AM I A SAINT?

2011-09-14T06:30:00.000-07:00

by David J. Schmidt

Before I came down to southernMexico to volunteer with Fair Trade coffee coops in Chiapas and Oaxaca, I waschatting online with a friend from Russia who praised “all the altruistic work”(her words) that I’m involved in. As her comments became more gushing, I triedto deflect her adulation a bit. “Well…um…you know, Ksyusha,” I said, “noteverybody is as well-off as we are. And if we see that we can do something tochange things, we should try to help out.”

I kicked myself immediately aftermaking that comment. I realized (a second too late) that it only served toreinforce my own faux-sainthood. And Ksyusha responded in kind: “Well you mustbe a very giving person, David. Because if I spent all my time thinking aboutall the people who are suffering in the world, I’d go crazy. I mean, there’salways someone out there who is hungry or sick or suffering, I can’t spend thewhole day thinking about them…”

The conversation petered off atthat point: Ksyusha went off to work in Russia, and I went to bed in California.I kept thinking about our conversation after I had turned off the lights,though. Is Ksyusha right? Am Isome sort of modern-day saint who has a supernatural capacity to feelcompassion for others? The conclusion Ireached was: no, I am not a holy person. (I think anyone who has spent anevening with me would agree.)

The work I do is not aboutsainthood, or even altruism for that matter.

It’s about justice. Settingthings right.

Of course, all Christians are calledto have compassion on those who suffer, to stand in solidarity with them, towelcome all of the suffering and downtrodden into the loving arms of the humanfamily. But Ksyusha had a point…it is physically, psychologically, spiritually,emotionally and humanly impossible to always keep human suffering at theforefront of our minds.

If you think about it, at anygiven moment, there is someone out there who is having a hard time. And if youreally think about it in a statistical way, during any waking second of ourexistence someone on this planet isexperiencing something truly horrific and unspeakable. If we were to alwayskeep ourselves mindful of all the pestilence, disease, senseless death, caraccidents, cancer, rape, inexplicable illnesses, infant mortality and physicalpain that exist on this planet, we truly would go crazy.

A good part of the reason wewould go crazy is that the vast majority of this suffering is far away,disconnected from us. I call it the evening news mentality. In his excellent book Amusing Ourselves toDeath, author Neil Postman writes about how television changed theway we think about “news”, bringing us sound bites and news stories aboutevents taking place in communities disconnected from our own. Someone killedher infant child in Cincinnati. A drunk driver hit someone in Las Vegas. Ateenage girl went missing in Orlando.

These are all horrible thingsthat happen…but they have nothing to do with me. I don’t live in Orlando, or Cincinnati, or Las Vegas. I don’t know anyof the families affected by these things to be able to offer them comfort.These events aren’t happening to anybody who might be the cousin or friend orgrandparent of my neighbors. I once heard an anecdotal story of an elderlychurch lady who would regularly ask the members of her congregation to pray forthe characters on the favorite soap opera. I wonder sometimes, is this sodifferent from our obsession with the “tragic news case of the week”? I have noconnection to these people and communities…so what is the point in my losingsleep over them?

But when it comes to issues likethe labor rights of women who work in assembly line sweatshops of Tijuana, thecoffee farmers of Nicaragua, the children harvesting cocoa in West Africa, orthe plight of immigrants living in our country without papers, we are talkingabout an entirely different sort of beast. These are all plights directlyrelated to our lives.

The children who work as virtual,and often literal, slaves in Ghana are doing so, not because of the cruelty ofsome distant despot who has nothing to do with us. They are doing this so thatwe can have cheaper chocolate. Our companies and our economy keep them in thatplace.

The coffee farmer trying to feedhis wife and children and find enough money to send his kids to school and paythe bills is not a case of “random bad luck” in some distant corner of theglobe. That coffee farmer who tries to survive when the world market price ofcoffee is a roller coaster that goes up and down unpredictably, the coffeefarmer who never knows how much he will be paid for his harvest—his precarious situationwas created by those who control the world coffee market. So that you and Icould have predictable access to cheap coffee.

The woman whose working-class suburbof Tijuana was polluted with chemicals that the U.S.-based factories dumpedinto her neighborhood, whose child was born with birth defects just like mostof her neighbors’ children…

…her neighbor who works 12 hourdays on the assembly line just to pay rent…

…her other neighbor who lost partof his arm in the factory and was never paid indemnity…

…their lives are no regrettableaccident. Those factories set up shop in their neighborhood because it wascheaper to do so. Because they are part of this big, glorious, global economythat brings us the cheap consumer goods that we find in Target, Wal-Mart andK-Mart.

And when people flee theseconditions—the world that was created by the soulless corporations andcompanies that bring us those consumer goods, a union-free, rights-free worldthat is kept that way by our military when countries challenge it—when peopleflee and come here in search of a better life, they get treated like criminals.

When people come to the UnitedStates following the natural flow of money and profits that are being bled fromtheir homelands into the coffers of Phillip Morris, Nestle and Coca-Cola, whenthey follow that vast river of wealth flowing out of the South and into theNorth…they get treated like criminals, because they don’t have immigrationpapers. Papers which are practically impossible for poor people in theirposition to ever obtain in the first place.

These people are not strangers.They are not accidents. They are not distant, unfortunate circumstances. Theyare intimately, directly connected to our prosperity, our lifestyles, ourwellbeing. Our opulence is their despair.

To be sure, there is plenty ofsuffering on this earth that is random,unpredictable, uncontrollable and senseless. And yes, the Church is called toheal that suffering and bring comfort to our sisters and brothers who areafflicted by it.

But let us not mistakeimmigrants’ rights, fair trade and social justice for such charity. Thesemovements are about righting the wrongs committed by those who went before us.If we fail to do so, we run the risk of jumping into bed with Pharaoh, Caesar,Baal and Babylon. We engage in complicity with the empires of our broken world.Challenging the exploitative systems that dehumanize our fellow humans is not saintlycompassion or altruism…

…it’s the least we could do.

David Schmidt is a freelance writer and multi-lingual translator in San Diego, CA. He is a proponent of immigrants' rights and fair trade, and works with worker-owned coops in Mexico to help them develop alternative, fair sources of income.”

Bernard's Story

2011-09-13T06:30:00.000-07:00

The first time I heard about Bernard Pastor and his story was from Troy Jackson, a pastor in Cincinnati, Ohio. Bernard was in custody at that time and there were very few precedents of these stories turning out well. The narrative did turn out well in this situation. But the whole story has not has not yet played out. I share this because of its similarity to hundreds of youth who I have known in the last 20 years. It illustrates the need for justice, compassion, the DREAM Act, and Comprehensive Immigration Reform.

This is the story of how one community changed a young man's life. You can learn more about what happened with Bernard, his faith community and his larger community at this website and video. What follows here is a short introduction.

Bernard's Story from Bernard's Story on Vimeo.

We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

OPEN LETTER TO STATE SENATOR STEVE SMITH (R-AZ)

2011-09-12T07:30:00.000-07:00

Dear State Senator Steve Smith,

I realize you have a lot on yourplate, and I’m sorry to bother you with this little matter. But you see, itappears that you have access to some exclusive information that could reallyhelp out some of my friends, so I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind sharingsome of this insider’s info with us.

I heard your interview on NPR acouple months ago, and you sure seem to know a lot about how privilegedimmigrants are in the United States. More so, in fact, than many immigrantsthemselves. See, I have quite a few friends who are immigrants from Mexico andother countries, and apparently they have never been told about the greatamenities and services available to them!

First things first—could youplease direct my attention to the opendoor in the U.S.-Mexico border through which people are able to walk throughwith ease and convenience, with or without papers? You see, a lot of folks Iknow were unlucky enough to make the cut for the Green Card lottery, and notpatient enough to wait the average 182 years that it takes for a working classperson to get any kind of permit. They couldn’t survive in their hometowns,thanks to all the U.S. companies that bled them of their wealth, and thanks totreaties like NAFTA that stack the cards against Mexico’s poor.

So they came here without papers.

Thing is, everyone I know wasfoolish enough to risk their lives crossing through the desert! Can you imaginethat? Now apparently there is an open door somewhere in the border, but forwhatever reason, none of my friends have heard of it. Could you help a brotherout and let me know where this door is located? It would really help peopleavoid a life-endangering trek.

In addition, you refer to largegroups of immigrants who “don’t want to change” and are forcing Americans tochange and accommodate them instead. Now, my buddy José works 12 hours a day,busting his ass to earn a little money for his family, and on top of that he’sbeen taking night classes to learn English. This is because he lives in a partof the U.S. where most people speak English, and he doesn’t have access to alot of services because of his limited ability with the language. In fact, hewas having trouble ordering at McDonald’s the other day, and somebody behindhim shouted, “It’s America, learn English or go home”.

Evidently, José is not aware thateverybody in this country has secretly gone to the trouble of learning Spanish!Why have you all been holding out on him for so long? No seas sangrón,compa.

You also refer to enormous groupsof people who “don’t want to change”. Could you tell my friend Wang Liu that?He’s been studying hard to take the driver’s test and learn the rules of theroad here in the States. But apparently he doesn’t have to, according to you!Could you please direct him to the neighborhood where people are allowed todrive according to China’s laws without getting pulled over? I think it wouldreally save him some time.

In fact, I’d love to put myfriends in touch with these groups of anti-American immigrants who are takingfrom this country without giving anything back. See, my friends have foolishlybeen paying more in taxes than any services they can hope to benefit from! Theypay sales tax, gas tax, property tax, rental tax, and the folks who use a falseSocial Security number have been paying thousands into our Social Securitysystem without ever using any of this money! In addition, they’ve been wastingtheir time stimulating the U.S. economy by pumping cheap labor into ourcompanies—the very companies that made a mess out of the job market in theirown countries of origin! Man, are they going to be disappointed when they findout that they could have avoided pouring all this money into U.S. corporate andgovernment coffers.

At the very least, you could be achamp and point them in the direction of the immigrant-friendly gangs that youreferred to. The only gangs my friends have encountered are U.S.-based gangsmade up of mostly U.S. citizens who rob them every now and then. In addition,some of these immigrants have had the bad luck of running into whitesupremacist gangs who beat them up (or worse) because of the way they look.Could you please shoot off an email to the 800-plus white supremacistorganizations in the U.S. and let them know that “gang warfare” is for peoplefrom other countries? They seem not to have gotten the memo.

Last but not least, I can’t helpbut notice that you claim to be a devout Christian. Now this poses a problemfor many of my friends who have come here from Latin America, because most ofthem consider themselves devout Christians as well, of both Catholic andEvangelical Protestant varieties. Evidently, however, there is no room in yourChurch for these people who do not share your cultural background. Could youplease recommend a different religion for them to join? Do you know ifNeo-Paganism or Zoroastrianism are still accepting new applicants?

Of course, I hate to ask myfriends to change religions, since many of them are very attached to theirfaith in Jesus Christ. But evidently, this is the faith of xenophobia, bigotryand a U.S.-centric world view. So I’m afraid these folks will just have nochoice. (You know what, on second thought, never mind the last part. Assuming thatthis vast apparatus exists that gives preferential treatment to undocumentedimmigrants, I’m sure there must be a program out there that helps folks get outof your church and into something more comfortable.)

Thanks for all your help!

Sincerely,

Confused in California

INSPIRED BY…

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2011/jul/28/freshman-senator-takes-enduring-immigation-issues/

TEXT OF INTERVIEW:

“I’ve always been Mr. USA. I’ve always loved this country,” Smith said.“I remember getting in a tussle at school; I think we were in the in seventhgrade, and it was just silly conversation and someone was saying somethingagainst America -- I mean, I’ve always been that kind of Midwestern kid, youknow: God, family, country. And that's what I live for and that's what I liveby.”  

New housing developments aside, Smith said he does not like the otherways he sees his country changing. In Michigan, he watched a nearby cityapprove Muslim prayer calls, while banning church bells. In Arizona, he'shorrified by the phenomenon he refers to as "Press Two For Spanish."

  “Don't make mechange my country for where you come from,” the senator said. “If you don'tlike this country with you, you wanna bring your language with you, yourgangfare with you, stay where you were! Or face the consequences. But don'tmake me change because you don't want to.”

  Smith introducedfive immigration-related bills this year, most of them written to cut offsocial services to people who are in the country illegally. Even in Arizona,the bills were controversial. Only two passed -- one of which allows the stateto raise private funds for a border fence.

  "Here's thebiggest issue in everything related to the border: If we truly wanted to securethe border, we could,” Smith said. “The problem is, we don't.”  

Smith, on the other hand, does. To this end, he recently announced theweb headquarters for his fundraising campaign: buildtheborderfence.com.His first goal is $50 million dollars.

Though even if these millions are raised for the fence, there’s still thequestion of where to put it. Ahead for Smith is an intricate and complexnetwork of private, state, and reservation landholders, environmentalconstraints, not to mention the federal government.

Yet Smith remains undeterred. Asked at a recent Republican gathering whathe would do if said federal government tried to stop him from building thefence, Smith laughed and replied: “Well, they can try.” 

