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WELCOME – UULMCA Immigrant Justice Webinar
Opening WordsCrossing Borders by Stephen Shick
Spirit of my longing and lonely heart, help me travel through
the barren borderlands that separate me from others.
Teach me to willingly explore relationships with those who frighten
or threaten me, grant me the courage to risk confidently my
own comforts, that I might make others more comfortable.
And when I am burdened by the isolating choices I have
made, grant me the wisdom to invite a stranger to travel with
me. Open my heart to my new companion’s needs and desires
until I relax my defensiveness and become a calming presence.
As we travel, grant me the vision to notice how each
step we take together moves us closer to the promised land,
where all souls grow in hope and the resilience of love.
Immigrant Justice Update
AGENDA•Welcome and Intros •Compassionate Immigration Reform - CIR•An Historic Confluence of Factors •Five Essential Features of CIR•Strategies•Questions and Answers•How Do We Get There•Inspire – Educate – Organize – Advocate – Witness•Questions and Answers•Closing
Welcome & Introductions
• Your Name• Congregation • One word that describes
how you feel about this moment and immigrant justice
An historic confluence of factors gives us the unique opportunity
to take our UU principles to the next level
in the coming months.
Compassionate Immigration Reform
• Over 10,000 days have gone by without the right for 11 million immigrants to:
• Live with nuclear family members, • Gain lawful employment, • Vote in democratic elections, • Drive, or serve as jurors, • Gain access to a basic safety net, • To receive federal loans for higher education.
Compassionate Immigration Reform
• Changing demographics
• The November 2012 election results
• Public opinion shift – 62% in favor of a legalization program leading to citizenship, including a Republican shift of 22 points
• The capacity for nationwide mobilization
• Political will
• Our boundless compassion
Compassionate Immigration Reform
Compassionate Immigration Reform
What is Compassionate Immigration Reform?
• Interfaith Platform on Humane Immigration Reform (Interfaith Immigration Coalition)
• Rectifying the Violation of Fundamental Human Rights
The right to live in family – The right to work – The right to vote & participate – The right to federal jobs – The right to serve on juries – The right to a safety net – The right to higher education – The right to drive and travel -- The right to live free from fear
• Compassionate vs. Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Compassionate Immigration Reform
1. Uphold Family Unity as a Priority
• Recognize the importance of all families to the creation of healthy individuals and strong communities.
• Reunite immigrant families separated due to lengthy visa backlogs - now range from 2 to 25 years – example: the unmarried adult child of a lawful permanent resident from Mexico can immigrate if they applied in 1992 (over 20 years), siblings of Filipinos currently have a 24 year wait.
Five Essential Features of Compassionate Immigration Reform
Compassionate Immigration Reform
Uphold Family Unity as a Priority, cont.
•Revise family preference categories to prioritize family unity, e.g. allowing the spouse and minor children of a legal resident to live with their spouse or parent immediately – current waiting period is about 2 years, 4 months. Even though you are legally living in this country, you cannot live with your 5 year old child.
•Include same-sex couples. Under current immigration law you cannot sponsor a foreign-born partner for an immigration visa if you are a same-sex couple.
•Remove “unlawful presence penalties” (currently a 3 or 10 year wait before allowed to re-enter the US)
Five Essential Features of Compassionate Immigration Reform
Compassionate Immigration Reform
2. Create a process for undocumented immigrants to earn their legal status and eventual citizenship – Earned Legalization
•
• Allow 11 million undocumented immigrants to earn lawful permanent residency using reasonable criteria, with a pathway to citizenship. For example:
• Pay taxes • Learn basic English
Five Essential Features of Compassionate Immigration Reform
Compassionate Immigration Reform
2. Earned Legalization - cont.•
Examples of unreasonable or punitive criteria:
• Mandating that immigrants leave the country (touchback) or pay exorbitant fees
• Conditioning CIR’s access to citizenship for current immigrants with strict enforcement measures :
mandatory E-Verify further militarizing the border.
Five Essential Features of Compassionate Immigration Reform
Compassionate Immigration Reform
2. Earned Legalization, cont.
Resist efforts to include E-verify:Every person seeking employment has to show legal work authorization verified electronically.
