[fsf60k] Fwd: Immigration issues
- From: akillelea@xxxxxxx
- To: FSF60K@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2013 12:19:33 -0500 (EST)
-----Original Message-----
From: LI Council of Churches <LI_Council_of_Churches@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: akillelea <akillelea@xxxxxxx>
Sent: Fri, Jan 25, 2013 3:12 pm
Subject: Immigration issues
As we wait, hope, pray,
and agitate for Congress to reform our broken immigration policies, here are
some resources for welcoming immigrants, including some important info about
which immigrants can receive help from FEMA in the wake of Sandy.
Tom Goodhue
Long Island Council of Churches
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
Organized by
IMMIGRATION LEGAL SERVICES OF LONG ISLAND Wednesday, January 30, 6:00 to 8:00
p.m.
820 Suffolk Avenue, Brentwood, NY 11717
Immigration lawyers will answer all your questions regarding immigration laws
and procedures to understand the challenges facing many immigrant families on
Long Island. They will also talk about the final rule to apply for provisional
unlawful presence waiver before applicants depart the United States to attend
immigrant visa interviews in their country of origin.
For more information, please visit www.ilsoli.org or call 631-617-5269.
SPANISH MINISTRY FOR ENGLISH CONGREGATIONS
The Parish Resource Center is offering a Webinar led by the
Rev. Dr. Enrique Lebron, pastor of Riverhead United Methodist Church (and a
member of the LICC’s Eastern Area Steering Committee) on Tuesday, Feb. 19, from
7 to 8 p.m. Pastor Lebron will share his experiences on how a congregation can
use the resources they have to reach the fastest-growing segment of the
population in ministry that can benefit both the Hispanic community and your
congregation or parish. The cost of this webinar is $15 for PRC subscribers and
$20 for non-subscribers.To register or receive further information, please
visit www.prcli.org
Evangelical Leaders Launch “I Was a Stranger”
The Evangelical Immigration Table has launched an effort to
encourage Christians to think about immigration from a distinctly biblical
perspective. The diverse coalition of influential evangelicals will reach out
to political leaders and more than 100,000 churches for their “I Was a
Stranger” immigration prayer challenge. Leaders announced the launch of a
promotional video featuring high-profile evangelical leaders reading from the
25th chapter of Matthew, from which the challenge gets its name. This
coordinated effort of churches and Christian ministries summons legislators to
allow biblical teachings to inform their views on immigration. The challenge
invites individual evangelical Christians, church congregations, and
legislators to read 40 verses of Scripture that relate to immigration and to
pray that these passages will evoke the political will to create a just
immigration system that better reflects Christian values. Stephan Bauman,
President and CEO, World Relief:
“For years, many people have asked whether evangelicals care
about immigration. The “I Was A Stranger” Challenge mobilizes thousands of
Christians to take action on immigration reform. Evangelicals are serious about
Scripture and its command to take special care of immigrants living among us.
As people all across our country put immigrants first, we believe our elected
officials will understand reform is urgent, moral, and biblical, and that they
must tackle it early this year.”
Jo Anne Lyon, General Superintendent, The Wesleyan Church:
“The church was birthed in diversity 2,000 years ago and for
2,000 years God's people have been speaking and acting on behalf of the
vulnerable. God's call compels us to action today on behalf of immigrants in
our congregations and communities.”
Taylor Bell, Student, Samford University (Alabama):
“This prayer challenge brings us evangelicals back to the
scripture, reminding us that we are called as members of the community of God
to welcome the stranger among us. I know from my own experience as a student in
Alabama that we have a long way to go as evangelicals on the issue of
immigration, and this prayer challenge will provide the biblical foundation we
need to get there.”
Noel Castellanos, CEO, Christian Community Development
Association:
“Today, we are launching a campaign to explore the teaching of
God's Word regarding our call to love the stranger in our land. Join thousands
of Christians over the next 40 days to discover God's heart for our immigrant
brothers and sisters.”
Dave Gibbons, Pastor and Founder of Newsong Church and
XEALOTS.org (California):
“Loving God and Loving Neighbors is the same as Loving
Immigrants. They are all symbiotically related.”
Dr. Bill Hamel, President, Evangelical Free Church of America:
“As an evangelical, I am committed to not missing this moment
in history where we can lead a movement for Biblical justice and compassion.
Evangelicals sat on the sidelines in the civil rights discussions but we must
not this time!”