Written by David J. Schmidt, a freelance writer and multi-lingual translator in San Diego, CA. He is a proponent of immigrants' rights and fair trade, and works with worker-owned coops in Mexico to help them develop alternative, fair sources of income.

"TRUST Act 2.0" to be unveiled in January as Ammiano urges State officials to step up leadership

2011-09-09T10:16:00.000-07:00

For immediate release: September 8, 2011

As ICE shreds state contracts, Ammiano bill to protect California from failed S-Comm program moves forward

Sacramento - As the controversy surrounding the "Secure" Communities or S-Comm deportation program reaches a national boiling point, Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D - SF) announced today that after a 4-month process of consultation with community leaders and legal experts, the TRUST Act (AB 1081) will be re-tooled in early January and then continue to move through the State Senate.

“Regardless of the Obama Administration’s blatant on-going deception about S-Comm, every day Californians are being unfairly deported leading to tragic consequences for communities both here and across the country. Now more than ever we need to restore trust and I urge that our state leaders take a more active role on this critical issue as we continue to work towards suspending this damaging program. Together we need to do what is right for California," said Assemblymember Ammiano.

AB 1081 passed the Assembly (47-26) and the Senate Public Safety Committee (5-2) earlier this year before the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) stunned the public and legislators by shredding all S-Comm agreements <http://arcof72.com/?p=919&preview=true> on August 5. DHS and ICE then declared by fiat the program would be "mandatory" without any mechanism for local oversight. ICE provided no sound legal basis for the move, which California leaders slammed as "an affront to democratic governance" and "a stunning display of bad faith."

The bill's goal is to reform California's participation in the troubled S-Comm program, which has come under fire from law enforcement leaders and civil rights advocates for deporting large numbers of innocent community members, including victims of domestic violence and street vendors arrested for nothing more than selling food without a permit. Originally, the bill would have ensured Californians were protected from the program by amending the state’s Memorandum of Agreement with ICE that the agency has now unilaterally shredded.

“The bad faith move to take away state’s role in the process and conscript local police into the federal scheme is just one more legally dubious maneuver by ICE. We’re exploring every legal option available to hold the agency accountable and continue to protect California residents,” said Angela Chan of the Asian Law Caucus.

Chan and a team of attorneys are currently conducting a new, in-depth analysis, to be released in the coming days, of internal ICE documents unearthed earlier this year through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. The new analysis will provide documented proof that ICE repeatedly conveyed to state officials that California's approval was required for fingerprints to be shared with ICE under S-Comm. A preview of the analysis is available by contacting Chan.

The recent doubling down by the White House in defense of the program has only inflamed nationwide opposition with walk outs and peaceful civil disobedience occurring at S-Comm hearings across the country and localities passing new legislation in protest of the program and to protect the community policing initiatives which S-Comm threatens. Just yesterday, in a decision with national implications, Cook County, IL (where Chicago is located) voted to refuse to comply <http://www.chicagonewscoop.org/cook-county-ends-automatic-compliance-with-federal-immigration-detention-requests/> with ICE requests to hold immigrants needlessly in jail unless the county receives full reimbursement from the Federal Government.

Chris Newman, Legal Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network added, “The need for the TRUST Act is greater now more than ever. Californians are stronger and more united in our determination to keep our communities safe, prevent the destruction of civil liberties, and end the dragnet separation of families.”

###

We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

What's so wrong about "Secure Communities?"

2011-09-01T05:49:00.000-07:00

By Robert Chao Romero

Since the horrific terrorist attacks of 9/11, the United States government has continually criminalized undocumented immigrants as scapegoats for the "war on terror." ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) was created in 2003 through a merger of the Immigration and Naturalization Service and sections of the U.S. Customs Service, and it's stated mission is to "promote homeland security and public safety through the criminal and civil enforcement of federal laws governing border control, customs, trade, and immigration." Even though none of the perpetrators of 9/11 were undocumented, ICE has systematically targeted undocumented immigrants and their families for deportation over the past decade. In the past two years alone, nearly 800,000 undocumented immigrants have been deported. Latino, Asian, and other immigrant groups have become scapegoats in the war on terror.

Such scape-goating of immigrants in times of war, or perceived threat of war, is a common biblical and historical pattern. We are told in the book of Exodus, for example, that the Israelites were enslaved by the Egyptians because they were perceived to pose a potential war-time threat: "Then a new king...came to power in Egypt. 'Look,' he said to his people, 'the Israelites have become much too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.'" Exodus 1: 8-10. Another historical example of immigrant scape-goating in time of war involved the Japanese-American community during WWII. In 1942, the U.S. government forced 110,000 Japanese and Japanese-Americans to relocate to War Relocation Camps, without due process of law, because it made the one-sided determination that the Japanese-American community posed a war-time threat. Despite this discriminatory treatment, thousands of Japanese-Americans fought bravely on behalf of the United States in segregated units of the Armed Forces.

The so-called "Secure Communities" program represents yet another unfortunate historical example of immigrant scape-goating during time of war-in this case the U.S. war on terror. As part of this program, ICE seeks to promote "secure communities" by identifying and deporting "criminal aliens...who pose a threat to public safety." To assist ICE in the identification of "criminal aliens," the FBI automatically sends ICE the fingerprints of individuals booked into state and local jails. The FBI, in turn, receives these fingerprints from local law enforcement officials. ICE checks the fingerprints it receives against immigration databases as a means of identifying individuals who are unlawfully present in the United States.

Although the Secure Communities program might seem reasonable at first glance to some, upon deeper evaluation it becomes apparent that it is fatally flawed. Secure Communities is problematic for three major reasons: (1) it wrongly criminalizes the undocumented immigrant community in the mind of the general public; (2) contrary to the stated goal of targeting high level criminal offenders, the vast majority of those deported under Secure Communities have never been convicted of a crime or have been convicted of low-level crimes such as driving without a license; and, (3) it hurts law enforcement efforts by discouraging the reporting of crime.

By its name alone, the Secure Communities program perpetuates the false, yet common stereotype that undocumented immigrants are "criminals." The statistics prove otherwise and show that immigrants in the United States are actually far less likely than the native-born to commit crime. On a national level, U.S.-born men ages 18-39 are five times more likely to be incarcerated than their immigrant peers. In California, the statistics are even more striking--those born in the U.S. are 10 times more likely to be incarcerated than their immigrant counterparts. The vast majority of immigrants-both documented and unauthorized-are hard working people who contribute billions of dollars to the national economy and who come to this country in order to provide for their families.

The Secure Communities initiative has also failed in its efforts to target violent criminal offenders. Nationally, at least 25% of those deported under Secure Communities have never been convicted of a crime. In certain areas such as Boston, and parts of California, the number stands at more than 50%! In fact, only 14% of ICE matches involve high-level offenses such as murder. ICE head John Morton admitted this policy inconsistency in a public statement: "[Secure Communities] has also identified a large number of lesser offenders and that is because the single largest class of offenders are misdemeanors - that is the biggest pool that you would be identified by a fingerprint program," Morton said, "So we do very much prioritize our efforts but we also don't look away on other people that are referred to us."

Finally, Secure Communities is problematic because it hurts law enforcement efforts. According to law enforcement officials such as Sheriff Mike Hennessey of San Francisco, Secure Communities discourages the reporting of crime because it creates a relationship of fear between local law enforcement and the undocumented immigrant community. Put quite simply, immigrants fear that they will get deported if they report a crime. Unfortunately, this fear is grounded in real-life experience. In one recent Los Angeles task force hearing on Secure Communities, numerous stories were shared about undocumented immigrants being sent to ICE after reporting crimes to local law enforcement. According to one account, a woman was sent to ICE after telling police that she had found a dead body. In other cases, victims of domestic violence have been deported following the reporting of abuse by their husbands.

In sum, Secure Communities promotes the criminalization and scapegoating of immigrants and has failed to meet its stated goals. The end result has been the devastation of thousands of immigrant families through the deportation and forced separation of fathers, mothers, and their children. May we, as followers of Jesus, do our part to stand in the gap and speak up against this unjust social policy.

Robert Chao Romero is an Assistant Professor in the UCLA CÇsar E. Ch†vez Department of Chicana/o Studies and Department of Asian American Studies. He received his J.D. from U.C. Berkeley and his Ph.D. in Latin American History from UCLA. He is also the founder of Christian Students of Conscience, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to training and mobilizing students around issues of race and justice from a Jesus-centered perspective.

DREAM Sabbath • September 16th to October 9th

2011-08-25T06:24:00.000-07:00

Be a Voice for Undocumented Students!

From September 16th to October 9th, congregations across the United States will lift up the lives of DREAM students in prayers, readings, reflection and education during at least one Sabbath service as a way to help educate and spread awareness of DREAM students and their hopes to attain full recognition of their contributions to this country. The large showing of support by faith groups will hopefully continue to build momentum for the DREAM Act in Congress.

Would your congregation consider doing any of the following this fall?

Inviting a DREAM student (which we can help coordinate) to share his/her testimony at a service
Showing a video of a DREAM student (sample videos will be available in the near future)
Praying as a congregation for the DREAM student and if comfortable, praying for our elected officials to have the courage to support and pass the DREAM Act
A call to action for members to pray and fast for the DREAM student who shared his/her testimony and the thousands in our country
Passing out a bulletin insert with prayer points about DREAM youth so folks can be reminded to pray throughout the week

Please note the service doesn’t have to be called DREAM Sabbath nor does the whole service have to be dedicated to the DREAM student. Also, congregations do not necessarily have to tie the hardships that many undocumented students face to a piece of legislation, but to just highlight their stories which in and of itself is very impactful. This will give congregants an opportunity for prayer and reflection about a very real issue of pain happening within own communities.

This packet of information <http://www.interfaithimmigration.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/sabbath_packet.pdf> contains a plethora of resources to help a congregation with their DREAM Sabbath, including stories of DREAM students, bulletin inserts, theological reflections, sermon starters, myths and facts about the DREAM Act, a sample agenda for a DREAM Sabbath event, and much more.

In order to register your event, please click here <>

For more information or any questions, please check out www.interfaithimmigration.org or contact advocacy@wr.org

World Relief Commends the Administration’s Recent Announcement of the Review of Cases in Deportation Proceedings

2011-08-22T17:38:00.000-07:00

August 22, 2011

World Relief Commends the Administration’s Recent Announcement of the Review
of Cases in Deportation Proceedings

August 22, 2011- Baltimore, MD- World Relief, the humanitarian arm of the National
Association of Evangelicals, applauds the Administration’s August 18th announcement
regarding an interagency process to review the 300,000 plus cases in deportation
proceedings. This process will identify low-priority non-criminal cases that should not
be prosecuted under an exercise of prosecutorial discretion, as well as cases that may be
eligible for actual immigration benefits. The process will focus the Administration’s
resources on the removal of high-priority cases, such as convicted felons and individuals
who pose a serious threat to national security.

“This is a tremendous step towards a fair and effective immigration system,” said
Stephan Bauman, President and CEO of World Relief. “We urge the Administration to
dedicate the necessary resources to ensure that this process is quick, efficient, and
comprehensive. We trust that immigrants who are hard-working, contributing members
of our society, mothers and fathers of U.S. citizens, students, and many who served in the
military will not be prosecuted and, when eligible, will have the ability to receive legal
status and fully integrate into our society.”

This administrative review ensures that during a time of fiscal constraint, our resources
are being used as effectively as possible to enhance our national security by targeting
those who pose the greatest risk to the United States. For years, the deportation of noncriminal
aliens has torn families apart and misplaced limited government resources on
those in our country who are working hard and supporting their families. This new
Administrative process ensures that the priorities the Administration set in place of
deporting those who are most harmful to our country are actually reflected in our
immigration processing.

“This is the right step forward toward ensuring that many immigrants who are
contributing to our communities are not deported, often back to a country they no longer
know, leaving their jobs and families behind,” said Dan Kosten, Senior Vice President of
U.S. Programs at World Relief. “While the consideration of relief under this policy will
only be applied to cases actually in removal proceedings, the existence of a majority of
immigrants who would not benefit from such relief highlights the urgent need for
Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform. Only by reforming our
immigration laws will the root problems of immigration be addressed to strengthen our
country’s heritage of welcoming those who are willing to work hard and contribute to our
country.”

We applaud this action taken to ameliorate some of the current injustices of the
immigration system by identifying and granting relief to meritorious cases, and World
Relief remains committed to continuing our work with the local church to provide
immigration legal services and assistance as this process moves forward.

Jenny Yang
Director of Advocacy and Policy

####

World Relief, the humanitarian arm of the National Association of Evangelicals, is a
faith-based international relief and development organization committed to serving the
most vulnerable populations through the local church. World Relief currently works on
five continents, in some of the most impoverished areas of the world. In the United
States, World Relief focuses on serving the foreign-born, including providing
immigration legal services to refugees, asylees, parolees, victims of trafficking and other
vulnerable immigrants in twenty-four cities around the country. World Relief also
supports churches in developing immigration legal services programs. Since 1979,
World Relief has resettled over 236,000 refugees in the United States.

