Senate Bill 744 - Call-in TODAY!!

Published by Laura Rampersad in Advocacy Alerts on May 21st, 2013

TODAY, the SJC will focus on amendments relating to family unity and the pathway to citizenship. Please call ALL SJC OFFICES (listed below) all day Tuesday, May 21.  We encourage you to call 202-224-3121. Please refer to each amendment by the sponsor’s NAME and associated NUMBER.

Possible statement you could use -

“As a United Methodist, I urge Senator  to SUPPORT Senator Hirono’s Amendment #10, and all Hirono and Blumenthal amendments to improve family unity and make the pathway to citizenship more accessible. I also urge Senator  to OPPOSE amendments offered by Senators Grassley and Sessions that would narrow or delay the pathway to citizenship.”

SUPPORT AMENDMENTS TO IMPROVE FAMILY UNITY & PATHWAY TO CITIZENSHIP

ALL HIRONO AMENDMENTS, ESPECIALLY HIRONO #10

Hirono #5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13 would allow U.S. citizens to continue sponsoring their siblings and married children over 31, raise the cut-off date for married kids to 39 instead of 31, and improve the likelihood for these family members to be reunited, especially when their U.S. citizen family member has not used the family visa system before or would experience hardship.

Hirono #12, 14, 16, 17 would allow individuals to pay fines in installments, allow individuals with registered provisional immigrant (RPI) status to sponsor their spouse and children outside of the U.S., provide access to health care for individuals with RPI status, children and pregnant women, and allow states to provide health care to DREAMers, agricultural workers, and some individuals with RPI status.

What is the Gang of 8 doing?

Published by Laura Rampersad in General on April 12th, 2013
good-friday-rallyComprehensive Immigration Reform is in the news and the ongoing debate is getting a lot of coverage.  If you are wondering what the Gang of 8 is debating, we suggest a great article on the Economist blog entitled “Getting There”
We also want to remind you that as things progress, trust JFON to keep you up to date on the issue.    We regularly post information on our website  and publicize community events and announcements on our JFON Facebook page . There are no stupid questions; In fact, the unasked question often protects damaging myths.
Finally, JFON staff and volunteers are available to speak at public forums, small groups or at your workplace.  Contact Laura at L.Rampersad@jfonwestmichigan.org with your questions or to schedule a speaking engagement.

Thrive 5k Fun Run

Published by Laura Rampersad in General on April 6th, 2013
Upcoming Event to Support Refugees
Help support Thrive: A Refugee Support Program by participating in our non-competitive Thrive 5k Fun Run on Saturday, April 13, 2013 at Wyoming High School Stadium located at 1350 Prairie Parkway SW, Wyoming MI. Support this event by registering below as a runner, making a donation on behalf of a runner, volunteering at the event, or making a direct donation to Thrive. Registration Form, Runner Sponsor Form and a flyer are attached below to pass the word to others.
Please register now so we can plan on how many people are coming!
Event Timeline
8a-8:45a Registration
9a Fun Run Start
10a Post-event activities (includes music from WaZoBia drumming!)

UMC Bishop Carcaño meets with Pres. Obama

Published by Laura Rampersad in General on March 13th, 2013

Bishop & Others Meet President Obama to discuss commonsense immigration reform

March 8, 2013, 5:30 PM PDT — Bishop Minerva Carcaño and other faith leaders met privately with President Obama today at the White House to discuss immigration reform.

“We started off the meeting praying for the president and for immigrants, and when we were finished, he (Obama) asked us if there would be another prayer. We offered up another prayer seeking wisdom for both the president and members of Congress,” Bishop Minerva Carcaño told the press. The bishop attended the meeting with fourteen others, including Jim Wallis of Sojourners, Archbishop José Horacio Gomez of the Los Angeles Archdiocese, and Mark Hetfield, President and CEO, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society.

“During the meeting, the president emphasized that comprehensive immigration reform was a high priority for him, and he asked us as faith leaders to continue to push for it,” she also told United Methodist News Service.

“It was so wonderful to hear him say this was high priority for him and that he believes this is the season for immigration reform,” she said.