• Leaves out millions of people• Creates a permanent underclass
Resist continued militarization of the border.Increased border militarization has deadly impacts and is not making our communities safer.
Five Essential Features of Compassionate Immigration Reform
Compassionate Immigration Reform
3. Provide more stable opportunities for students to study, employees to work, and employers to hire workers.
• Enact the DREAM Act to give young people the opportunity to contribute and employers to access a bright and committed workforce
• Enact the provisions of AgJobs to allow essential agricultural workers to migrate to the United States to work in a safe, legal, and orderly manner and meet employer needs, with a commitment to worker rights
Five Essential Features of Compassionate Immigration Reform
Compassionate Immigration Reform
3. Provide more stable opportunities for students to study, employees to work, and employers to hire workers - cont.
• Do not approve temporary worker programs unless they allow family unity and a path to legal residency.
• Difference between AgJobs and Temporary Worker Program
• Oppose mandatory E-Verify.
• Address “future flow” by promoting true economic development and democracy in 3rd world countries, address climate change
• If you have been in US without documentation, can apply for a green card 10-year“rolling registry”
Five Essential Features of Compassionate Immigration Reform
Compassionate Immigration Reform
4. Make our communities safe and facilitate immigrant integration.
• End Secure Communities to promote public trust in the criminal justice system, enhancing community safety.
• Provide financial support to government and community organizations to offer support for language and civics education, naturalization assistance, a safety net, driver licenses, and employment training.
• Make citizenship affordable by reducing naturalization
Five Essential Features of Compassionate Immigration Reform
Compassionate Immigration Reform
5. Restore due process protections and humanitarian values.
• Recognize that the deportation of 1.5 million immigrants under President Obama has ripped mixed status families apart, often making our communities less secure due to lack of trust.
• Acknowledge extreme hardship and/or rehabilitation for individuals to prevent deportation.
• Don’t deport people for minor crimes
Five Essential Features of Compassionate Immigration Reform
Compassionate Immigration Reform
1) Quickly introduce compassionate bill in the Senate.
2) Focus on the President, Senate Leaders and National immigrant advocacy organizations to get a compassionate bill without inhumane enforcement mechanisms.
3) Advocate with the House of Representatives.
4) Piecemeal Legislation if CIR Does Not Pass• DREAM Act • AgJobs• Residency Campaign for Central Americans with TPS• STEM Act• Uniting American Families Act (LBGT)
Strategies - National
Compassionate Immigration Reform
• The California TRUST Act – AB4 (Ammiano) - starts in Assembly Public Safety
• Drivers License Bill – AB60 (Alejo) - starts in AssemblyTransportation
• Get the Governor’s support
Strategies - Statewide
Strategies - Local • Mayors, City Councils and Police Chiefs
• County Boards and Sheriffs
Questions and Answers
How do we get there?
• Inspire• Educate• Organize• Advocate• Witness
How do we get there?
• Inspire• Educate• Organize• Advocate• Witness• Make Friends!
InspirationInspire
• Use Stories, Testimonials, Video
• UU values & history• Worship service in
March or April• Urgency and
opportunity of the moment
InspirationEducateCongregational Study
UUA Curriculum: Immigration as a Moral Issue - Six Sessions
One: Understanding the Causes of Migration
Two: History of Immigration in the U.S.
Three: Economics of (Im)migration
Four: Security, Enforcement, and Human Rights Five: Who Benefits from a Broken System?
Six: Seeking Solutions
• March 23 - Los Angeles
• April 6 - San Joaquin Valley (tentative)
• April 26 (3-5PM Friday) UU Western Regional Assembly – San Jose
• May 11 – Sacramento (tentative)
• San Diego County (TBD)
EducateUULMCA Regional Spring Justice Trainings
Educate Experiential Learning
Human Rights on the Border TripMarch 14 – 17, 2013Register Here
Farmworker Reality TourWatsonville from May – November – arrange a date with: Human Agenda and the Center for Farmworker Families
Link with local immigrant services partners
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Detention Center VisitationHealthcare EnrollmentDay Labor SupportDREAMers
Detention Visitation
Detention Visitation ResourcesLost in Detention – Frontline Video• Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement CIVIC• Detention Watch Network• Visiting Immigrants in U.S. Detention Facilities - Detention Watch Manual• The Sojourner Detention Program video • Lutheran Access Toolkit• Women's Refugee Commission
If your congregation is interested in learning more please contact: Jan Meslin from the UULMCA Immigrant Justice Team jmeslin at cox.net
Organize!