Loving the Stranger Network Blog appends the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

G92: Equipping the Next Generation for an Effective Biblical Response to Immigration — October 20-22, 2011

2011-08-16T17:46:00.000-07:00

Register Online NOW!
*The first 250 college students to register will get housing in Cedarville University’s dormitories*
www.cedarville.edu/G92 <http://www.cedarville.edu/G92>

What is G92?
At G92 you will hear from prominent national leaders who will inspire attendees to think Biblically about immigration and equip a new generation to respond in a way that exalts Jesus and draws people to Him. G92 refers to the 92 times the Hebrew word for stranger, ger, occurs in Scripture. It refers to people who have come from another land and is often referenced in connection with how God’s people are to treat the “ger” in their midst.

Speakers
Invited speakers who come from across the political and evangelical spectrum include keynote speakers Richard Land of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention and Jim Wallis, founder and President of Sojourners. We will also hear from Shane Claiborne, founder of The Simple Way, Carlos Campo, President of Regent University, Galen Carey, Vice President of Governmental Affairs at the National Association of Evangelicals, and many other religious leaders, writers, and academics.

Why?
The goal of this event is to promote a high-level conversation about immigration in a way that honors the example of Jesus Christ and the written Word of God. Keeping Jesus and Scripture at the center of this discussion can transcend partisan and media sound-bites and model a high level of civility as attendees think carefully about immigration.

Sponsors Include:

National Association of Evangelicals
Esperanza USA
National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference
Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU)
Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention <http://erlc.com/>
Immigrant Hope <http://www.efca.org/>
Evangelical Free Church of America
Regent University
Conservatives for CIR
World Relief

Register Online NOW!!!
*The first 250 college students to register will get housing in Cedarville University’s dormitories*

VISIT www.cedarville.edu/G92 <http://www.cedarville.edu/G92>

Dates: October 20-22, 2011 at Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio

Cost: Full Conference is $95 per person for adults and $45 per person for students.
A conference day-pass is also available as follows:
Thursday, October 20, 2011 is $30 per person
Friday, October 21, 2011 is $50 per person
Saturday, October 22, 2011 is $30 per person

Registration Deadline: Wednesday, October 12, 2011
ONLY Online Registration is available. Pay online by credit card or by postal mail.
Registration fees are not refundable after the deadline.

Spread the word!
Forward this email, print out the flyers and pass them out, or check out the below online resources!

Join the G92 Facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/G92-Immigration-Conference/114681011957085

Check out the G92 blog here: http://blogs.cedarville.edu/g92/

We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

Congressman Mike Honda on the California Dream Act

2011-08-01T07:22:00.000-07:00

From The Los Angeles Times letters section, Sunday, July 31, 2011

Dream Act may blaze a trail

Re "California Dream Act signed into law," July 26

Akin to California's cutting-edge leadership on a range of issues, the governor now leads the country on immigration reform.

In passing the Dream Act, California is enabling thousands of California students to constructively contribute to our economy.

The Dream Act is just the first step. We must pass comprehensive immigration reform quickly. Deportation of millions is clearly not viable. Deporting America's undocumented immigrants would cost us far too much.

Congress needs to step up on comprehensive immigration reform, and commitments by courageous states like California pave the way.

Michael Honda
Washington
The writer is a Democratic representative from San Jose [California].

We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

Guest post: Blame me by Juan Martinez

2011-07-18T07:33:00.000-07:00

In June Senator John McCain (R-AZ) blamed undocumented people who happen to pass through Arizona for starting one of the fires that burned thousands of acres in Arizona and New Mexico and are now threatening to cross the border into Sonora, Mexico. According to McCain if the borders were more secure there would be fewer fires in that area. (The only thing left for him to blame on undocumented people are the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.)

This accusation–and others like it–demonstrates the tendency to make marginalized people scapegoats. This tendency of blaming other people has been common in the United States throughout its history. Blame is now focused on undocumented people who are mainly Latino. According to some right wing pundits, Latino undocumented people are the cause of unemployment, mediocre education and health services, criminal activity, and even deficits in state and federal budgets.

These accusations are so easy because no one contradicts the madness. Undocumented people cannot defend themselves, and many of the rest of us choose to keep silent in the face of these accusations. It is time for us to have the courage to stand up and challenge what is clearly false and unjust.

Even on the outside possibility that some undocumented person accidentally started a fire, the problem of wildfires in Arizona cannot possibly be fixed with by closing the border, as an accidental fire can be started by any one of us, even Senator McCain himself.

It is time for us as Christian leaders to speak with force and clarity against this type of inflammatory rhetoric. We must address the issue of undocumented people. But to blame them for every bad thing that happens to this group of immigrants only moves us further away from responding to the serious problems that our country faces.

Unless undocumented people are responsible for the rise of the price of oil or problems with the social security system…

Dr. Juan Martinez is the Associate Dean for the Centro para el Estudio de Iglesia y Comunidad Latina (Center for the Study of Hispanic Church and Community) and Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies and Pastoral Leadership, School of Theology. His education includes an MDiv from Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary and ThM and PhD from Fuller Theological Seminary. Cross posted from Caminando con el Pueblo in Spanish. Post here with permission of the author. Translated by Glen Peterson.

We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

Seven DREAMers Arrested in San Bernardino

2011-07-13T23:32:00.000-07:00

ICE Threatens Deportation of Seven Undocumented Youth Arrested at Protest

IMMIGRATION AUTHORITIES THREATEN THE 7 UNDOCUMENTED YOUTH WITH DEPORTATION

Pasadena, CA – Earlier this morning the seven undocumented youth arrested at a sit-in near the San Bernardino Valley College yesterday were all released. The seven rallied earlier in the day asking local police to stop cooperating with ICE programs. Jonathan Perez, one of the youth arrested stated: “We are coming out of the shadows to protest programs that target undocumented people, programs like 287(g) and Secure Communities. Local police should not be enforcing or collaborating with ICE, it creates a mistrust in the community and it needs to stop right now.” After sharing their testimonies the youth staged a sit-in, with over 200 supporters surrounding them, the 7 youth were arrested.

“We spent much of the night in booking, at one point ICE came in and interviewed us. We thought we were going to get detained like most undocumented people who go through these jails, however we were not detained for some reason,” said Martha Vazquez, 22. ICE authorities threatened they may still get involved.

Ju Hong, 21, one of the seven, risked arrest in an effort to empower his community, “I took action because I want to encourage all Asian American undocumented youth to come out of shadows and fight. In this critical time, we must stand united and continue to take a risk in order to push for the fair and humane immigration reform to our community.” More about his story, a senator elect to the Cal Berkley Associated Students is in the Daily Californian.

Two of these students, Jonathan Perez and Martha Vasquez, was part of the delegation that went to California Senator Ron Calderon's office on July 6th, 2011 to talk about the concerns we all have about enforcement without any concern for a path to normalized immigration status. I posted about that experience here. Another DREAMer that I met in Pasadena a while back, Isaac Barrera was arrested. I am using his photo below.

More information about the action at San Bernardino Community College is in the Redlands Daily here.

Some of the students are holding a press conference announcing future plans of arrested youth at Pasadena Community College on July 14, 2001 at 12 noon in front of campus by the fountain.

Information from this story was found in the news articles that are linked above and from a press release from the San Gabriel Valley DREAM Team.

Putting faith into action to support the DREAMact

2011-07-13T07:59:00.000-07:00

From July 12, 2011

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] -- Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL), Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) and more than a dozen religious leaders representing a broad variety of faith traditions, today announced a DREAM Act Sabbath -- an initiative enlisting churches, synagogues, and mosques around the country to dedicate time during their regular weekly worship service to a conversation about the DREAM Act. The nationwide event will talk place this fall on September 23rd, September 24th, and September 25th.

Immigrants and faith leaders speak out about immigration reform

2011-07-12T07:08:00.000-07:00

Faith leaders and immigrants in California speak out about the need for immigration reform. Check out what some of our friends say about the current immigration situation and the need for reform. The voices for immigration reform come from many different perspectives and Christian traditions in Los Angeles and Orange County. How will you respond when you read the Bible and God's concern for the stranger, the sojourner, the immigrant?

This video is from one of the Loving the Stranger Network partners, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice--Orange County (CLUEOC)

Guest Post: The Right to Wander, A Pastor Plants a Flag, by David Housholder

2011-07-08T07:31:00.000-07:00

I’m going to plant a flag on this issue.

Please hear me, I respect the opposing view. I just don’t share it.

The truth is, God gave the whole earth to the human race and told us to go forth, be fruitful, and multiply.

Even when he gave Israel to the children of Jacob, he warned them to treat the foreigners nicely; that they would be evaluated, as a nation, by their hospitality toward them. All through the Old Testament stories, there are prominent foreigners sharing the lives of Israelites (e.g. Uriah the Hittite) at a high level.

I have Scandinavian heritage, and you have the right, in my ancestral homeland (the Swedes call it “Allemansrätten”), to wander across anyone’s property, as long as you respect their privacy and leave everything the way you found it. And you can camp for free on anyone’s land, as long as you don’t disturb anyone or make noise, for up to two nights.

I believe in the right of every peaceful man or woman on Earth to be able, unhindered, to:

Travel anywhere on planet Earth he or she can afford to visit. As long as you pay your way and are not a burden.
Seek and take gainful and respectful employment anywhere it is legitimately offered.

I don’t believe in gated communities.

I don’t believe in national fences that keep people in (Berlin Wall) or keep people out (Mexican border at Tijuana).

All God’s people have access to all God’s world.

People of Western/Northern European ancestry have no greater right to staying in my California county than people of Latino ancestry.

And I believe that a mobile population is good for the economy. Anytime free labor can find its way to free capital, there is prosperity for all. That’s the free-market libertarian in me, talking.

Mobility is a basic human right.

The big question is: Do you see people as an asset or a liabilty?

Sure there are people who are one or the other. But on balance, how do you see the human race?

America was founded on the idea that people are, on the whole (and with some exceptions), an asset. Look at the Statue of Liberty. We saw the “huddled masses” of peasant Europe as an amazing asset. They built the farms that now feed us. Their blood now runs through our veins…

Overpopulation is a total myth. Europe and Russia are starting to decline in population. Most of America is empty (every spend much time looking down out of the window seat?). Our rural areas are depopulating. Detroit has thousands of acres of emptiness and some of it is returning to native forest. Sure there are areas of overcrowding, but Anglo North America could easily handle two billion people. (Currently 350 million). Our biggest challengers in this new century will be China and India, because they are blessed to have more people. More workers. More ideas.

We have to re-think transportation and energy–but that’s been done before and we can do it again.

People are not bad for the earth. People are beautiful and creative. We are the crown of creation. Made in the image of God.

I live in California. We are so blessed to have hard-working Latino and Asian immigrants in our midst. They have, together with us, built this state. I have driven all over our great state for the past ten years, and most of it is….empty. There is room for all–especially those willing to work.

You can’t have free markets (and I’m a free market guy) without freely mobile labor. We can’t put a fence around America.

My wealthiest California friends say “Unless we let inexpensive labor connect with our abundant domestic capital, we may as well ship all of our manufacturing to China.” Sobering.

Fences just accumulate and build up tensions, artificially. It’s where weapons tend to congregate. The barbed wire fence across Korea is a source of great tension right now.

Truth is, fences don’t work anyway. The Great Wall of China was a colossal failure. And the “Iron” Curtain rusted in one generation. Walls will always be breached, just like in medieval warfare.

Eventually, European towns just quit building them because they were ineffective.
We have to learn to live together. It won’t be easy. There will be huge challenges.
We may have to get rid of the welfare state altogether to make for a workable world.
But building more fences is not the answer.

They won’t last.

They won’t work.

This article was originally posted on David Housholder’s Journal on December 29, 2010, cross-posted here with permission of the author. David Housholder is teaching pastor at Robinwood Church in Huntington Beach California. He finds his spiritual and cultural roots as Norwegian-American Lutheran and now considers pentecostals to be his tribe. He is the author of The Blackberry Bush (Summerside Press, 2011) that deals with immigration. He does not like to wear shoes when he preaches, and believes socks were a really bad invention. He moved to California mostly to get away from socks.

We append the following disclaimer on all guest blogs: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

Guest Post: 25 Hour Adventure to Mexico by Keturah Kennedy

2011-07-07T08:23:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I wouldn’t believe my own stories if I hadn’t lived them.

One week ago I left an “American” 18 year old in Mexico.

Gio was on a bus to the Palm Desert when border patrol picked him up in Indio, CA. His bus was boarded and the riders were asked to prove their citizenship. Gio was brought to the US when he was 5 years old, attended California schools and for all intents and purposes was an American by everything except his papers. Gio is one of the best kids we’ve ever had come through our programs at Mika. He attended our after school program, has been mentored for the last five years and volunteered diligently tutoring elementary students through his last few years of high school. He currently attends Orange Coast College and helps support his family as the man of the house.

Last Friday when border patrol boarded his bus as he was headed to visit a friend, he was asked to produce his papers and he was detained when he couldn’t prove his citizenship. After he was intimidated and coerced to sign a voluntary departure form he was deported to a country he didn’t know at 3 o’clock in the morning. He was alone and scared.

