Honoring a Man of Faith: !Cesar Chavez Presente!

The New Mexico Faith Coalition for Immigrant Justice will celebrate the life and work of Cesar Chavez by marching on Saturday, March 27th at 11am from the Westside Community Center to the National Hispanic Cultural Center.

Cesar's deep faith sustained his struggle to get recognition for the people who feed us.
"From the depth of need and despair, people can work together, can organize themselves to solve their own problems and fill their own needs with dignity and strength."

Cesar wrote the book "My Faith In Action", sharing the power of faith put towards social justice.

Please join us Saturday either at the march or the National Hispanic Cultural Center!
More info at: cesarchaveznm.org

Opportunities to Learn More about Immigration & Faith

We in the New Mexico Faith Coalition for Immigrant Justice care about educating ourselves and our community. We host a monthly training on different topics as part of our meetings:

Understanding Immigration Policies: Rachel LaZar of El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos (Nov 2009)
Introduction to Immigration Law: Rebecca Kitson, immigration attorney, 1st UU (Feb 21, 2010)
The Migration of Central Americans: Fr. Rafael Garcia, Immaculate Conception (March 7, 2010)
Understanding Asylum: Dr. Tom Davies (April TBA)

Please join us in understanding the issues around immigration to the United States and discuss how people of faith can show hospitality and compassion.

NM Faith Coalition Meets with Mayor's Office about Immigration Policy

Fifty five local religious leaders signed a letter from the NM Faith Coalition for Immigrant Justice to Mayor Berry expressing concern about immigration policy in Albuquerque. Every member of City Council was cc'd on the letter.

After receiving the letter, the mayor's office offered to meet with the coalition. Five representatives of the New Mexico Faith Coalition for Immigrant Justice, including a Catholic priest & new immigrant, an Episcopalian & ESL teacher, a Unitarian & immigration attorney, a Christian leader and former APD/Community Relations board member, and a recent immigrant, met with a representative of Mayor Berry's office for more than an hour to discuss policy.

The mayor's office was presented with faith statements on immigration from the mainstream Christian, Jewish and Muslim perspectives. He was also provided with a study conducted by the National Police Foundation in May 2009 that found that when local law enforcement tries to enforce federal immigration law, the result is a decrease in public safety, a diversion of scarce resources, and an undermining of police-community relations. Read the study here:
http://www.policefoundation.org/strikingabalance/strikingabalance.html

We urged Mayor Berry's office to change current APD policy regarding certification of crime victims applying for a U-visa (specific visa granted to crime victims and witnesses who assist with prosecution)—currently APD has a blanket policy NOT to certify these victims, requiring that U-visa petitioners go to NM state police for certification, which is difficult and time-consuming. We also expressed that we do not support a change in APD policy which would mean enforcing federal immigration laws (the work of ICE not local law enforcement).

We were pleased that the mayor's assistant took extensive notes and dialogued with us for almost 1.5 hours. We look forward to ways in which we can help create better public safety policies in Albuquerque which reduce racial profiling and criminalization of migrants.

Immigration Statements from the Religious Community

American Baptist Churches
"Because of the Biblical mandate that we be a caring and hospitable community, that we love our neighbors, that we establish justice and proclaim liberty; because we have a sense of Christian responsibility to serve human needs; because of our commitment to respect the human rights of all people; and because we are mainly a nation of immigrants, we, the American Baptist Churches USA, shall.."
http://www.abc-usa.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=sb4Hh%2BQXhqw%3D&tabid=199

American Friends (Quakers)
"The work of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) in immigrant communities is based on our belief in the worth and inherent dignity of every person.."
http://www.afsc.org/ImmigrantsRights/

Church of the Brethren
"out of obedience to our heritage and the Gospel mandate, the Church of the Brethren affirms legislation and public policies which welcome and promote the welfare of immigrants and refugees..."
www.cobannualconference.org/ac_statements/82Refugees.htm

Church of the Nazarene
"“We believe that all people, regardless of national origin, are made in the “image of God” and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect (Genesis 1:26-27, 9:6). We believe there is an undeniable biblical responsibility to love and show compassion for the stranger among us (Deuteronomy 10:18-19, Leviticus 19:33-34, Matthew 25:31-46). We believe that immigrants are our neighbors, both literally and figuratively, and we are to love our neighbors as ourselves and show mercy to neighbors in need (Leviticus 19:18,Mark 12:31, Luke 10:25-37).We believe in the rule of law, but we also believe that we are to oppose unjust laws and systems that harm and oppress people made in God’s image, especially the vulnerable(Isaiah 10:1-4, Jeremiah 7:1-7, Acts 5:29, Romans 13:1-7)."
www.missionstrategy.org/missionstrategy/Portals/0/pdf/mmpdf/CCIRStatement.pdf