For extended coverage of today’s meeting from national and religious news outlets, please see the following links (they will open in your browser):

“Human Rights First” Approach

Published by Laura Rampersad in Advocacy Alerts on February 4th, 2013

United Methodist Women National Office Launches Principles that Call for a “Human Rights First” Approach to Immigration Reform - New York, January 30, 2013

Immigration Reform 2013

United Methodist Women national office welcomes the momentum for national immigration reform this year!  This is the moment we have been waiting for and as women of faith committed to justice, particularly for women, youth and children, we must seize this moment!  As a contribution, United Methodist Women offers core principles to guide us in the intense national debate and negotiations ahead.

On Monday, January 28 four Republican and four Democratic Senators (known as the “Gang of 8”) launched a Bipartisan Framework on Comprehensive Immigration Reform [http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/politics/bipartisan-framework-for-immigration-reform-report/27/]. On Tuesday in Las Vegas, President Obama presented a White House roadmap for immigration reform  [http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/01/29/fact-sheet-fixing-our-broken-immigration-system-so-everyone-plays-rules].  Both the Senate and White House are committed to immigration reform this year, perhaps as early as June.

UMW/UMC Working for Immigrant Rights

United Methodist Women has been engaged in an Immigrant & Civil Rights Initiative since  2006, building on our long tradition of welcoming immigrants that dates back to the 19th Century.  In 2012 we engaged in a spiritual growth study, “Immigration & the Bible,” by the Rev. Joan Marushkin.  There, we explored how the entire Biblical story is one of migration—due to famine, war, family conflict, women’s oppression, religious commitment and more.  And we learned of the deep Biblical mandate to welcome the migrant and to love one another as God has loved us.
Read More »

Position Change on Driver’s Licenses for Immigrant Youth

Published by Laura Rampersad in Advocacy Alerts on February 4th, 2013

Detroit - Today, the office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued new guidelines that dismantle Secretary of State Ruth Johnson’s justification for denying driver’s licenses to students legalized under the President’s Deferred Action program.

Michigan is one of only three states, including Arizona, that currently are attempting to deny these newly legalized young people the right to drive.

Sergio Martinez, a recipient of Deferred Action and AIR member said, “DREAM students deserve the right to drive to work and school, the same as anyone else. Secretary of State Johnson denied us this right, claiming that she wanted more federal guidance. Citizenship and Immigration Service’s new guidance is clear and authoritative—there can be no more excuses from Secretary Johnson.”

The new guidance reads in part:

“However, although deferred action does not confer a lawful immigration status, your period of stay is authorized by the Department of Homeland Security while your deferred action is in effect and, for admissibility purposes, you are considered to be lawfully present in the United States during that time.

Deferred action for childhood arrivals is one form of deferred action. The relief an individual receives pursuant to the deferred action for childhood arrivals process is identical for immigration purposes to the relief obtained by any person who receives deferred action as an act of prosecutorial discretion.”

The Secretary of State’s own policy states that non-citizens must present proof of “legal presence.”

Elected leaders from across Michigan requested the guidance from USCIS in December after Johnson refused to issue the licenses to beneficiaries of the new program. The leaders, including State Rep. Rashida Tlaib, pointed out that Johnson’s office was already issuing licenses to other immigrants with deferred action, and that the Secretary’s discrimination against immigrant youth may have been illegal.


http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=3a4dbc4b04499310VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=3a4dbc4b04499310VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/SOS_WEDMK_1_Michigan_Drivers_License_Information_158263_7.pdf

Pray for Immigration Reform

Published by IWC Intern in Advocacy Alerts, Immigration Events on February 1st, 2013

Justice for Our Neighbors is issuing a challenge  to host as many immigration prayer vigils in West Michigan as we possibly can during the month of February. This is a crucial time in the national immigration debate, as proposals are being hammered out. As the saying goes, “the devil is in the details,” so we want to make sure that whatever bills are crafted, they are informed by the moral imperative to enact just, humane, and compassionate reform.

If you have an IWC team at your church, great! You’re all set to get planning. If not, now is a great time to pull a few like-minded social justice-caring friends from your congregation together to make a real and lasting impact in the lives of our immigrant brothers and sisters. I have attached an extremely helpful guide called how-to-organize-for-just-and-humane-immigration-reform that walks you through planning a prayer vigil step by step in section 3–check it out! To make this even easier, I have also attached a prayer-vigil-letter that you can send to your Congressional representatives after your event to let them know what you want to see in an immigration reform bill. All you have to do is insert your church’s information and send it off! If you’d like to show the short film “Jasmine’s Story” at your event, Bill Mefford will send you a free copy of the DVD if you can email him the date you’re showing it (bmefford@umc-gbcs.org). Finally, if you’d like a handout at your event, I’ve attached a document called us-immigration-laws-timeline-um-version which I’ve spent a lot of time researching–it goes through all the most important immigration laws in our country’s history as well as how the church has been involved (it’s 6 pages, so you’ll probably want to print double-sided).