At 3pm on Friday afternoon, myself and 3 other people drove to Mexico to help get Gio from Mexicali to Tijuana to a safe home where he could stay until further arrangements could be made. What was intended to be a 10 hour trip turned into a 25 hour adventure that included wondering the streets of Tijuana at midnight and diligently pursuing a safe place for Gio to reside.

I wish I could say everything turned out alright and everything is ok. But what is ok in this situation? I left one of my favorite kids in Mexico while I got to drive back across the border and show his mother the pictures from our journey. Everything Gio knows about Mexico he learned from the movies. Everything he knows about life took place in Orange County, California. I want to believe that the government is interested in deporting criminals and those at danger to our society and yet my experience of walking with undocumented teenagers tells me otherwise.

When will we as the people of God say enough is enough. Worshiping on Sunday morning was difficult in light of the fact that I left a child of God in a country that he didn’t know as home, and yet as a believer I have to trust that my God is greater and has a plan beyond what I can see right now.

This was originally posted by Keturah Kennedy on May 26, 2011 her own blog, Before I'm 30… as 25 Hour Adventure to Mexico. Keturah loves her city of Costa Mesa. She has a passion for participating in God’s Kingdom work in her city and uses her gifts in organizational development as Mika Community Development’s Director of Operations.

We append the following disclaimer on all guest blogs: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

California Legislative Visit Senator Ron Calderon

2011-07-06T23:05:00.000-07:00

Ten of us in California Senate District 30 visited California Senator Ron S. Calderon's office in Montebello, CA this afternoon to talk about AB 1236 and learn more about the legislative process in California. Our group of ten people included Jonathan and Martha from the San Gabriel Valley DREAM Team; retired United Methodist Pastor from Whittier, Bill Miller; Maria, Fernando (going into the eighth grade) and Marta from Bell and Adriana Diaz Ordaz from COFEM; and Carl from the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA).

Our concern is that any increase in enforcement such as E-verify program that is full of errors, without any change in the law to allow hard working people a path to get resident and/or citizen status will have a negative effect on business, on people seeking jobs, and the community as a whole. We asked the Senator's staff to ask Senator Calderon to support AB 1236 which will limit the use of the flawed system in California. In the past, Senator Calderon voted in favor of similar legislation. My sources told me before the meeting that the Senator's legislative director is recommending he vote in favor of this bill. The staffer in the office today was unable to say with certainty that the Senator would in fact vote for it.

Kristine from the California Immigration Policy Center helped with the technical details and briefed us on the negative impact of e-verify program and why AB 1236 is a positive thing for California, for business and our communities. Follow the links here to learn more about this issue.

A letter to my senator, Ron S. Calderon after the break. Adapt the information in this letter for your own California Senator and Assemblymember.

July 6, 2011

State Senator Ron S. Calderon

State Senate District 30, District Office
400 N. Montebello Blvd. Suite 100

Montebello, CA 90640

Fax: (323) 890-2795

RE: AB 1236 (Fong) - Support

Dear Senator Calderon:

Capacity Partnership Group (a business consultancy practice) and Loving the Stranger Network (a network of faith-based organizations) strongly supports Assembly Bill 1236 by Assemblymember Fong. This bill would prohibit state and local governments, unless mandated by federal law, from requiring private employers to use the E-Verify system. This bill provides employers the flexibility they need in today’s economic crisis to accelerate employment when many people are looking for jobs.

The United States immigration system has long been broken, but unfortunately federal legislators continue to fail to comprehensively reform the system. Their failings have forced some local legislators to misguidedly take matters into their own hands.

E-Verify is Expensive for Everyone

E-verify places unnecessary burdens and costs on California businesses. The system requires employers’ compliance with the system and holds employers responsible for verifying employee’s work authorization. Doing so requires extensive training and changes in human resource policies and practices, going beyond what is currently required under Federal Law. According to Bloomberg News Service, the cost to small businesses if E-verify were mandated nationwide would be $2.6 billion.^[1]

E-Verify is a Terribly Flawed System

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) finds that the Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration databases, which E-Verify are checked against, remain deeply flawed. Each year thousands of workers wrongfully receive “tentative non-confirmations” (TNC’s) based on discrepancies in the E-Verify databases and employer misuse. According to the report, of the nearly 25,000 (TNC’s) issued in fiscal year 2009 based on name mismatches alone, more than 75% were issued to US Citizens. As a result, US citizens are wrongfully kept from work or wrongfully fired, decreasing both worker and business productivity.

Local governments shouldn’t mandate E-Verify

By mandating E-Verify, local governments are committing themselves to costly implementation and enforcement – which most local governments don’t have the funds to do. E-Verify will not guarantee that unscrupulous employers will not hire unauthorized workers. In Arizona, a state that has mandated E-Verify for all businesses, numerous reports from the Arizona Republic newspaper have pointed to the number of taxpaying workers who have continued to work, but simply been shifted off the tax rolls. ^[2]

AB 1236 protects prosperity and promotes economic recovery efforts

Assemblymember Paul Fong (D-Cupertino) recognizes that increasing costs during a time of economic hardship would be detrimental to recovery efforts. His bill, AB 1236, would insure that city, county and state government cannot mandate the use of E-Verify for private business owners and would reaffirm that E-Verify is an optional program of the Federal Government. The bill has broad support from civil rights and immigrant rights organizations, labor and chambers of commerce. For these reasons, [your organization] urges your support for AB 1236.

This bill would impact many businesses and individuals in California Senate Distric 30. We urge the Senator to vote in favor of this bill and to support other bills that will increase the ability of immigrant families to improve their lives through work and business in California and the United States. Please feel free to contact me if I can answer any questions or be of help in any way.

Sincerely,

Glen Peterson

[1] Jason Arvelo, “Bloomberg Brief: Assessing E-Verify Costs for Employers, Tax Payers,” Bloomberg Government, January 2011.

[2] Jahanna Berry, “Arizona’s Illegal Immigrants can Easily Avoid E-Verify system” The Arizona Republic, August 17, 2010.

Guest Post: What is a U. S. Person?

2011-07-06T08:26:00.000-07:00

This is new one on me. Last week I had to certify under penalty of perjury; that “I am a U.S. Person.” We were signing some financial documents and on the page where you give your social security information there was the new phrase “U.S. Person.”

A United States Person is defined variously by different government agencies. The gist of it is that if you are a citizen, a legal resident alien or a corporation formed under US law you are a U.S. Person. Some implications of being a U.S. Person are:

· The NSA is not supposed to spy on a US Person without a court’s permission.

· The IRS has permission to tax US Persons.

· You don’t have to live in the USA to be a United States Person.

· You don’t have to be a person to be a United States Person. You can be a corporation or a group.

Since we had to invent United States Person to keep everyone in nice neat categories I suggest that our rules are too complicated.

U.S. Person appears to be a term invented to fill up the space between those who are not subject to US law, taxes and constitutional protections (Foreigners) on the one side and those who clearly are (US Citizens and resident aliens) on the other extreme. US Person includes trusts, partnerships and corporations that are formed under US law. It doesn’t seem to include foreign investors doing business in the US who don’t have permanent resident visas and it doesn’t include persons living in the US who don’t have green cards.

As a service I have below the fold included several US Government agencies definitions of U.S.Person and links.

According to NASA in their explanation of export controls: U.S. Person is a natural person who is a lawful permanent resident as defined in 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(20) or who is a protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3). It also means any corporation, business association, partnership, society, trust, or any other entity, organization or group that is incorporated to do business in the U.S. It also includes any governmental (federal, state or local), entity.

According to the National Security Agency web site, Federal law and executive order define a United States person as any of the following:

A citizen of the United States

An alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence

An unincorporated association with a substantial number of members who are citizens of the U.S. or are aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence

A corporation that is incorporated in the U.S.

I got this via Wikipedia since I wasn’t able to access the NSA web site from my computer. This concern me just a little.

This definition is from the IRS :

The term 'United States person' means:

A citizen or resident of the United States,

A partnership created or organized in the United States or under the law of the United States or of any State,

A corporation created or organized in the United States or under the law of the United States or of any State, or

Any estate or trust other than a foreign estate or foreign trust.

Neither ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) nor DHS (Department of Homeland Security) had a definition of United States Person on their websites.

# # #

This article first appeared on Rational Immigration on June 29, 2911. It is cross-posted here with permission of the author. Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.

Simon Burrow, from Pasadena, California, writes about immigration issues in Rational Immigration from a conservative Jewish faith perspective. He is an immigrant from England spent his childhood in upstate New York and his working career in California. A graduate of Cal State LA in Finance and an army veteran he has been happily married for thirty-five years and has two grown daughters.

Guest Post: A Pulitzer Prize Winner and the Dream Act

2011-07-05T08:07:00.000-07:00

Last month José Antonio Vargas, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, revealed that he is an undocumented immigrant. One can read about his journey in countless stories on the internet or watch an interview. He came from the Philippines when he was 12 and did not find out until several years later that he did not have proper documentation. From a very poor family, his mother sent him to live with his grandparents in San Francisco in order to have a better life. He has lived all these years with incorrect documents, but he has made quite a career for himself. In the interview he talks about the constant fears and contradictions of living without proper papers.

Last week Senator Durbin of Illinois again brought the Dream Act before Congress. This is another chance for legislators to do justice for the hundreds of thousands of high schoolers who are here without legal status. They came when they were small and have finished their studies. This is a whole generation with potential that could contribute to the country in so many ways. Vargas is a sterling example.

Those who speak against it say that these kids take jobs away from young citizens. Perhaps this is so in the very short term, but the longer view is that they will generate jobs and move the market forward, as well as become full-tax paying participants in the economy. Another argument is that this will encourage illegal immigration. Really? How does waiting years and years for a chance to enter a legal process that itself will take years encourage immigration? What kind of ‘plan’ is that?! The Dream Act is for those who are already here and who meet certain qualifications. In no way is it an open door policy. Others say that U.S. kids have to pay out-of-state tuition if they come in from elsewhere. The fallacy of that argument is that these kids have been living where they are for years. A U.S. citizen can move to a new state and get residency in another state usually in a year. If a U.S. citizen were living as long as they had in a state, they would pay in-state tuition.

None of these kinds of arguments against the Dream Act are moral, let alone biblical. They are misinformed perspectives about the contents of the bill and actual immigration patterns and motivations, and they are designed to raise the emotional quotient.

As Christians, we need to focus the discussions on the biblical value of people and the mandate to love the neighbor (even our enemies!). How many more José Antonio Vargases are there? How much energy could they generate for the common good!

M. Daniel Carroll Rodas, who celebrates his heritage from both Guatemala and the United States, joined the faculty of Denver Seminary in 1996. He currently is Distinguished Professor of Old Testament. He is the author of Christians at the Border: Immigration, the Church, and the Bible. This article was originally posted on Danny's blog: Immigration and Other Matters hosted at Denver Seminary and is cross-posted here by permission of the author.

Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.

Note: Jose Antonio Vargas has a website, Define American.

Prominent Immigrants Discuss U.S. Immigration Policy

2011-07-05T08:01:00.000-07:00

"Segment on Immigration featuring George Will, Former Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL), Former DC Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, and journalist Jose Antonio Vargas on the July 3, 2011, edition of ABC's "This Week" program."

This demonstrates that people who disagree can have a civil conversation about immigration.

Thanks to Tweets from @MatthewSoerens and @MicEvHill

Life, Liberty, and The Pursuit of Happiness

2011-07-01T07:36:00.000-07:00

The most famous part of the Declaration of Independence says that “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” are values so precious that they are worth more than our own personal wealth, security and even our lives.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

This text was adopted by the second continental Congress in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776 and we celebrate the 235th anniversary of its signing this weekend.

I believe the founders of this country believed that the “pursuit of happiness” included the ability to work and enjoy the result and to enjoy that in the community of other in a civil society with other created humans with equal rights and privilege to do the same.

The founders had not yet understood the full application of these words as they would continue to use the coerced labor of slaves and did not afford full rights, education or voting rights to anyone except white, land-owning, males. Our country has come a long way as it has abolished slavery, gives many rights including schooling to everyone within our borders and full suffrage for those 18 and older.

I hear the theme of pursuing happiness repeated, revived, and renewed when I hear the stories of my friends and neighbors who have risked their own lives by coming to the United States to pursue a better life for their own families, their children, and their children’s children. They have done this of their own will, sometimes with the previlege of doing so within the legal system that inadequately accounts for the number of workers our economy uses. And, other time outside of the legal system that refused to acknowledge the value of each individual being created in God’s image.

As a country we have further to go. Some people living, working, paying taxes and participating in other respects of our civil society are not afforded all of the rights that they should enjoy.

Our declaration goes on to say: “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…” There are some clear consequences if we really believe this statement. If we believe that everyone should enjoy equal rights and treatment by virtue of our being created in the image of God and that governments derive their power only by consent of the governed and not based on the privilege of class or citizen status, then we have more work to do. Should we not consider how we can more quickly and fully engage and empower people who are working and living in this country rather than have a class of working people who have fewer rights based on the accident of where they were born?

