UUA Immigration News

New Year, New Opportunities

With many traditions' New Years celebrations at our backs and a brand new Congress and Administration installed, now is the time to renew our commitment to stand on the side of love! While the economy, health care, and energy take center stage, we must continue to sound the call for immigration reform. We would like to call special attention to the first item below: a week of action promoting immigration reform from February 13 - 22, when members of Congress return to their districts. We hope that 2009 finds each of you happy, healthy, and feeling strong in the valuable work that you do. --In faith, Lisa and Susan.

1. INTERFAITH IMMIGRATION COALITION - FEBRUARY WEEK OF ACTION AND NATIONAL CALL-INS

   FEBRUARY WEEK OF ACTION - The Interfaith Immigration Coalition (IIC), of which the UUA is a part, is encouraging people of faith to take action to promote immigration reform during the first break in the 111th Congress when Congress members return to their districts, February 13 - 22.

   All levels of participation are welcome, from holding an interfaith prayer vigil to adding an immigration reform focus to an ongoing activity your congregation is already involved in, like voter registration or ESL classes. Or you can express support through a sermon, litany, or prayer petition for immigrants during worship. Add your events and find other events on the Interfaith Immigration Event Calendar.

   The IIC will host a national conference call at 4 PM on February 2nd to offer ideas on how to organize, publicize, and recruit for a local prayer vigil or other event. To participate, call 866-200-5786, and enter conference ID number 6814444.

   NATIONAL CALL-INS - Every first Monday of the month at 4 pm EST, the Interfaith Immigration Coalition will host national conference calls with different emphases. Sign up for monthly emails with the call-in number and topic at http://www.interfaithimmigration.org/ by entering your email under "Raise Your Voice" on the right hand side of the page. See above paragraph for topic of the next national call on February 2nd at 4 PM.

   Questions? Email Lisa at lswanson@uua.org.

   ACTION ALERT: TELL HOUSE TO REMOVE E-VERIFY FROM ECONOMIC STIMULUS

2. The House Appropriations Committee has approved an amendment to the economic stimulus bill (the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) that would require businesses that receive money from the stimulus package to use the "E-Verify" program to verify their workers' legal status. The E-Verify program is flawed, inaccurate, and subject to employer abuse. It is not ready for a massive expansion and definitely not in times of economic crisis. As long as our immigration system remains broken and 5% of our labor force is undocumented, E-Verify poses a threat to millions of workers and their families. If your Representative is a member of the Appropriations Committee, give him or her a call and tell them: • You are extremely disappointed that the E-Verify requirement was included on the Stimulus and you want the provision stripped from the bill; • Including E-verify in the stimulus package undercuts the purpose of the bill and will be counterproductive for business, workers and the economy; • Real solutions to our economic problems and immigration reform should be approached seriously and separately.

   Dems on the Appropriations Committee: Marion Berry (AR-1) 202-225-4076; Ed Pastor (AZ-4) 202-225-4065; Barbara Lee (CA-9) 202-225-2661; Michael M. Honda (CA-15) 202-225-2631; Sam Farr (CA-17) 202-225-2861; Adam B. Schiff (CA-29) 202-225-4176; Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34) 202-225-1766; Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-3) 202-225-3661; John T. Salazar (CO-3) 202-225-4761; Allen Boyd (FL-2) 202-225-5235; Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-20) 202-225-7931; Sanford D. Bishop (GA-2) 202-225-3631; Jesse L. Jackson (IL-2) 202-225-0773; Peter J.. Visclosky (IN-1) 202-225-2461; Albert Benjamin Chandler (KY-6) 202-225-4706; John W. Olver (MA-1) 202-225-5335; C.A. Ruppersberger (MD-2) 202-225-3061; Carolyn C. Kilpatrick (MI-13) 202-225-2261; Betty McCollum (MN-4) 202-225-6631; David E. Price (NC-4) 202-225-1784; Steven R. Rothman (NJ-9) 202-225-5061; Steve Israel (NY-2) 202-225-3335; Jose E. Serrano (NY-16) 202-225-4361; Nita M. Lowey (NY-18) 202-225-6506; Maurice D. Hinchey (NY-22) 202-225-6335; Marcy Kaptur (OH-9) 202-225-4146; Timothy J. Ryan (OH-17) 202-225-5261; Chaka Fattah (PA-2) 202-225-4001; John P. Murtha (PA-12) 202-225-2065; Patrick J. Kennedy (RI-1) 202-225-4911; Lincoln Davis (TN-4) 202-225-6831; Chet Edwards (TX-17) 202-225-6105; Ciro Rodriguez (TX-23) 202-225-4511; James P. Moran (VA-8) 202-225-4376; Norman D. Dicks (WA-6) 202-225-5916; Alan B. Mollohan (WV-1) 202-225-4172; David R. Obey (WI-7) 202-225-3365.