The 3 areas we are asking you to specifically pray for are:
1) protection for immigrants
2) empowerment of people of faith to speak out more boldly for immigrants and
3) moral courage for members of Congress to show leadership in enacting humane immigration reform

Please, please, PLEASE let Nikole  know if your church is hosting a prayer vigil–I want to make sure we let Bill know the total amount from the West Michigan conference and it will be easier for him to keep track of it if I just send him one message.

Thanks for all your hard work everyone–this is going to pay off in the form of some long-awaited legislation this year!

Nikole

N.Krueger@jfonwestmichigan.org

Thoughts on Sean Hannity’s Flip On Immigration Reform

Published by Laura Rampersad in General on November 16th, 2012

Immigration is the buzz after the election.  Even those set firmly in camps seem to be coming around.  Listen closely to those who speak - let your congressman know you support comprehensive immigration reform - pray for change!

from  Benjamin Hart Posted: 11/08/2012 9:06 pm EST Updated: 11/08/2012 11:36 pm EST:

One day after the GOP suffered a crushing presidential defeat that spotlighted the party’s unpopularity with Latino voters, Fox News star Sean Hannity announced that his position on undocumented immigrants had “evolved” and that he now supports a pathway to citizenship. (Listen above.)

Musing on his radio show about how his party could convince Latinos to switch parties, Hannity proposed a solution:

“We’ve gotta get rid of the immigration issue altogether. It’s simple for me to fix it. I think you control the border first, you create a pathway for those people that are here, you don’t say you gotta home. And that is a position that I’ve evolved on. Because you know what–it just–it’s gotta be resolved. The majority of people here–if some people have criminal records you can send’ em home–but if people are here, law-abiding, participating, four years, their kids are born here… first secure the border, pathway to citizenship… then it’s done. But you can’t let the problem continue. It’s gotta stop.”

His declaration comes amid a wave of Republican soul-searching in the wake of Tuesday’s loss. One of the central takeaways of the election was that the GOP has a serious demographics problem; white voters, who have long served as the party’s base, are decreasing as a share of the country’s population, while Democrats have successfully cobbled together a slim majority with overwhelming support from Latinos, blacks and Asians.

Democrats and Republicans have not seen eye to eye on immigration in the past few years. In 2010, the DREAM Act, legislation that would have provided some undocumented immigrants a pathway to citizenship, failed to secure enough Senate votes during a lame-duck session, largely as a result of GOP opposition. Republicans in the last Congress then adopted a harsher tone on the issue than their predecessors. President Obama bypassed them altogether in June when he announced that his administration would stop deporting undocumented immigrants under 30 who had arrived in the United States before the age of 16.

Friendship crosses borders

Published by Laura Rampersad in General on November 15th, 2012

11/6/2012

Last January, West Michigan Justice for our Neighbors announced that they had been chosen by the General Board of Church and Society as one of seven national pilot Immigrant Welcoming Congregation (IWC) programs. The program is based on a successful model developed with a group of downtown Chicago congregations. Nikole Krueger serves as the Justice Discipler for the effort here in West Michigan.

IWC seeks to assist local churches in engaging in meaningful ministry in their local context. Churches travel from mercy to justice, from service-only to friendships, from ministering-to to being transformed alongside the new immigrants.

Recently four congregations participated in a Community Diversity Dinner hosted at La Nueva Esperanza United Methodist Church: Grand Rapids First, Sparta, Plainfield, and La Nueva Esperanza UMCs. Their theme was, “We live in Grand Rapids but our roots come from all over the world.” They shared a meal consisting of ethnic dishes carried in potluck-style and table discussion exchanged immigration backgrounds. Songs were led by Pastor Jorge Rodriguez. (Pictured at right.)

Link to the Story: http://westmichiganconference.org/news/detail/2750

Deferred Action (DACA) Update

Published by Laura Rampersad in General on September 17th, 2012

One month after the Obama administration started a program to suspend deportations of young illegal immigrants, more than 72,000 of them have applied for the temporary reprieve, senior immigration officials said on Tuesday, and this week the first approvals have been granted.     Read More »