I believe that it imperative for the spiritual and moral foundation that our country is founded upon and made explicit in these words of the Declaration of Independence that we consider fundamental changes in our immigration system that will include legal status for as many people who are present within our borders who have agreed to pursue happiness by working hard and obeying the laws and caring for their families. We must abolish the current system that labels some workers as “illegal” and holds them out of the society that they are actually helping to build with their hard work laboring in fields, factories, and providing needed services to our citizens.

I hope and pray that during this congress, new laws that are compassionate, fair, and decent will be adopted. This should be the year that young people who grew up in this country and call themselves American and pledge allegiance to the flag will be allowed away to make their status right by the passage of legislation such as the DREAM Act. I call on congress to pass new laws. I call on the President of the United States, Barrack Obama to lead on this issue and to sign the legislation into law. Let’s make it possible for all of us to enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Guest Post: Feet

2011-06-30T10:05:00.000-07:00

Today [written May 29] I will start a 75 mile trek through the unforgiving Sonoran desert. I'll cross over the border in Sasabe, Mexico and travel to Tucson, Arizona with a group of people.

I've been in Arizona for a few days now and the reality of what I signed up for is starting to hit me. Walking for six hours a day under the scorching sun. No shower for a week. (I'm sorry in advance for whoever I end up sitting by in the airplane.) Being surrounded by creepy crawly things in the dead of night. I should mention the heat again.

It's hot here.

Inferno hot. Set a cup of ice out at 8am and it's melted within minutes hot. Feel the sweat slowly creep down your lower back as you're simply standing in the shade hot.

Oh yeah, it's hot.

But then I remember. Thousands and thousands and thousands of others have made this same walk under the same sun and under worse conditions. Way worse conditions. No food, water, protection.

Oh yeah, and at the end of this journey I get to go home. I get to love on my family. I get to laugh with friends. I get to eat whatever I want.

This seven day walk is to remember and stand in solidarity with those who have crossed the same desert. Many of the feet who have plowed the road before me never made it home. Their feet never reached their friends and family.

Precious feet of our brothers and sisters, made in the image and glory of God, are gone. Too many have needlessly died crossing this border. There is absolutely no reason anyone should perish for lack of water. Seriously. No reason.

As I look down on my feet shuffling along in the desert I will intentionally choose to be thankful for feeling the sun burn my skin, my tired muscles ache and my dry throat cry out for rescue. Why? Because when I feel, I know I am alive.

When you look down at your feet, what will you be thankful for?

Sarah Jackson lives in Denver, Colorado with immigrants from El Salvador. She is striving to be the hands and feet of love, justice and mercy as she lives with the poor and marginalized in the community. Every day she intentionally believes in the intoxicating love which travels beyond borders. Follow Sarah's blog, Piece of Paz or connect with her on Facebook.

Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.

Guest Post: How Can the Law Assure Social Order?

2011-06-29T05:14:00.000-07:00

By Robert Chao Romero

A key biblical principal is that God has established the institution of government to maintain social order (Romans 13: 1-7). How is the follower of Jesus to respond, however, when government knowingly violates the legal guidelines it has created for itself in order to guarantee this social order? This is one of the central issues involved in the immigration debate in America—though not in the way that many Christians typically frame the issue.

According to the 1976 U.S. Supreme Court case of De Canas v. Bica, “[p]ower to regulate immigration is unquestionably exclusively a federal power.” This important case stands for a simple, and uncontested, legal principle: it is the job of the federal government to regulate immigration. States and local governments do not have this authority. Only the federal government can create laws and policies which determine who gets to stay in this country and who can be forced to leave. Only the federal government has the authority to check the immigration status of individuals and make decisions about visas, asylum, and deportation. With limited exception, states and local governments cross the line into unconstitutional territory every time they try to engage in these types of activities. One basic exception to this rule is that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is allowed to enter into special agreements with local law enforcement agencies which authorize them to enforce immigration laws. According to these “287(g)” agreements, ICE provides basic training to local police and then delegates to them some of its authority to regulate immigration. Outside of these special agreements it is illegal for states and cities to engage in the regulation of immigration. This is the current state of immigration law and it is uncontested. It is really that simple.

Arizona Senate Bill 1070, and the 14 copycat bills which have been introduced in states such as California, Illinois, Florida, and Texas, knowingly violate existing federal law and Supreme Court precedent. SB 1070 and its modified version, House Bill 2162, empower Arizona police to investigate a person’s immigration status as part of a "lawful stop, detention, or arrest." This provision flagrantly violates federal law because it takes the regulation of immigration out of the hands of the federal government and places it unconstitutionally in the hands of Arizona state authorities. It basically says, “we the state of Arizona, by our own prerogative, authorize all of our police officers to regulate immigration by checking peoples’ immigration status.” Again, this is not contested legal territory. Regulation of immigration is entirely a federal prerogative.

Hazleton, Pennsylvania provides another recent example of the way in which this legal principle has been blatantly disregarded. By passing the “Illegal Immigration Relief Act” in 2006, the city tried to take the issue of undocumented immigration into its own hands by fining landlords who rented to undocumented immigrants and suspending the business licenses of people who hired them. In other words, as reflected in the name of this legislative act, Hazleton sought to regulate immigration through the implementation of fines and the revocation of business licenses. As the federal District and Circuit courts have since ruled, Hazleton’s “Illegal Immigration Relief Act” represents a clear unconstitutional attempt to regulate immigration.

How is the Christian to respond to the Arizona state legislature, the city council of Hazleton, and other government authorities who consciously violate the legal norms which the U.S. government itself has established to ensure social order? Ironically, they themselves are breaking the law. I leave this question for you to reflect upon and decide. It is my hope that this brief discussion has provided a different angle on the immigration debate for you to consider and that through the legal perspective offered we might all be sharpened.

Bio:

Robert Chao Romero is an Assistant Professor in the UCLA César E. Chávez Department of Chicana/o Studies. He received his J.D. from U.C. Berkeley and his Ph.D. in Latin American History from UCLA. He is the author of The Chinese in Mexico, 1882-1940 and various articles related to race in Latin America and the United States. He is Founder and President of Christian Students of Conscience, a ministry devoted to training and mobilizing university students around issues of race and justice from a biblical perspective (cscrevolution.org).

This article is cross posted from
UnDocumented.tv blog by permission of the author.

March 8, 2011

Guest Post: How Do Our Trade Policies Force People to Migrate?

2011-06-28T05:52:00.000-07:00

By David Schmidt - Creating Alternative and Fair Enterprise (C.A.F.E.)

Comedian Dave Chappelle featured a skit once in which he played the President of the United States. In response to the problem of millions of Americans without health insurance, Chapelle’s character offered a simple solution: since Canada offers universal health care to its citizens, he proposed Canadian identification cards for all US citizens. Americans could receive their medical treatment in Canada, free of charge!

Many people view immigration to the United States in similar terms. “Why do they have to come and use our resources, take our jobs, deplete our public services? Why don’t they just fix their own country?” Immigration reform is often couched in similar terms: legalizing undocumented immigrants is described as “amnesty”, which is, by definition, forgiving a crime that has been committed. Immigrants’ rights are often described as charity for people who have “stolen” something or “entered illegally”.
The irony of the situation is that, in many cases, massive immigration to a particular country takes place precisely because of that country’s military, political and economic intervention in the nation sending the immigrants. The British Empire of the 19^th Century drained many of its colonies of their resources—people now leave India and Pakistan to search for work in England. North Africans who grew up speaking French but with little hope of finding a job at home have moved to France. The former Soviet Republics to the south of Russia are now sending droves of migrants to Moscow in search of employment. Spain has witnessed an influx of migrants from Latin American countries.

The pattern is quite simple and predictable: the colonized country is bled of its resources, its political independence limited and economic development artificially stunted. When its people cannot raise a family at home, they move elsewhere—and international ties make it easiest to move to the colonizing country.

This is the case here at home as well. The two independent nations that have seen the highest percentage of their citizens migrate to the United States are countries where the U.S. has historically been the most involved: the Philippines and Mexico. (This is not counting the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, which has more of its people per capita living in the continental U.S. than any other nation on earth.)

Over the past two hundred years, these two nations have been impacted by military, political and economic intervention from the United States in myriad forms. At various points in history, forces in the U.S. Congress were pushing to annex the countries entirely. Both have felt the force of U.S. military intervention on numerous occasions. To a greater or lesser extent, their economies have been locked into a neocolonial relationship in which U.S. companies used the Philippines and Mexico as sources of raw material and markets for manufactured goods, keeping them from developing their own national businesses. There is little irony in the Mexican folk saying, “Ay de México…tan lejos de Dios, tan cerca de los Estados Unidos…” (“Woe is Mexico: so far from God, so near to the United States.)

U.S. intervention in Mexico began with a military intervention which deprived the nation of more than half its national territory, imposing the first of many foreign debts on Mexico. The pattern of intervention continued into the 20^th Century; the annexation of Mexican industry by U.S. companies was encouraged by the government of dictator Porfirio Díaz. The most recent and most broad-reaching move taken by U.S. business to take control of Mexico’s economy, however, was the North American Free Trade Agreement, or “NAFTA”.

In the immigration debate, the right wing typically calls for heavier enforcement of existing immigration policy—“the law’s the law”. Meanwhile, the left wing is too often on the defensive, asking that the existing laws not be enforced as strictly. Far too little critique is offered about why the laws are fundamentally unfair, however. As long as we have trade policies that force migration and immigration laws that criminalize it, we will be left with a deeply hypocritical policy that is impossible to enforce.

Immigrants’ rights and the struggle for alternative trade must go hand in hand—you can’t have one without talking about the other.

This article was originally posted January 2001 on Fair Trade San Diego and is cross posted here by permission of the author, David Schmidt.

David Schmidt is a freelance writer and multi-lingual translator in San Diego, CA. He is a proponent of immigrants' rights and fair trade, and works with worker-owned coops in Mexico to help them develop alternative, fair sources of income.

Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.

Guest Post: A Better Life [Movie Review]

2011-06-27T11:47:00.000-07:00

Movie Review: A Better Life, by Cindi Peterson

A Better Life, PG-13, a drama released in limited theaters on June 24, 2011, is insightful, authentic, engaging, and much more than a search for a truck. My heart broke and my stomach grabbed in enough scenes to move me to a fresh appreciation of the value of life and the suffocation of certain inhumane limits.

Carlos Galindo, a father, from East L.A. works hard to provide for his son, Luis, in a story that unfolds to engage the viewer in the emotional, complicated layers of life lived as an undocumented immigrant in current times. The story communicates the heart’s cry for dignity torn apart by the hardship of reality, peppered with the fear and stress of making a living and keeping familia safe. No cliché resolutions and without fairytale endings, this is a powerful, evocative glimpse into the controversy and compelling nature of the lives of the strangers among us. Love and hope are ever present in the pain.

The film is getting some great reviews from critics, and deserves attention. Director Chris Weitz, who also directed New Moon (Twilight series) and About a Boy, brings out some subtle and powerful performances. Actor Demián Bichir, who played Fidel Castro in Che: Part 2, gives a brilliant performance in the role of the father, Carlos Galindo. His 14-year old son, Luis, is played well by actor José Julián. Father Gregory Boyle of Homeboy Industries, a business run by former gang members, contributed by working with the crew to make the film as authentic as possible. The script includes language and differentiated slang true to various Los Angeles neighborhoods. The film is set in Hispanic neighborhoods with predominantly Hispanic cast members, unusual to many Hollywood productions.

I recommend this movie for several reasons: 1) The film as art is well done; 2) If you can spend the money, support a film that shares truth on the issue of immigration from a perspective of empathy and understanding, moving past pity and prohibitive posturing; 3) Continue to learn and increase awareness about the everyday lives of real people in our communities; 4) If you reside near Los Angeles, as I do, you may also enjoy the broader exposure to local culture and appreciate the familiarity of local geography in scenes throughout the movie; 5) Find the common ground aches and angst as parents working to secure a life for family.

I sensed and emotionally engaged in the anger, desperation, strength of character, the search for respect, the fight for integrity, and the tension between parent and child to provide and protect in a difficult situation. One scene gave me chills as it paralleled for me images from other films portraying people arriving at Nazi concentration camps, and the scene was not exaggerated in A Better Life. Yet, it was an accurate, objective portrayal of the experience of an undocumented community member. There is much more to say, but I do not want to give away too much of the plot development.

A Better Life is a tribute to a group of marginalized people in our culture. If you are not marginalized, this film may break your heart in new ways and promote more compassionate insight, or it could leave you confused, at a point of disequilibrium, trying to filter what you believed hours ago with new awareness of everyday reality for some within the current limits of broken justice.

Good people, like the father in this film, with the will to contribute and provide, deserve a more dignified path to a better life. This film does not make conclusions or recommendations. It just shines a light on the struggle. The subtle communication in images and facial expressions, communicate as much as the dialog. The story will be familiar to those of you most involved with this issue, either personally or professionally. The film may help to open the minds of others who need to investigate the value of compassionate comprehensive immigration reform.

On my journey, stories in films and books have moved me into a place of inquiry and perspective, and helped me overcome my own personal prejudice and stereotypes. Along with the movie Under the Same Moon, and the book, Enrique’s Journey, this film is now part of my understanding, as I work with others to provide a gentle invitation for sincere consideration of the complexity of immigration.