Dr. Joel Hunter, Senior Pastor, Northland Church (Florida):
“As a pastor, I want my congregation to have a Biblical
framework for addressing challenges, not a primarily political one. The most
powerful motivation for us to find a good way to include people who are
marginalized is to read scripture and try to follow its guidance.”
For more information about the challenge, please visit:
http://evangelicalimmigrationtable.com/iwasastranger/
You can follow the conversation on Twitter at #IWasAStranger or
text Immigration to 877877 to connect to the Evangelical Immigration Table and
sign up for the I Was a Stranger challenge.
Additional info on FEMA’s help for immigrants in the wake of
Superstorm Sandy
Qualified Aliens who may be eligible for FEMA monetary disaster
assistance include Green Card holders – individuals with U.S. government
permission to live and work in the country permanently.
Others in the Qualified Alien category include those who have
legal U.S. resident status because of:
Asylum;
Refugee status;
Parole (admission into the United States for
humanitarian purposes) for at least one year;
Withholding of deportation;
Immigration from Cuba or Haiti; and
Severe forms of human trafficking, including
persons with “T” and “U” visas.
Applicants should consult an immigration expert concerning
whether or not their immigration status falls within the Qualified Alien
category.
FEMA’s Individuals and Households Program is available to
disaster-stricken U.S. citizens, non-citizen nationals and Qualified Aliens in
counties with a federal disaster declaration. Federal disaster assistance for
individuals and families can include money for rental assistance, essential
home repairs for owners, personal property loss and other serious
disaster-related needs not covered by insurance.
Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for FEMA cash
assistance or Disaster Unemployment Assistance.
However, in households with varying citizenship status, only
one member needs to be eligible to qualify that home for FEMA aid.
An undocumented parent or guardian may apply for monetary aid
on behalf of a minor child who is a U.S. citizen, non-citizen national or
Qualified Alien. Although the adult will be expected to sign a Declaration and
Release (FEMA Form 009-0-3) in the child’s name, no information will be
gathered on the person signing for the child.
All individuals, regardless of citizenship status, affected by
a major disaster may be eligible for other non-monetary, in-kind emergency
disaster relief programs. These include search and rescue, medical care,
shelter, food and water as well as Disaster Legal Services and Crisis
Counseling.
People who don’t qualify for monetary assistance may still call
the FEMA registration line for referrals to voluntary agencies.
Individuals can register for help online at
www.disasterassistance.gov or via smartphone or tablet at m.fema.gov. They may
also call 800-621-3362. The TTY number is 800-462-7585. People who use
711-Relay or Video Relay Services can call 800-621-3362. The toll-free
telephone numbers operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week until further
notice.
For more information on New York’s disaster recovery, visit
www.fema.gov/SandyNY, www.twitter.com/FEMASandy, www.facebook.com/FEMASandy and
www.fema.gov/blog.
Many immigrants assume that they cannot receive help from FEMA
in the wake of Superstorm Sandy—or that applying for assistance may jeopardize
their immigration status. FEMA explains in United Way’s “Disaster Assistance
Resource Guide”:
FEMA Assistance
FEMA provides funding and assistance to local residents
(renters and homeowners) and businesses who have sustained loss of or damage to
property that is not covered by insurance. Contact your insurance company
first: If you are NOT covered for the storm damage by your insurance company,
you may be eligible for federal aid. You will need to obtain a letter from your
insurance company saying you are not covered for damage from the storm.
Applicants can feel confident that the information they provide is used only to
access disaster recovery assistance, according to the head of disaster recovery
operations in New York for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
The aid is available to citizens, non-citizen nationals, and
qualified aliens. Qualified aliens include those with legal permanent residence
(shown by green cards). Their status will not be jeopardized by requesting
disaster assistance.
A minor child who is a citizen, non-citizen national or
qualified alien can have a parent or guardian who is not eligible apply for
assistance on the child’s behalf. No information will be gathered on the
adult’s status.
The status of qualified alien includes:
legal permanent residents (those with green cards),
those with refugee or asylum status,
those whose deportation has been withheld,
those on parole into the U.S. for at least one year for
humanitarian purposes,
those with conditional entry,
those who are Cuban-Haitian entrants,
and those with petitions for relief based on battery or extreme
cruelty by a family member.
The application for assistance from the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) requires applicants to certify that they are either
citizens, non-citizen nationals or qualified aliens. FEMA conducts random
audits of applications to verify U.S. citizenship and qualified alien
documentation issued by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. However,
assistance can be given as long as someone in the household is entitled to it,
and no information will be gathered regarding the status of others in the
household.
