"The Price of Immigration," a video from Bread for the World

Bread for the World has produced a moving (6 minute) video telling the story of a young man who emigrated from Mexico to North Carolina, seeking opportunities for himself and his family. The narrator, Dr. James Johnson, a professor at UNC Chapel Hill, provides the economic context for this story. http://vimeo.com/21723990

Are Immigrants Welcome in Philadelphia?

Tuesday, April 12 · 7:00pm - 9:00pm

Broad Street Ministries
315 S. Broad Street (across from Kimmel Center)
Philadelphia PA


Debaters will discuss the impact of local policies on the relationships between immigrant communities, citizen communities and the city government.

Topics will include:
1. city security policies that encourage or prevent racial profiling; 2. police response to domestic violence situations;
3. language access in linguistically diverse neighborhoods;
4. immigrant-friendly schools; and, especially, the pros and cons of the current information-sharing agreement between the Philadelphia Police Department and the Department of Homeland Security's office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Pro: Sarah Paoletti, JD Practice Associate Professor of
Law, University of Pennsylvania Director, Transnational Legal
Clinic, Advocate for comprehensive immigration reform and protection of human rights for all immigrants.

Con: Stu Bykofsky
Sut Bykofsky columnist with the Philadelphia Daily News since 1987, Member of the Society of Professional Journalists, the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and Philadelphia's Pen and Pencil Club. He is a strong proponent of legal immigration and specifically opposes illegal immigration, as he opposes illegality in general.

First District and At Large Candidates for City Council will be asked to state their position on these important issues following the debate.

Co-sponsors of this event: New Sanctuary Movement, JUNTOS, Broad Street Ministries, Central Baptist Church Immigration Justice Group (Wayne, PA), HIAS Migration and Council, Friends of Farmworkers, Arch St. United Methodist Church, Institute for Community Justice, Center for Constitutional Rights, National Day Laborers Organizing Network, Philly Childcare Collective, Rights Working Group, Democracia Ahora PA, Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians

Civil Rights leader Congressman John Lewis at immigration rally in Georgia

Congressman John Lewis -- Civil Rights leader and chairman of SNCC -- at immigration justice rally in Georgia on March 24th -- "If any of you get arrested & go to jail, I'm prepared to get arrested & go to jail with you. If any of us are arrested, are put in jail, then we all should be put in jail. The jails of Georgia, the jails of America aren't large enough to hold all of us! So get out there! Make some noise! Work hard & we will get justice here in the state of GA & all around America. Speak up, speak out & organize!"

Share your ideas for books on immigration topics

Betsy has suggested a couple of books for the Immigration Justice education group to consider for use in another immigration class for the congregation --

 Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion, and Truth in the Immigration Debate (Sorens and Hwang) 

Listen to the Children / Escuchemos a los ninos (Conde-Frazer ), in both English and Spanish, that outlines issues faced by immigrant families in a non-proselytizing biblical framework.

If you have found a good book to suggest, let us know!

New Report on Immigration Detention

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has recently published a very informative report on immigrant detention -- REPORT ON IMMIGRATION IN THE UNITED STATES: DETENTION AND DUE PROCESS. Here is a press release that contains a link to the entire report: http://www.cidh.oas.org/Comunicados/English/2011/21-11eng.htm

Connecting the Underground Railroad with Immigration

Attended the Underground Railroad and Immigration meeting last night at the Arch Street Methodist Church in downtown Philadelphia. Interesting meeting. The important role that congregations of several persuasions in our city played in the Underground Railroad --providing sanctuary sometimes, helping escaping slaves to craft a new identity, meld into the free Black community in Philly, find work and a place to live highlighted for me some of the practical roles that congregations can play in accompanying immigrants. I loved the question by a member of the group, "was hiring an escaped slave a violation of the law?" The answer was "probably." It made me wonder about the potential of hiring so-called illegal immigrants as an act of civil disobedience. I was struck by the contrast between the heroic risk taken by "Conductors" on the Underground Railroad and the greed and betrayal that characterizes some of the "coyotes" who bring people across the south-western border today.

Marta and Eastern Univ students at Philly Dream Act rally

Marta DeAngulo and Eastern University students at the Dream Act rally

Betsy, Caroline, Yatz, Juan, and Marta represented CBC at the  UNDOCUMENTED -- UNAFRAID --  UNAPOLOGETIC rally with DreamActivists in Philadelphia on March 19th.  Marta was there with a group of Eastern University students who had organized a van from the campus.

Here's info about an opportunity to support young people from Pennsylvania who will be traveling to Georgia for a national DreamActivist training in early April. 


FROM DREAMACTIVIST PENNSYLVANIA:

Only two days ago, on March 19^th, immigrant youth and members of DreamActivist Pennsylvania decided to come out of the shadows and declare themselves: Undocumented, unafraid, and unapologetic on the lawn of Independence Mall. The rally was attended by almost 150 people, immigrant youth and supporters who believe these students deserve a pathway to legalization. This event was part of a national “Coming out of the Shadows” campaign organized by the National Immigrant Youth Alliance.

On April 1 – 3, members of DreamActivist Pennsylvania will be traveling to Georgia to take part on the first ever National Immigrant Youth Alliance convening.

Help us get to Georgia

The NIYA is an undocumented youth-LED network of grassroots organizations, campus-based student groups and individuals committed to achieving equality for all immigrant youth, regardless of their legal status. As a national network our core values are to: Empower, Educate, and Escalate.

During the convening, undocumented youth and allies from all over the country will join to construct a new vision for tomorrow. The convening will include the creation of a new nationwide strategy to win rights for immigrant youth and build new leadership.

We are asking for your support in allowing DreamActivist Pennsylvania to be part of this new step in the movement by making a donation that will allow members to attend the convening.

You can make a donation by going to this link: http://bit.ly/niyageorgia

If you're part of an organization and wish to sponsor a member to attend the convening or if you have any questions please e-mail us at dreamactivistpa@gmail.com

Your support brings us closer to realizing our dreams and creating a new future to continue fighting for our community! We appreciate your generosity and continued support.

Sincerely,

DreamActivist Pennsylvania

Rally with DreamActivists this Saturday in Philadelphia

Rally in Philadelphia on Saturday with undocumented youth of Pennsylvania and allies!   Marta DeAngulo and other students at Eastern University have organized a van from EU.   We're all invited to be part of this event! 

COMING OUT OF THE SHADOWS -- 

UNDOCUMENTED / UNAFRAID / UNAPOLOGETIC
1pm to 3pm Saturday, March 19th, at Independence Mall (next to Independence Visitor Center)
March 14 - 21 has been declared National Coming Out Week, the time when undocumented youth break the silence and tell a friend, teacher, facebook, or others of their immigration status. March 19th, 2011, the undocumented youth of Pennsylvania will come out of the shadows. We will declare ourselves undocumented, unafraid, and unapologetic to our community. Now is the time to fight back and make sure that everyone know that we are still not afraid and will not be silenced!   Rally with us and our allies! Out of the shadows and into the streets!

Sign up for working groups

Immigration Justice working groups -- If you haven't signed up to be part of one of the CBC working groups but still want to, contact the appropriate facilitator for information:

Accompaniment - Betsy Morgan
Education - Linda Houser
Arts - Yatz Marcano
Political Action - Ryan Paetzold
Worship - Joe Leonard
Networking - Caroline Cargo