   INTERFAITH IMMIGRATION PLATFORM PRESENTED TO OBAMA TEAM

3. In December, members of the Interfaith Immigration Coalition (IIC), including staff from the UUA, met with seven members of Obama's transition team, including Tino Cuéllar, a Stanford law professor co-leading the transition team working group on immigration. The IIC presented the Interfaith Immigration Platform for the New Administration and the 111th Congress, which calls for a path to legalization for the undocumented and the upholding of family unity, workers rights, immigrant integration, due process, and humane enforcement. The Interfaith Platform has nearly 500 signees, including UUA President Rev. William G. Sinkford and a dozen Unitarian Universalist leaders, congregations and social action committees from Danbury, CT, to Los Angeles, CA. Mr. Cuéllar listened patiently and attentively as the IIC presented its concerns for over an hour. A record of the meeting, with space for comments, is posted on the transition team website Change.gov. Mr. Cuellar indicated that he was sincerely impressed by the number of signatures on the interfaith platform. Thanks so much to all of you who signed!

4. UU MINISTRY - NO MORE DEATHS

   Over the holidays, UUA.org featured an article on No More Deaths, an official ministry of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson that offers humanitarian aid to border crossers. Here it is if you missed it: Awakening Compassion on the Border. You can support the life-saving work of No More Deaths by traveling to Tucson to volunteer or sending a financial donation. Learn more by checking out the No More Deaths website at http://www.nomoredeaths.org/.

5. HIDDEN CAMERA EXPLORES RACISM AGAINST DAY LABORERS

   On January 7, ABC News ran an episode of "What Would You Do?" that explored racism against Spanish-speaking day laborers by observing bystander's reactions to staged discrimination. The fifteen minute video is a powerful and moving conversation starter for how people of faith can honor the inherent worth and dignity of immigrants. View What Would You Do?: Confronting Racism in America Part 1 (8:23 minutes) and look for the link at the bottom of the screen to view Part 2 (8:24).

6. APPLY FOR PRIZE TO FUND INTEGRATION WORK

   The E Pluribus Unum Prizes are a national awards program that will provide four $50,000 awards to exceptional initiatives that promote immigrant integration. Individuals, nonprofit and community organizations, private businesses, religious groups, and government entities, agencies, or officials operating in the United States may apply by January 31st.

7. SUCCESS: ILLINOIS ADVOCATES ENSURE DETAINEES RELIGIOUS MINISTRY ACCESS

   At the end of 2008, Illinois passed The Access to Religious Ministry Act to ensure access of religious workers to immigrant detainees in county jails across the state. The Illinois Coalition of Immigrant and Refugee Rights was one of many religious institutions and leaders that supported the bill.

8. SUCCESS: NASHVILLE DEFEATS ENGLISH-ONLY ORDINANCE

   On January 22nd, voters in Nashville, TN, defeated an amendment that would have made Nashville the largest municipality in the United States to pass an English-only ordinance. Members of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashville (FUUN) joined forces with a broad-based coalition Nashville for All of Us and its subgroup, Faith Leaders for All of Us, to defeat this amendment, which would have violated the human rights of many residents in Nashville and surrounding Davidson County.

   Members of FUUN were active in helping spread the word and getting out the vote. 5th and 6th grade members of the congregation discussed the issue in their Sunday morning Religious Education class, and then wrote letters that were published in the church newsletter, The Fireside. They also mailed the letters to The Tennessean. Click here to read their letters on the UUA Advocacy & Witness blog.

   Many thanks to Tanya Surawicz, co-chair of FUUN's Social justice Committee, and Marguerite Mills, FUUN's Director of Religious Education, for this news item!

9. HEADS UP! UUA IMMIGRATION ACTIONS COMING UP . . .

   Heads up! In May, the Unitarian Universalist Association's Action of the Month will focus on immigration. Stay tuned for more information on specific asks and actions . . . . And this summer in Salt Lake City, Utah, the official public witness event of the 2009 UUA General Assembly will also focus on immigration. (Unfamiliar with GA Public Witness Events? Click here for coverage of 2008's.)