FEMA Assistance for Immigrant Families
FEMA helps the household, therefore if anyone in the household
qualifies (a child born on the US, or a parent with a green card), then the
family would qualify for help.
For further information about FEMA assistance, visit
www.fema.gov
For other services, and the updated version of United Way’s
“Disaster Assistance Resource Guide,” visit www.211longisland.org
A GREAT RESOURCE TO HELP CHILDREN IMPACTED BY THE HURRICANE
-- available in English & Spanish
If you work with children, parents, grandparents, other
relatives, or will be volunteering in the hurricane recovery efforts, the
attached coloring book, which was written by Mike Conner, PsyD, in the 1990's,
is a wonderful tool for helping children who have been impacted by the storm to
understand their feelings and how to cope with them. Dr. Connor has granted
permission for this to be Xeroxed and widely distributed, as long as it is not
used for commercial purposes. There is an English, as well as a Spanish,
edition, along with a parents' guide.
English:
http://www.mentorresearch.org/Documents/StormFloodColoringBookParentGuide.pdf
Spanish(translated courtesy of the Childrens' Project Team of
Project Recovery, Iowa Division of Mental Health and Disability Services):
http://www.mentorresearch.org/Documents/SpanishFlood%20StormRecoveryParenting.pdf
DEFERRED ACTION FOR CHILD ARRIVALS
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which will
allow qualifying undocumented youth to temporarily live and work in the US, has
officially begun.
Click here for details about how to apply and where you can
find help.
CARACEN, and Jobs with Justice are offering workshops on
Deferred Action. Hosting such a workshop is a great service to those who may be
eligible for this program and a great way to invite immigrant youth and young
adults to your congregation. We’d be glad to pass the word about such
workshops. Here’s info on workshops Jobs with Justice is doing:
INTERRELIGIOUS VISITS
A recent Pew Report noted that more immigrants came to the U.S.
in 2010 from Asia than from Latin America, which suggests that we may all need
to get to know some new neighbors.
The LICC’s Dialogue Committee wants to encourage
inter-denominational and inter-religious visits to houses of worship, which is
one way to create communities that welcome immigrants. When Christians meet
local Sikhs, Bahais, and Jains, they are reminded that not all recent
immigrants are from Latin America. And Latinos often find they need a little
help in understanding Long Island’s astonishing religious diversity.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, someone remarked once
at a meeting of the Long Island Multi-Faith Forum, a visit is worth a thousand
pictures. Would your church, synagogue, mosque, gurudwara, temple or
fellowship welcome interfaith visitors? If so, what are good times to come and
whom should we list as a contact for visits? Is there anything you would like
visitors to know about where they should sit, what they should wear, and what
you would prefer that they do or not do? The Forum has done more than 275
educational programs, mostly in English but also some in Spanish to help
Latinas get to know people they are likely to encounter on Long Island.
You might also consider hosting the Forum’s “Building Bridges”
program or its “What’s My Faith?” game show. Both are great ways to help your
congregation or community group to understand your immigrant neighbors. For
more information, please visit www.liccny.org. To request a presentation,
contact Bernice Suplee at jbsuplee@xxxxxxx or (631) 665-7033. Michael
Fairchild, who produced the half-hour “Faiths of Long Island” video for the
Long Island Multi-Faith Forum has loaded it onto YouTube. You can see the video
at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ncnn5pd6Gu4 and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOsL0LaClgU
HELP FOR IMMIGRANT WORKERS
The State Department of Labor has a host of free programs
designed to help immigrants break into the workforce. The New York State
Department of Labor is addressing the language/employment barrier with a new
program designed to help immigrants navigate the working world and learn
English as well. Immigrant workforce counselors are set up at the State Labor
Department's one-stop centers in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Flushing, Patchogue,
Yonkers, Buffalo, Syracuse and Utica and they can provide assistance in a wide
variety of languages. They also refer clients to English as a Second Language
(ESL) classes. All of the Immigrant Workforce Project programs are free. For
more information, visit http://www.labor.ny.gov.
The Rev. Thomas W. Goodhue
Executive Director
Long Island Council of Churches
1644 Denton Green
Hempstead, NY 11550
516-565-0290 ext. 206 (voice)
516-565-0291 (fax)
tomgoodhue@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.liccny.org
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