Cindi is a writer, educator, and student advocate in Southern California. She is passionate about the DREAM Act, issues of human trafficking, and economic disparity. She leads Women Against Global Hunger and blogs at Seeds and Sensibility.

Opinion: Scapegoating behind anti-immigration laws

2011-06-25T15:36:00.000-07:00

Yet another state, populated largely by people who consider themselves Christians, has apparently criminalized Christian behavior toward illegal immigrants. At least according to the Associated Press which says in an article published in my local newspaper June 10 that Alabama’s new immigration law makes it “a crime to knowingly give an illegal immigrant a ride.”

This an excerpt from Associated Baptist Press' Travis Loller.

Several states, mostly in the South, have recently passed laws criminalizing humanitarian aid to illegal immigrants. True, some of these laws (perhaps all of them) contain exceptions for government regulated humanitarian organizations and for emergency responders. However, where does that leave the average Christian who feels called by God to reach out and help an illegal immigrant in need?

Read the whole article here.

A journalist commits to asking the questions ...Let's talk.

2011-06-24T17:52:00.000-07:00

What would you do to survive? What would you do to feed your child?

On Wednesday I heard something about this story and then a friend of mine sent me a text telling me I needed to read it. I am glad I did. Jose Antonio Vargas has selflessly gone public with his story this week in order to help many others. Jose was brought to the United States as a child without his consent or approval. He has done some amazing things. "'It's get exhausting,' he said. 'I came forward because I couldn't do it anymore. If I can't do it anymore imagine how many millions of other people out there can't do it anymore?" Vargas wrote his own story that was published in the New York Times: My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant. A more detailed story it to be published this Sunday in the New York Times.

Mr. Vargas has started a website to help tell his story, Define American.

NPR's Michele Norris interviews Vargas on All Things Considered this afternoon, Jose Antonio Vargas: 'If I Didn't Tell Those Lies ... I Couldn't Have Survived.'

Undocumented.tv's Juliana Martinez has some comments about the story here, What Will You Do Now?

I repeat the question that Jose asks all of us: What will you do? Feel free to leave some comments.

From a Birmingham Jail to Georgia and Alabama

2011-06-24T09:16:00.000-07:00

Guest blog: Lessons from “A Letter from Birmingham Jail”

From Robert Chao Romero

“I would agree with St. Augustine that ‘an unjust law is no law at all’… I have traveled the length and breadth of Alabama, Mississippi and all the other southern states. On sweltering summer days and crisp autumn mornings I have looked at the South's beautiful churches with their lofty spires pointing heavenward. I have beheld the impressive outlines of her massive religious-education buildings. Over and over I have found myself asking: ‘What kind of people worship here? Who is their God? Where were their voices when the lips of Governor Barnett dripped with words of interposition and nullification? Where were they when Governor Wallace gave a clarion call for defiance and hatred? Where were their voices of support when bruised and weary Negro men and women decided to rise from the dark dungeons of complacency to the bright hills of creative protest?’… Yes, these questions are still in my mind. In deep disappointment I have wept over the laxity of the church.”

These words, penned by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in a jail in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963, still ring unfortunately true today. In his day, Dr. King was the leading Christian voice protesting the unjust Southern laws which enforced unbiblical segregation between blacks and whites. Citing St. Augustine, Dr. King asserted that unjust laws are not really laws at all because they stand in contradiction to God’s eternal Law. He found himself deeply disappointed with most evangelical and fundamentalist churches of the South because they failed to publicly challenge the southern segregation laws which stood in direct opposition to the biblical truth that all men and women, regardless of ethnic background, are made equally in the image of God.

Many applications from “A Letter from Birmingham Jail” can be made with regards to undocumented immigration issues in the South today. The state legislatures of Alabama and Georgia have once again penned some of the most hateful and unbiblical laws targeting ethnic minorities—in this case, undocumented immigrants from Latin America. These laws are like Arizona SB-1070 on steroids. The Alabama laws, passed earlier this month, bar undocumented immigrants from attending college, prohibit undocumented immigrants from applying for or soliciting work, and criminalize the rental of residential property to undocumented immigrants. The Georgia legislation, signed by state governor Nathan Deal in May, authorizes police officers to question individuals about their immigration status in certain criminal investigations and threatens to fine undocumented immigrants $250,000, or send them to jail for 15 years, for using fake identifications in search of employment.

This mean-spirited racist legislation from Alabama and Georgia violates both the letter and spirit of several biblical principles:

God commands that immigrants are not to be mistreated or oppressed. Exodus 22:21
God loves immigrants. He provides for their needs. Deuteronomy 10:18;
God calls us to advocate for immigrants and to defend their rights. Proverbs 31:8-9.
Jesus teaches that if we love him we will love immigrants. When we love immigrants, we are actually loving him. Matthew 25: 34, 35, 38, 40.

It is immoral and unjust to benefit from the labor of undocumented immigrants and simultaneously to blame them for all of our society’s social ills. Undocumented immigrants contribute more than 2 trillion dollars to the U.S. Gross Domestic Product every year. Our economy is entirely dependent upon them. They pick our fields, raise our kids, and clean our homes. They mow our lawns, fix our drywall, and renovate our homes. They cook our food at American, Chinese, Japanese, and Italian restaurants, and when we’re done they wash our dishes as well. They work in our factories, coffee shops, and every fast food establishment you could imagine. They clean our workplaces and office buildings long after everyone has gone home to have dinner with the kids.

It is a sin to be ungrateful. I think that it is especially a sin to benefit from all of the hard work and economic contributions of undocumented immigrants and at the same time to scapegoat them for our nation’s, or our state’s, economic woes. This is biblical mistreatment and oppression.

It is also immoral to deny a university education to the children of undocumented immigrants. Although this may be a popular position in Alabama, such denial of educational opportunity is utterly unbiblical and unjust. A fundamental biblical principle is that no one should be punished for an action for which they had no control (Deuteronomy 24:16). To use a biblical analogy, if the parents eat sour grapes the children’s teeth should not be set on edge (Jeremiah 31:39).

In the same way, undocumented college students should not be punished for crossing a border when they had no decision in the matter. Most undocumented college students were brought to the United States when they were just small children or infants. In fact, 60,000 such undocumented students graduate from high school each year in the United States. Many of them are valedictorians and at the top of their class. Tragically, thousands of these students are denied a college education because of state laws which bar them from the university.

As in Dr. Martin Luther King’s Day, I ask, where is the Southern Church? “What kind of people worship here? Who is their God? Where were their voices when the lips of [Governor Deal] dripped with words of interposition and nullification” in May? “Where were they when [Governor Bentley] “gave a clarion call for defiance and hatred” less than two weeks ago?

Like Dr. King, I weep for the Southern Church. I am a pastor and the grandson of a pastor. I love the Church. My heart breaks, however, when I see the name of Jesus misrepresented by Christians who support or fail to challenge unbiblical laws such as those recently passed in Alabama and Georgia.

On a positive note, I am encouraged by the Southern Baptist Convention, which recently passed a resolution in support of "a just and compassionate path to legal status, with appropriate restitutionary measures, for those undocumented immigrants already living in our country." The resolution falls short of explicitly condemning the racist laws of Georgia and Alabama, but it is a step in the right direction. As the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, and a prominent religious institution in the South, the Convention’s statement will hopefully prompt many Southern Christians to reconsider their perspectives on immigration in light of the biblical admonition to love immigrants and speak out on their behalf.

In Immigration News This Week

2011-06-23T00:13:00.000-07:00

Ian Danley writes that We are On God's Side in Huffington Post today. He says, "Believing that youth are partners in our community development work rather than problems to be solved, we have found profound leadership capacity in our young people. Our undocumented youth, along the way, have led us all." Read the whole piece here.

Pulitzer Prize winning Jose Antonio Vargas tells his story in My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant the New York Times.

"I’ve tried. Over the past 14 years, I’ve graduated from high school and college and built a career as a journalist, interviewing some of the most famous people in the country. On the surface, I’ve created a good life. I’ve lived the American dream.

"But I am still an undocumented immigrant."

Opinion on Associated Baptist Press has a piece called Scapegoating behind anti immigrant laws:

"Jesus said that insofar as people offer a cup of cold water to one of the least of these his brethren they have done it to him and insofar as they have refused to do it for the least they have refused it to him (Matthew 24). Does anyone really think Jesus didn’t mean illegal immigrants by 'the least of these my brethren?'"

In Whittier, CA we participated in an interfaith event on immigration sponsored by the Whittier Area Interfaith Council. I gave a talk on immigration and introduced one of my friends, a graduate of UCLA, to talk about his experiences in the US after he was brought to the United States when he was only 4 years old.

The Los Angeles Times featured an article on the problem of a lack of labor in states like Georgia where state laws on immigration have made it more difficult for employers to find workers to harvest crops in New Latino South: Fewer Hands in the Field.

The Los Angeles Times has also done op-ed pieces on immigration including: Immigration: Changes to Secure Communities are for the Better. "John Morton, director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, deserves credit for acknowledging that the program is in trouble and for providing a fix." Also, Help for Young Immigrants, "By some estimates, nearly a million young people in this country are living in a kind of immigration limbo. The United States is the only home many of them have known, but because they were brought here illegally as children by their parents, they live in fear of deportation."

[Update: Pastor Ian Danley's On the Underground Railroad is posted on Define American.]

Father's Day Blues by Crissy Brooks

2011-06-17T15:43:00.000-07:00

I ran into Bernardo on Monday. Bernardo is my neighbor. He is also an immigrant laborer, a husband, and a father. We met a few years ago when we worked on a daylaborer center together. We run into each other from time to time and this week it was apparent he was not doing well.

Bernardo’s wife is ill in Mexico. His son has dropped out of university. When things were good here and work was plentiful, he was able to support them. He was able to pay the rent, buy the medicine and pay his son’s tuition. The sacrifice and costs of being separated seemed to be worth it. But now there is little work and his wife’s health is declining. Bernardo feels like he is failing them and the added stress of being so far away was a visible burden I could see as he spoke of his family’s situation.

Families being separated because of economic hardship is not a new narrative. Some of the best Blues music of the south was born out of this harsh reality. During the Great Migration of the 1910 – 40’s, approximately 1.75 million African-Americans moved north where there was work, often separated from their families. The common theme of the Blues- “my baby’s gone and I will be soon…” wasn’t about a woman just walking out on him. It was about the socio-economic reality of being separated by necessity to find work. She (or he) left to work in the North. The music is great and telling because it gives voice to the authentic pain. The pain of being apart from those you love, the pain of making choices in desperation, the pain of the social realities that led to the situation.

I wonder what gives voice to Bernardo’s pain. Perhaps that is why I write about him here, to give the pain of his separation a voice. I understand that he had a choice. I understand that for generations many people migrating for all different reasons had choices. But I am not sure how much of a choice “starve here or leave your family and find work” really is. I have heard poverty described in terms of the availability of choices. If those are your two choices, I suppose you are quite poor.

Sunday, June 19^th is Father’s Day and I can’t help but think about the thousands, even millions of fathers out there like Bernardo. Fathers separated from their families because of their lack of available choices. Fathers who are sacrificing to provide food, education, and medical care, for the ones they love. And I wonder what my response to them should be?

What would I do given those choices, what would you do? It is easy for me to judge the choices of others. I consider myself quite resourceful and creative, sure that I could come up with some solution. But I have not had to face the choices that many of my neighbors like Bernardo have faced. Though we live in the same place, our realities can be quite different. Our challenge now is to build a new shared reality together that will hopefully be plentiful in choices for all of us.

An interfaith conversation on immigration: Loving the Stranger

2011-06-17T08:04:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, June 21 · 7:00pm

Whittier First Friends Church

13205 Philadelphia Street

Whittier, CA

The interfaith council is hosting this conversation about the immigration issue. Glen Peterson will make a presentation from a Christian perspective from Hebrew and Christian holy writings on how to treat the stranger and make some applications to the current situation.

See the Facebook event page to RSVP and for more information.

For more information feel free to email me at gpeterson [at] capacitypartnership [dot] com.

Guest Blog: Jar of Mayo

2011-06-16T07:37:00.000-07:00

Sara Johnson is on a walking trip in northern Mexico near the border with the United States. This is the first in a series about her experiences there.

Some of my most vivid childhood memories swirl around time in the water. Splashing in a pool for hours on end gave way to my nickname, "The Fish." On one particular pool day my mom packed a lunch for our family. We would be hungry after a full day of sun, sunscreen and pool time. She packed all sorts of picnic foods. Sandwiches, chips, watermelon... and a jar of mayo? I remember seeing the jar and wondering why it was in the ice chest. It seemed so odd.

My mom had a plan. She knew what she was doing. Time, love and energy went into packing the perfect lunch. Now here sits this jar of mayonnaise, a supposed random item to bring. But to my mom it made perfect sense. She knew someone would want it. She packed it with the hopes of satisfying someone's hunger. It was an intentional act of love.

