[fsf60k] Fwd: A Month of Action for Immigrant Justice
- From: akillelea@xxxxxxx
- To: FSF60K@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2013 21:59:26 -0400 (EDT)
-----Original Message-----
From: LI Jobs with Justice <lijwj01@xxxxxxxxx>
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Sent: Fri, Apr 5, 2013 3:22 pm
Subject: A Month of Action for Immigrant Justice
Dear Friend,
The time has finally arrived for Congress to enact comprehensive immigration
reform. Thank you for your leadership over the past several years to prepare us
for this moment. We hope that the resources we provided you at our “Teach and
Preach” and “We Are All Immigrants” workshops have helped you begin to raise
awareness about immigration issues in your congregation.
Now, at long last, it is time to for us to act. The US Chamber of Commerce and
the AFL-CIO have reached agreement on work visa policies. Consequently, the
Senate bi-partisan committee is moving toward finishing their legislative
proposals that will be announced this month. And even the House of
Representatives is working on a legislative package.
But the weeks and months ahead will be critical as these bills move forward and
attempts are made to alter them. Our coalition has put together a set of
principles (below) that we believe should shape the final immigration reform
law. But we’ll have to fight for these principles!
We therefore are pleased to announce, on behalf of the “We Are All Immigrants”
coalition, “A Month of Action for Immigrant Justice.” Please attend any of
these events, and please bring members of your congregation with you to:
Rally in support of the NYS Farmworkers Bill of Rights, Monday, April 8th at
12:00pm outside of the NYS Office Building (250 Veterans Memorial Highway,
Hauppauge)
“Stop the Deportations Vigil,” Tuesday, April 9, 6:00-7:00 PM in front of St.
John of God Church (84 Carleton Avenue, Central Islip)
NYS DREAM Act LI Bus Trip to Albany, Tuesday, April 23rd (Register here). For
more information contact Anita Halasz (ahalasz.lijwj@xxxxxxxxx // 631-348-1170
ext. 310)
Immigration Reform Policy Briefings:
1. Wednesday, April 17th, 12 Noon at the Islamic Center of LI, 835 Brush Hollow
Rd, Westbury (bring a brown-bag lunch)
2. Friday, April 19th, 12 Noon, Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Church, 1434
Straight Path, Wyandanch (bring a brown-bag lunch)
3. Tuesday, April 30th, 5:30PM, St. John the Evangelist Church, 546 St.
John’s Place, Riverhead (Pizza supper will be provided)
**Please RSVP for the workshops with Anita Halasz: ahalasz.lijwj@xxxxxxxxx or
631-348-1170 ext. 310 so that we can make room arrangements and prepare your
resource packets**
LI JwJ “Working But Still Poor” Conference, May 3rd at Touro Law Center in
Central Islip. The conference will featureLong Island immigrant advocate Sr.
Margaret Smyth, Sister Simone Campbell, and two immigration reform workshops.
Register at www.longislandjwj.org
As people of faith, committed to justice for all, we cannot let this moment
pass. Please join us for this “Month of Action for Immigrant Justice.”
Yours truly,
The Staff of LI Jobs with Justice,
Charlene Obernauer
Anita Halasz
Ana Giraldo
Richard Koubek
P.S. If you cannot attend the events, but would like to make a donation to
support our efforts, please do so online at http://www.longislandjwj.org/donate/
Interfaith Principles for Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Like people of many different faiths, we take seriously the words of Leviticus
(19:33-34), “Don’t mistreat any foreigners who live in your land. Instead,
treat them as well as you treat citizens…” Because we are a nation of laws
rooted in our faith traditions and a nation of immigrants, I urge you to reform
America's broken immigration laws for the benefit of our economy and the
millions of immigrants who annually pump billions of dollars into our tax base
and productivity. We believe immigration reform should:
1. Address the causes of migration including extreme poverty - some of
which is caused by free trade agreements such as NAFTA that have ruined local
economies by flooding them with cheap American products such as US-subsidized
corn - as well as violent conflicts, religious and political persecution,
environmental destruction and economic exploitation that cause people to leave
their homes and families.
2. Keep all families together by reducing the backlog in visa permits and
by increasing the number of visas available to spouses and children of
documented, permanent immigrants.
3. Provide a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrant
workers and their families that is fair, efficient and humane and not punitive
with exorbitant fees, fines or other requirements such as making them first
return to their country of origin.
4. Meet our workforce needs by providing visas for all sectors of the
economy and adjusting the number of visas to the changing needs of the U.S.
economy such as the harvest season in agricultural regions.
5. Protect the rights of immigrant workers such as their right to change
employers, join a union, earn the minimum or prevailing wage, overtime pay,
protection from racial, ethnic or sexual discrimination and other rights
guaranteed to American workers.
6. Enforce the new immigration rules fairly by cracking down on
unscrupulous employers who exploit immigrant workers without punishing these
workers or subjecting them to error-ridden electronic verification systems like
“e-verify.”
7. Terminate cruel and harsh enforcement of immigrant laws such as the mass
arrests, detentions and deportations of non-criminal undocumented immigrants,
often without due process of law like the right to counsel, to submit evidence,
confront accusers or a jury trial.
8. Maintain humanitarian border security enforcement in consultation with
border communities in ways that treat all migrants with respect while using
taxpayer dollars to prevent entry by dangerous criminals or people who threaten
U.S. national security.
While so many immigrants have fled poverty in their homelands, here on Long
Island an Adelphi University study found that immigrants contributed $10.6
billion in purchasing power to the local economy in 2006, generated 82,000 jobs
while each immigrant paid $2,305 more in local taxes than they received in
government services such as health care or education. Immigrants are and
always have been vital to the strength of our nation.
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