immigration

Please join IRATE (the Interfaith Refugee Action Team - Elizabeth) and Pax Christi NJ at 1:30 pm on Sunday, October 12th as we march with the flags of the nation to honor our immigrant heritage and protest the treatment of immigrants held at the Elizabeth Detention Center. We will assemble on Progress Street, just off Dowd Avenue in Elizabeth and march two blocks to the Detention Center where we will hold a vigil to remember those who are being held inside and at similar facilities across the country.
Immigrants in detention include families, both undocumented and documented immigrants, many who have been in the US for years and are now facing exile. They include survivors of torture, asylum seekers and other vulnerable groups including pregnant women, and children. Individuals who are seriously ill are held without proper medication or care. Immigrants detained during this process are in non-criminal custody because being in violation of immigration laws is not a crime. It is a civil violation similar to a traffic ticket.

IRATE is an alliance of grassroots organizations whose members believe that the current U.S. policy of detaining immigrants in prison-like conditions is contrary to our tradition of welcoming refugees. Currently in New Jersey, the Bureau of Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) has some 300 people detained at the Elizabeth Detention Center and an unknown number of people in county jails throughout the state.

For more information on Pax Christi or the the vigil contact Kathy O’Leary 908-273-0751 kathy-wargo@comcast.net

For more information on immigration detention go to www.irateweb.org, www.detentionwatchnetwork.org or www.cliniclegal.org

On July 15th, as Congressmen Alcee Hastings and John Dingel reintroduced HR 6496 they “lauded” the work of NGO’s who have supported legislative action from the US government. Among those recognized for their contribution was Pax Christi USA. According to Network, this bill is the best legislative attempt to date to deal with the worsening Iraqi refugee crisis. As of this writing there are no co-sponsors from New Jersey. Please contact your congressman and urge him to support this legislation.

About the Iraqi Refugee Crisis
There are currently 5 million Iraqi’s who have been displaced, internally and externally, due to the ongoing violence in Iraq. Of the 2.4 million who have left the country few consider returning to Iraq an option.

Iraqi refugees are among the most traumatized in modern history. It is estimated that 80% have experienced torture, extortion or the violent death of a family member. The children are the most seriously affected.

The United States Government, under previous legislation has allowed for up to 12,000 visas to be issued by this September. To date only 4,700 have actually been processed. The USCCB is calling for an allotment of at least 100,000 visas for next year.

For more information on the Iraqi refugee crisis you can go to these links

Whereas the United States is a country of immigrants, and

Whereas each immigrant is worthy of respect, and

Whereas an immigration plan must protect the dignity of all, and

Whereas any such plan must hold within it a path to citizenship,

Be it thereby resolved:

Okay, here I fall apart. And this is format for a resolution rather than a platform plank, I'll review my language for planks and recast this except that there really should be some meat in here, even if it's not meaty at this point... uhhhh... (this is what everybody else is for, my brain has too many holes in it)...

remembering the parable of the good Samaritan, and the woman at the well and (other people who enhance our understanding of how to live the Christian life,

this plan (you know, the one I couldn't think of, the one someone else is going to think of that is broad that we all can agree with) honors and protects the potential contribution of every immigrant while protecting the resources needed to preserve the quality of life for all.

The Episcopal Public Policy Network
Policy Alert

The topic this year is solidarity, migration and reconciliation. We will be honoring Fr. Gene Squeo for his work in the areas of rights for all immigrants and advocacy for Haiti. The event is being co-sponsored by the Haiti Solidarity Network of the Northeast (HSSNE) and it will be held at St. Patrick’s Church and School in Jersey City on April 19th.

We have a wonderful program planned with several dynamic speakers including:

Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, the former president of Pax Christi USA

Sr. Clare Nolan, the NGO representative to the UN for the Sisters of the Good Shepherd

Tonie Malone a Pax Christi Ambassador of Peace, member of HSNNE and a founding member of Pax Christi NJ

Georgette Delinois president of HSSNE

Rev. Petero Sabune, Protestant Pastor at Sing Sing Correctional Facility

Juan Carlos Ruiz of the New Sanctuary Movement.

Pax Christi NJ, a region of Pax Christi USA the national Catholic peace movement (www.paxchristiusa.org), announced that Bishiop Thomas Gumbleton will be the keynote speaker at its upcoming conference on migration and global solidarity entitled “We Suffer and Rejoice with Our Brothers and Sisters” on Saturday April 19th at St. Patrick’s Church and School in Jersey City. The event is being co-sponsored by the Haiti Solidarity Network of the Northeast (HSSNE).

Bishop Gumbleton is the retired auxiliary bishop for the diocese of Detroit. A longtime national and international activist in the peace movement, Bishop Thomas Gumbleton is a founding member of Pax Christi USA and an outspoken critic of violence and militarism. He has appeared on numerous radio and television programs, and has published numerous articles and reports. His weekly homilies appear in his column in the National Catholic Reporter under the title “The Peace Pulpit”.

For the last 12 years, The Labor-Religion Coalition of New York State has organized a 40-hour Fast during Lent, to highlight issues of social and economic injustice and to move people to prayer, reflection, and responsive action. We fast because we hunger for justice and righteousness.

This year's 13th Annual 40-Hour Fast focuses on Immigrants. It will start at 8 PM on Tuesday, March 4 and end at noon on Thursday, March 6.

What we do in NY can be duplicated elsewhere. Please read, and then think about what you can do where you are. Downloadable brochures and other information are at http://www.labor-religion.org/fast08-celltop.htm

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"You must not oppress the stranger...
for you lived as strangers in the land of Egypt."
Exodus 23:9

THE THIRTEENTH ANNUAL 40-HOUR FAST
FOR A MORAL SOLUTION

During our fast, what can we do?

ISSUES FOR ACTION in 2008

Pray daily that immigrants are welcomed in our communities as sisters and brothers and that all workers receive fair wages and are treated with dignity.

If you know of any worker not being paid overtime or the NYS minimum wage, contact the NYS Department of Labor at 1-800-447-3992. New Yorkers, regardless of immigration status, must earn at least of $7.15 per hour (including tips).

I come to this issue as a legal immigrant in this country.

Let me describe to you the immigration process as my family has experienced it. We arrived with temporary visas. It took two years to gain permanent, legal status or a Green Card. After this long, difficult and expensive process, we are now described as “legal resident aliens.”

Even the fact that it is called alien is significant in this regard. Our experience in this country, and we come from Australia which is so similar, we come with the English language, with the support of a large community, with the benefit of lawyers who have helped the process along, is that it is a tough process.

How hard must it be for someone without English as a first language, without support structures, coming from a completely different culture, to arrive and deal with the legal and administrative challenges, not to mention the human challenge of adjusting to a new culture?

This July 4th, as I sit on my back porch I hear fireworks from seemingly from every corner of the neighborhood. In the most diverse neighborhood in Boston, everyone participates. Everyone, no matter what their background or how recently they came to this nation, is excited about the prospect of celebrating the birth of the nation, the greatest experiment in human history that determined that men and women could indeed govern themselves.