Now here I was, almost 20 years later, in the middle of the arid Mexico desert. This trip's focus was exploring the myriad complex sides of the immigration crisis. On a merely human level we can all see that people are dying. Moms, dads, little children, grandmas and grandpas are crossing the desert and wasting away- of thirst, starvation and medical injuries.

There are simple things we can do to prevent these deaths. One of them is providing water. That's what I was doing in the desert, filling large barrels of water for migrants to drink. (I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. Matthew 25:35)

Walking through the desert I came across a worn trail many weary travelers had used to stop, rest and eat. And then I saw it. A half-full jar of mayonnaise.

Just a jar of mayo, right? But to me it represented a mother's love for those she cared for. I imagined a woman preparing food for the long journey ahead. Tears welled up like little pools in my eyes as I imagined a mother carefully and tenderly packing a lunch in preparation for their trek through the desert- sojourners in a foreign land.

Someone packed this jar of mayo with the hope of it providing sustenance to those they loved. And now here it was, half-empty and abandoned.

Many half-empty, abandoned dreams are walking in the desert right now. Some are on the verge of death. There are dry, dusty mouths in the desert. Please pray they find water. And remember, humanitarian aid is never a crime.

This piece has been cross posted at Undocumented.tv/blog and piece of paz.

Assemblymember Roger Hernández on Immigration (CA AD 57)

2011-06-10T12:14:00.000-07:00

California Dream Act (AB 131) Passes Assembly on May 5, 2011. It is now headed for the California Senate.

From the 57th California Assembly District's Roger Hernández web site:

(Sacramento) – Assemblymember Roger Hernández (D-East Los Angeles County) joined the rest of his fellow Democrats in the Assembly to support Assembly Bill 130, the California Dream Act, when it came up for a vote on the floor of the State Assembly. Assemblymember Hernández told his colleagues AB 130 is needed so undocumented college students can apply for and receive financial aid. Assemblymember Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles), author of AB130, has introduced a similar bill every year since 2005. Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, vetoed the legislation repeatedly. Here’s more from Assemblymember Hernández in this Assembly Access video.

California's 57th Assembly District falls within eastern Los Angeles County and includes the cities of Azusa, Covina, Baldwin Park, Industry, Irwindale, La Puente, West Covina and the unincorporated communities of Avocado Heights, Bassett, Charter Oak, Citrus, East Arcadia, Hacienda Heights, Ramona and Valinda.

Governor Jerry Brown has already said that he would sign this kind of bill when passed by California's Assembly and Senate.

Find out how your California Assemblymember voted and thank him or her for supporting eligible students. How will your State Senator vote? Find your senator here and let him or her know that you support the California DREAM Act.

For more on other California legislators and congressional representatives and positions on immigration see what America's Voice has to say about Congressman Elton Gallegly (R-CA) here.

I hope this becomes a recurring series of informational posts on State and Federal legislators and their positions on immigration, immigration reform and DREAM Act related issues. If you'd care to submit a blog post on this topic or another immigration and faith related issue, see our guidelines here.

STREET POLITICS--a guest blog

2011-06-06T13:56:00.000-07:00

…from David Schmidt

           About once a month, I voluntarily subject myself to the psychotic rantings of the anti-immigrant blogs and websites that pockmark cyberspace. More important than their comedic value or any masochistic tendencies of my own, I feel it necessary to hear what our opponents are saying. If we who are on the side of solidarity and inclusion are aware of the accusations being levied against immigrants, we will be more prepared to respond to these attacks, thus inoculating the general, confused U.S. public against any potential appeal they may have.

           Most of the time, I find outright lies, distortions and falsehoods that can be easily countered with the facts: “immigrants take our jobs, degrade our culture, bring crime and disease, bankrupt our hospitals, make our hallways smell of garlic and cilantro,” etcetera, etcetera, ad nauseam. [more after the jump]
Such statements need to be countered with the truth, or they will succeed in appealing to certain frustrated, misinformed sectors of the U.S. population. Every now and then, however, I come across a statement that so clearly expresses everything that we oppose, representing the key differences between us and them, that I want to shout from the rooftops, “yes, minutemensos! You are absolutely right! We do believe in that!”

           Such a gem was to be found somewhere in the “user comments” section of “Immigration Watchdog”. Or maybe it was “stop_illegals.com”, or “Save White America.org”, or “crotchety old güero.net”. I get them all mixed up after a while. The quote, paraphrased, went something like this:

“These illegals need to get used to the rule of law. By marching and holding demonstrations, they’re trying to bring lawless Latin American-style street politics to our country! These people don’t know what America is all about.”

I don’t know about you, but I’ll take that as a compliment.

I guess I can see the point that Don Gabacho was trying to make. I would assume he envisions Latin American countries as lawless, savage and tropical places where incoherent mobs are constantly roaming the streets, looking to overthrow democratically elected governments. If this fellow would take fifteen minutes to research any of the popular uprisings that have composed the “street politics” in Latin America during the last couple decades, however, he’d discover that they are some of the best examples of democracy that this American continent has seen in all its history.

Here’s how it works. You have a country where a small minority of elites controls the economy and the political system. This minority works, for the most part, in the interest of its own self-preservation. When the majority of the population realizes that the politicians aren’t talking about what matters to ordinary people, these ordinary people take to the streets and organize themselves outside of the official structures of power.

The last few years have shown us some excellent examples of this. In 2006, the mostly indigenous population of the Mexican state of Oaxaca occupied the capital city of their state in a non-violent movement reminiscent of the “Paris Commune” of 1871. Through the “APPO”, ordinary peasants coordinated with labor unions and human rights groups and took control of the radio and TV stations in the city, created their own peacekeeping forces, established workers’ councils to democratically make decisions, and demanded a government for their state that would be more participatory and representative of its inhabitants.

A year prior to this, in Bolivia, similar movements reached a critical mass. For most of its history, the country had been ruled by one of two political parties: a moderately conservative party and a moderately liberal one. (Sound familiar, anybody?) Within the last 20 years or so, however, the masses of disaffected peasants, workers and indigenous people who saw little hope in these parties set to work organizing themselves. What began as marches and demonstrations evolved into a coordinated political force, the “MAS”, that offered an alternative to the country’s traditional elitist politics…a force that won the elections of 2005.

The examples continue throughout history. Through marchas, manifestaciones y plantones, the peoples of Latin America self-organize, make their demands heard, and establish community-based democracy, rather than waiting for some politician to hand these things down from on high.

Now let’s take a look at the U.S. We have a country where no presidential candidate has offered to stop building a new Berlin Wall on our southern border, no candidate has offered us true universal health care, and nobody is looking to dismantle the US military machine.

So what is the “rule of law”, exactly? The right to choose between Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dumber? The right to sit back and watch our country squander its wealth on militarism while neglecting its own population? The right to choose between Coke and Pepsi? The right to elect our next American Idol?

I’ll take Latin American-style street politics any day.

# # #

David Schmidt is a freelance writer and multi-lingual translator in San Diego, CA. He is a proponent of immigrants' rights and fair trade, and works with worker-owned coops in Mexico to help them develop alternative, fair sources of income.

Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.

Dr. Daniel Carroll R. - Immigration and the Bible

2011-06-06T13:32:00.000-07:00

A sixty minute video teaching on immigration and the bible can be purchase from Urban Entry Video.

Dr. M. Daniel Carroll Rodas, who celebrates his heritage from both Guatemala and the United States, is Distinguished Professor of Old Testament at Denver Seminary.

Dr. Carroll blogs about immigration and other matters here.

David Cho: Am I a Traitor?

2011-06-03T16:47:00.000-07:00

I have had the great opportunity to meet some amazing people in my journey with people who migrate. David Cho is one of these who I met earlier this year at a conference by the Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration. Here, David shares his own historic day and some of his feelings. Many DREAMers share these feelings.

May 27 marks a historic day: Larry King ended his radio show in 1994; Britain agreed to return Hong Kong to China in 1997; UCLA won their 7th NCAA basketball championship under Coach John Wooden. On this unique date, I popped the question to a very special and important person, my-then girlfriend, now fiancé, Jane.

I always felt a huge rush every time I gave a speech in front of hundreds and thousands of people. But proposing to Jane was the most nerve-wracking. Was I not ready?

What was most important was that she said “Yes”. And I was forever grateful and indebted to her.

Look how happy she looks!

But up until this very moment, I actually felt awful the entire day. I reflected back on my DREAM Act activism the past three years: sharing my testimony for the first time in public at City Hall; speaking in front of 25,000 people at May Day; driving to Washington D.C. from Los Angeles for the Campus Progress National Conference; appearing in numerous rallies and radio stations across the nation; and being featured in C-SPAN, CNN, Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, and the White House blog. I enjoyed every moment sharing my story and inspiring other students to fight for the DREAM Act. We came so close to passing it last December. Having said all this, I felt like I was betraying the movement and millions of students in my situation.

I questioned whether marrying Jane was the “right” thing to do. Will people consider me a traitor? Will I still be able to continue to share my story locally and nationally? How? Am I leaving fellow undocumented students in the shadow?

Hundreds of questions cluttered my head throughout the day. I talked to my close friends, like Nancy Meza, who supported my decision and urged me to suppress my pride. I thanked my friends for their support. After contemplating about my decision, I decided to pop the question. The deciding factor was my love for Jane. We are ready and excited to embark on a new journey together. People in many circumstances take different paths in life – we made the decision to marry a bit earlier than the rest of our peers.

This movement and the millions of undocumented students have shaped me into who I am today. I will continue my activism, remain as chair of ASPIRE at UCLA next academic year, and keep fighting for the DREAM Act.

This was originally posted at NAKASEC. We thank them for their permission, and David's to post this here.

World Relief Refugee and Immigration Advocacy Update June 2, 2011-Part 1

2011-06-02T10:30:00.000-07:00

STAND/for the Vulnerable--from World Relief's Policy and Advocacy Director:

World Relief Refuge and Immigration Advocacy Update, June 2, 2011

This information is provided by World Relief's Policy and Advocacy Director, Jenny Yang.

Remarks by President on Need for Immigration Reform
Immigration Enforcement Funding
Reintroduction of the DREAM Act- take action now!
Introduction of the Domestic Refugee Program Reform bill- take action now!
Refugee Funding Update for FY11 and FY12- take action now!
UnDocumented.TV- Updated Blog!

1. President's Travels to the Border, Speaks Publicly on Need for Immigration Reform

Over the past couple months, the President has publicly renewed his committed to Comprehensive Immigration Reform. On April 19th, President Obama met with business, community, faith, and other leaders, and also with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on May 3rd. President Obama also gave a commencement address at Miami Dade College on April 29th where he continued to speak of his commitment to passing immigration reform and the DREAM Act.

On May 10th, 2011, President Obama traveled to El Paso, TX, where he made his second major public speech on immigration during his time in office.

This speech outlined the Administration's work in securing the border and the need for comprehensive immigration reform as an "economic imperative" for our country.

He mentioned the wide breadth of support within various sectors of the American community, including the business community, political leaders from both sides, police chiefs, labor unions, and "evangelical ministers like Leith Anderson and Bill Hybels."

During the National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast on May 12th, 2011, President said that "immigration reform is a moral imperative, and so it's worth seeking greater understanding from our faith. As it is written in the Book of Deuteronomy, 'Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.' To me, that verse is a call to show empathy to our brothers and our sisters; to try and recognize ourselves in one another."

The President mentioned the work of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) and UnDocumented.TV in his remarks, saying that it's "that moral compass, that conviction of what is right is what led the National Association of Evangelicals to shoot short films to help people grasp the challenges facing immigrants."

The White House's blueprint for reform called Building a 21st Century Immigration System [link downloads a .pdf] reviews what the Administration has done so far in enforcing immigration laws and sets out a series of principles and policies for reforming the current immigration system. The document
ends with a Call to Action, which lists a series of events the White House is leading that will bring together Administration officials and community leaders to discuss immigration reform.

More information on the White House efforts can be found here.

Jenny Yang is Director of Advocacy and Policy at World Relief. Jenny has provide the information in these posts to people how have signed up for advocacy updates on World Relief’s Advocacy website. She is also co-author with Matthew Soerens of Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion & Truth in the Immigration Debate.

World Relief Refugee and Immigration Advocacy Update June 2, 2011-Part 2

2011-06-02T10:25:00.000-07:00

Legislative News from World Relief's Policy and Advocacy Director:

Immigration Enforcement

Yesterday, the House began consideration of H.R.2017, the FY 2012 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act under an open rule which means that any member of Congress can file an amendment to increase or decrease spending for DHS operations, like immigration detention, Secure Communities, 287(g), etc. As reported out by the Appropriations Committee, the DHS appropriations bill would increase the number of daily immigration detention beds by 600 (33,400 to 34,00), increase immigration detention spending by $25 million above President Obama’s budget request, and increase Secure Communities spending by $10 million above President Obama’s request. A number of amendments have been filed that would further increase funding for immigration enforcement, including for border fencing, detention and removal operations, and 287 (g) programs.

Today, the House Judiciary Committee is expected to mark up four bills, including H.R.1932, the Keep our Communities Safe Act of 2011. This bill would give the Secretary of Homeland Security authority to detain immigrants indefinitely if they are subject to a final order of removal and cannot be deported for some reason, or if they are subject to a removal order that has been stayed by a judge while their immigration case is on appeal. The Judiciary Committee is also expected to mark up bills pertaining to E-verify in the near future.