• UULMCA Immigrant Justice monthly callsPlease send the name of your congregation’s Immigrant Justice contact to [email protected]
• UULM Cluster Collaboration with the forming Alliance for Citizenship “Tables”
• Daniel Stracka – San Diego County• Jan Meslin – Orange County• Richard Hobbs – Santa Clara County• Barbara Moore & Rev. Tera Little – LA County• Bob Lane – Contra Costa• Amy Moses Lagos – SF and Peninsula
Advocacy
Senator Feinstein – 4 regional offices •San Francisco Los Angeles•Fresno San Diego
As a person of faith, I urge the Senator to support a common sense, humane immigration reform bill that prioritizes family unity, creates a pathway to citizenship for aspiring Americans who are currently undocumented, and rejects draconian enforcement mechanisms that erode community health and safety.
Your creative ideas for communicating support for CIR?
CIR Advocacy in the Senate
Congressional Representatives
Please contact the UU Legislative Ministry Action Network, CA office
for help in setting up a legislative visit to your Congressional Representative and/or joining one
of the coalition visits in your area.
UULM Action Network, CA916 441-0018 x 202
lramsden at uulmca.org
CIR Collaborating Organizations
Asian Pacific American Legal Center APALC (LA)
CCC Center for Community Change (DC)
CHIRLA Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights for LA (LA)
Interfaith Immigration Coalition (national)
CIPC California Immigrant Policy Center
CA CLUE Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice – (East Bay, LA, San Jose, San Diego)
COFEM Consejo de Federaciones Mexicanas en Norteamérica (LA)
Episcopal Diocese of California (SF Bay Area)
JFI – Justice for Immigrants (Catholic Bishops)
Mi Famila Vota (Riverside)
NDLON National Day Labor Organizing Network (LA and National)
PICO California (19 local faith based federations across the state)
NBOP – North Bay Organizing Project (Gamaliel)
SIREN Services Immigrant Rights and Education Network (Silicon Valley)
United Farm Worker Foundation (LA, Salinas, Bakersfield)
Community Partners TRUST Act
California Immigrant Policy Center
ACLU Immigrant Rights Project
California Dream Network
National Day Labor Organizing Network
Asian Law Alliance - Santa Clara County
UU & Interfaith Resources
Unitarian Universalist
UU Legislative Ministry, CA & UULM Action Network, CA
UU RISE UU Refugee and Immigration Services and Education
UUA Immigrant Justice Resources
PSWD Border Issues & Migration Resources
Interfaith
Interfaith Immigration Coalition
PICO California Affiliates Photo by Mike Kerwin East Bay UUs protest expansion of Contra Costa Jail to hold more immigrant detainees
California CLUE Interfaith Committtee for Worker Justice (San Diego)Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights (SF East Bay)
Ventura County Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice
How we can help
•Identify stories of family separation where the family is willing to be public.
•Sign on letter from your congregation or clergy to endorse compassionate immigration reform.
•Identify supportive “Grass Tops” in your congregation and community.
How We Can Help
Public Witness
National Days of Action•March 15-16 – Los Angelessupport Central American TPS •April 10 – Call Congress•May Day Rallies
State & Local Actions •Supporting CIR•TRUST Act •Driver’s License bill
Public Witness
UULM Lobby Day in Sacramento
May 19th evening & May 20th
Immigrant Day in Sacramento
Come up Sunday evening to build UU community, or come on Monday to join with our allies at California Immigrant Policy Center
Make Friends
MAKE FRIENDS!
Plan Ahead! “Walking the Walk”UU Justice Leaders Summit 2013
The weekend before Thanksgiving – November 22-24Camp de Benneville Pines
Q & A - General Discussion
Together we are making a difference.
The UULMCA Immigrant Justice Team has made great strides in engaging UUs in moving from promise to commitment, from talking justice to doing justice. Together we are doing more than we could ever do alone!
Thank you for joining us!