World Relief urges Congress to oppose HR.1932 as it commits precious U.S. taxpayer dollars to detain vulnerable migrants seeking protection in the United States while providing them with inadequate recourses to challenge their detention. World Relief also expresses strong concern about passing E-verify without a parallel path for earned legalization for undocumented immigrants and funding of expanded enforcement measures without full consideration and passage of comprehensive immigration reform.

Click here for part 3.

Jenny Yang is Director of Advocacy and Policy at World Relief. Jenny has provide the information in these posts to people how have signed up for advocacy updates on World Relief’s Advocacy website. She is also co-author with Matthew Soerens of Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion & Truth in the Immigration Debate.

WR Refugee and Immigration Advocacy Update June 2, 2011-Part 3-DREAM

2011-06-02T10:20:00.000-07:00

This information is provided by World Relief's Policy and Advocacy Director, Jenny Yang.

DREAM Act Reintroduced

On May 11, 2011, Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL), Harry Reid (D-NV), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), and 34 other co-sponsors, re-introduced the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act (S.952) a bill that would give certain undocumented students a chance to earn legal status. Co-sponsors include the Chairs of all of the relevant Committees (Patrick Leahy (VT, Judiciary), Joseph Lieberman (CT, Homeland Security), and Carl Levin (MI, Armed Services). All Democratic members of the Judiciary Committee are also signed on. A companion bill was introduced in the House by Representative Howard Berman (D-CA), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), and Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) (HR.1842).

The “DREAM Act” would allow our country to prosper from the contributions made by promising and hardworking immigrant youth. These youth were brought to the U.S. at a young age, but are not able to fully integrate into American society because of their immigration status. Many did not even know about their status until they applied for college and were surprised to find that they are undocumented in the only country that they consider home. If passed, the DREAM Act would provide a six-year path to a green card for undocumented children brought to the U.S. more than five years ago if they graduate from high school and continue on to college or military service.

Approximately 50,000-65,000 undocumented students graduate from American high schools each year who are American in their upbringing, values, and culture, and yet because of their immigration status often unable to pursue higher education. The DREAM Act would help break the cycle of underemployment, instability, and poverty endured by undocumented immigrants. Last December, despite bipartisan support from a majority of members of Congress, the Senate failed to invoke cloture on the DREAM Act.

Click here for more information about the DREAM Act. For more on the DREAM Act, see this release from Senator Durbin’s office.

TAKE ACTION NOW! Ask your Representatives and Senators to co-sponsor the bill!

World Relief Refugee and Immigration Advocacy Update June 2, 2011-Part 4

2011-06-02T10:15:00.000-07:00

Rep. Gary Peters Introduces Bill to Reform Domestic Refugee Program

Representative Gary Peters (D-MI) officially introduced his legislation, H.R. 1475, on April 12th, 2011 entitled the Domestic Refugee Resettlement Reform and Modernization Act of 2011. Currently, recently arriving refugees receive limited cash and medical assistance as well as access to housing and job placement services. These benefits are intended to help refugees achieve self-sufficiency through employment during the eight month period for which benefits are provided. However, structural deficiencies within the domestic resettlement program have made it more difficult for refugees to achieve self-sufficiency. The impact is not just on the refugees themselves but also on local communities that are welcoming refugees where social services and philanthropic resources are more strained.

It is important that each federal dollar is spent wisely and that every program seeks to operate more efficiently. This bill would thus institute zero-cost reforms to better maximize refugee self-sufficiency. Specifically, the bill would:

Revise the state funding formula used by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) so that it accounts for future refugee arrivals and more accurately distributes funds to state resettlement offices.
Elevate the Office of Refugee Resettlement within HHS, giving it broader authority and ability to make structural changes and direct resources effectively.
Increase transparency within the Office of Refugee Resettlement and require greater analysis of program operations and barriers to refugee sufficiency.

The bill currently has 27 co-sponsors (6 Republicans and 21 Democrats). You can keep up with the co-sponsor count at http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h112-1475. This bill will also be critical, especially given its bi-partisan co-sponsorship, in avoiding budget cuts, as it shows the ongoing, across-the-aisle support for the refugee program.

Contact your representatives and encourage them to co-sponsor this bill, and encourage others to do the same.

TAKE ACTION NOW! Ask your Representatives and Senators to co-sponsor the bill!

World Relief Refugee and Immigration Advocacy Update June 2, 2011-Funding Update

2011-06-02T10:10:00.000-07:00

FY11 FUNDING UPDATE + FY12 FUNDING ADVOCACY

The FY11 budget deal was approved as HR.1473 on April 15th, and refugee accounts were not substantially cut! We came out amazingly well. We actually got an INCREASE in funding relative to fiscal year 2010 (if you don't include the FY '10 Supplemental or the across-the-board cuts). And we only took a $25 million hit in the ORR account, which we would have had anyway because they had "rollover" money from the prior year. The across-the-board cuts only amounted to a .2 percent cut. Attached is a more detailed analysis, as well as the entire bill, and a summary is below:

The Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA) account, which funds the R&P grant and overseas assistance to refugees, was funded at $1.69 billion, $160 million less than the total amount appropriated in FY10. While this is technically a cut, this is a victory for refugee advocates, as the House had proposed a $827 million decrease in funding, and the overall reduction was only a 0.2% cut. Overall this is very good. MRA is lower than the level enacted in FY10 ($1.85 billion, which includes supplemental funding) but higher than the President’s request.

ORR was also spared drastic cuts—the bill only rescinds $25 million in unspent ORR funds (mainly from state reimbursement of cash and medical costs and the unaccompanied alien children program), but the House had proposed rescinding $77 million in unspent funds from ORR, so again, this is a victory for refugee advocates.

The International Disaster Assistance account was funded at $863 million, which is lower than what was available last year ($1.3 billion – which includes a big supplemental for Haiti), but actually higher than the president’s request. On ORR we are pleased that no funds were cut and they were able to keep some of the funds that were unspent.

While we avoided massive cuts to the refugee program for Fiscal Year 2011, that's only until the end of September this year. Congress is already working on an appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2012, and many members are proposing drastic cuts, even more drastic than we faced this year, for 2012.

We are asking for FY12 funding for MRA at least at FY11 levels of $1.69 billion, and FY12 funding for ORR at $825 million, the President’s request. Please continue to call your members of congress, urging them to support adequate funding for refugees in FY12. Keep a look out for additional advocacy alerts and materials as the FY12 process moves forward.

TAKE ACTION NOW! Ask your Representatives and Senators to co-sponsor the bill!

World Relief Refugee and Immigration Advocacy Update Undocumented.tv

2011-06-02T10:05:00.000-07:00

This information is provided by World Relief's Policy and Advocacy Director, Jenny Yang.

Our video campaign and blog at Undocumented.TV continues strong today. The blog is updated weekly with various authors writing about immigration as it relates to hot topics of the day. Our most popular blog posts include:

Immigration and Justice- by Jenny Yang, co-author of Welcoming the Stranger and Director of Advocacy and Policy, World Relief, based in Baltimore, Maryland.
The Connection Between Faith, Human Trafficking, and Immigration- by Sarah Eisele-Dyrli, editor of the blog No More Slavery <http://nomoreslaveryct.com/> , and an active anti-trafficking advocate in Connecticut.
Honoring the Law, Extending Mercy- by Matthew Soerens, co-author of Welcoming the Stranger and U.S. Church Training Specialist, World Relief based in Dupage, Illinois.
How Refugees and Other Immigrants Preach the Gospel to Me- by Sharon Moore, recent graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and new occupational therapist working with older adults in Durham, North Carolina.
Letter from an Undocumented Student- by Tony Pardo, writing under a pseudonym, a 22-year-old recent graduate of UCLA, originally from Guanajuato, Mexico, he resides in Southern California.
Starbucks and Strawberries- by Andrew Wainer is an Immigration Policy Analyst for Bread for the World Institute in Washington, DC.
The President at Chamizal - by Sami DiPasquale is the executive director of Ciudad Nueva Community Outreach in central El Paso, Texas.

You can watch the award winning short film A New Dream on Undocumented.tv/watch and participate in a discussion forum there.

Healing Secrets

2011-05-31T14:15:00.000-07:00

This is a guest post by our dear friend Claudia Vasquez.

Secrets can be good and bad. For many years, I never shared more than what was needed. One never shared or talked about one’s legal status, how we got to the States, or even, where we were born. Just couldn’t talk about it. It was as if everyone knew it but no one dared to ask or talk about it. It felt as if my true identity was hidden deep deep within my heart and the real me was hidden amongst all the fake appearances that one had to pretend to have in order to survive and blend in with the rest of the people who maybe were also carrying a deeper secret.

From the moment I saw those clear, big brown eyes, short brown hair and a smile that to this day, I will never forget; I realized how much time I had kept this secret. She was the door to my healing process. I met this young lady through Our Children Project - a ministry where teams made up of different churches in Orange County, CA visit minors in immigration detention. At first I didn’t know how to talk to her or how to talk about all these “secrets”. But she didn’t even hesitate to talk about it. I couldn’t fathom why she was so comfortable talking about her upbringing, how she came to the States and why she was in this home.

After listening more and more to her story, my heart drew closer to her and to the secret that for so many years I had hidden or at least been asked to hide. It felt like this young lady was telling my own story. She was 12 years old, crossed the border, but the difference was that she was caught and placed in this detention center. For the first time, I felt comfortable sharing my secret with this young lady. She listened and was amazed at how similar our stories were. I sympathized with her and held her tight in my heart. The more we talked about it, the more my heart began to heal.

During the times that I didn’t go visit this young lady, a Bible study was held with other believers who were also mentors of these girls. Each one shared their experience. I was hesitant to share mine because I was afraid of being rejected and singled out. But I remembered my young friend, she wasn’t ashamed. She knew that the Lord had shown her grace. When it came for my turn to share about my experience at the shelter, I looked at our group, everyone was from different backgrounds; I could either keep myself from sharing or have them hear my story, my secret.

After several weeks of meeting and talking about this secret, our conversations brought me healing. For many years, I always perceived everyone who wasn’t in my shoes as those who had always rejected me, even those in the Church because of my status. I was treated differently every time someone from church heard of my legal status. This Bible study group, embraced me and showed me God’s love. This is when I realized what is really like to love the stranger. To love someone regardless of where they came from.

How could I stop myself from sharing God’s unconditional love? This secret was meant to be shared so that others could learn to love and welcome the stranger! Through the Bible study, the interaction with the young ladies at the shelter, brought me healing and restoration. I no longer feel ashamed of being born from a different place, culture and family. On the contrary, now I know that sharing this long time experience, that no longer is a secret, has opened the eyes of people who struggled to love and accept others just because of systems and political views - this was a spiritual transformation, not only for me but for those who were part of my healing process.

Claudia Vazquez is a former volunteer of Our Children project, a multi-cultural ministry that engages the Church in Orange County to walk alongside children in immigration detention and learn about God’s heart for immigrants through experience and biblical reflection. Claudia currently attends Newsong Church in Irvine, CA.

Ed. Note: this story is cross posted on Undocumented.tv's blog.

Real Friends

2011-05-19T11:27:00.000-07:00

Do you remember the moment your friend became your friend? Not just when you met, but the moment you realized you were friends. I don’t remember that moment for all my friends, but I know when it happened with Mari. Mari is a neighbor I met when her husband was deported in October 2009. Since then we have spent a lot of time working out her budget, figuring out childcare, and praying together. This time has led to a respect for each other. Recently, however, I realized we’ve become friends.

It was a Thursday night and I stopped by to see how she was doing. We talked about how her husband is faring in Mexico. She shared about how her children seem to be up and down emotionally, some days acting fine and others, crying for their father. We chatted about her work and mine. As we were wrapping up our visit, she looked me straight in the eye and said, “You never answer your phone when I call.”

I responded, “Yes, well I’m very busy. Leave a message and I will call you back.” “No,” she said. “What if I am stopped by the police or picked up for some reason? What will happen to my kids? I need to know that you will pick up your phone when I call.” I sat there dumbfounded. There was no defense to be made. She was right. In her insistence, I saw her fear. It was obvious that she had played this scenario out in her head hundreds of times. Her husband was already gone. What would happen to her children if she was deported? I looked over at her two small boys playing on the floor.

“I commit to answering my phone when you call,” I told her.

And that’s when we became friends. Not because I made a commitment to her, but because Mari was vulnerable enough to step beyond niceties to speaking truth to me. She called me out. She shared her fear. The reality of her precarious situation — a functionally single, undocumented mom with young U.S. citizen children — led us to meet each other. However, her courage to hold me accountable sealed our friendship.

I cannot keep my friend safe. I cannot get her legal documents. I can, however, commit to pick up my phone when she needs me. And I commit to continue advocating for comprehensive immigration reform so that Mari and other friends like her will not have to live in fear any longer.

Crissy Brooks is the Executive Director of Mika Community Development Corporation, a partner in the Loving the Stranger Network