Community of Christ
"Any public policy, including legislation, that dehumanizes or denies basic human rights to any group or person, that forbids Christians from extending hospitality to resident immigrants, or that prevents churches from serving immigrants through their ministries should be challenged. Such policies deny the worth of people by excluding them from communities where they may be welcomed, find spiritual homes, and receive peace, reconciliation, and healing of the spirit...."
www.cofchrist.org/immigration/immigration/asp

Episcopal Church USA
"The Episcopal Church, through the resolutions passed at General Convention and Executive
Council, is committed to working to reform an immigration system that separates families,
spreads fear and keeps millions living in the shadows."
www.episcopalchurch.org/documents/Immigration_Brochure.pdf

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
"The newcomers in our church from around the world remind us that all of us in the Church of Jesus Christ are sojourners, "for here we have no lasting city, but we are looking for the city that is to come" (Hebrews 13: 14). As we journey together through the time God has given us, may God give us the grace of a welcoming heart and an overflowing love for the new neighbors among us."
www.elca.org/socialstatements

General Assembly of the Union of Reform Judaism
"Jewish tradition is clear on the treatment of immigrants. The Torah articulates a basic principle to which the Jewish people clung through two millennia of diaspora and disenfranchisement: “When strangers sojourn with you in your land, you shall not do them wrong. The strangers who sojourn with you shall be to you as the natives among you, and you shall love them as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Leviticus 19:33-34). This principle of equal rights for citizens and non-citizens alike permeates not only Jewish tradition, but the American legal tradition as well. As inheritors of an immigrant history ourselves, we have a unique responsibility to ensure that the rights of non-citizens are not trampled upon today."
urj.org/socialaction/aboutus/reso//?syspage=document&item_id=10820

Islamic Society of North America
"Injustice towards immigrants: Three years ago, thousands of Arab and Muslim men were called to report to local immigration offices across the United States to be registered, fingerprinted, photographed and interrogated."
http://www.isna.net/articles/News/Injustice-toward-immigrants.aspx

Jewish Council for Public Affairs
"Comprehensive reform of the United States immigration system is long overdue. The current morass of illegality, human suffering and violence must be ended.
In 2004, the JCPA adopted a resolution in favor of comprehensive immigration reform...
The following resolution on immigration reform is founded upon American values of democracy, tolerance, entrepreneurial spirit and equality under the law and core Jewish values of human rights, human dignity and fairness.
http://engage.jewishpublicaffairs.org/t/1686/blog/comments.jsp?blog_entry_KEY=427&t=

Mennonite Church USA
"We reject our country’s mistreatment of immigrants, repent of our silence, and commit ourselves to act with and on behalf of our immigrant brothers and sisters, regardless of their legal status."
http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/Members/ChurchwidePriorities/StatementonImmigration/tabid/111/Default.aspx

Muslim American Society
"The MAS Freedom Ten Point Legislative Agenda supports comprehensive immigration reform, with safeguards for undocumented workers in the United States and a fair and equitable process for gaining legal immigration status for these workers"
http://www.masnet.org/news.asp?id=4133

National Association for Evangelicals
"Discussion of immigration and government immigration policy must begin with the truth that every human being is made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-28). Immigrants are made in the image of God and have supreme value with the potential to contribute greatly to society. Jesus exemplifies respect toward others who are different in his treatment of the Samaritans (Luke 10:30-37; John 4:1-42)."
http://www.nae.net/resolutions/347-immigration-2009


Unitarian Universalist Association
"Our Unitarian Universalist faith calls us to recognize that no one is "the stranger," to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person, and to support the use of justice for all people."
http://www.uua.org/socialjustice/issues/economicracial/immigration/index.shtml

United Church of Christ and the Disciples of Christ
"As Christians, we are called to love our neighbors. The Bible is unambiguous in instructing us to welcome aliens and strangers in our land, and to love them as we love ourselves. In these times, let us listen to the voice of the still-speaking God. We will learn how to respond to these new sisters and brothers residing among us."
http://www.ucc.org/justice/immigration/

United Methodist Church
"..We therefore call The United Methodist Church; to call local churches to seek ways to welcome, assist, and empower the refugee, immigrant, visitors, and undocumented person in their neighborhood, and to denounce the persecution of the sojourner in the U.S. as prejudicial and racist; [and] to request the General Board of Church and Society to work for public policy that is hospitable to visitors in the United States in every step of entry and visit to the U.S."
http://www.umc-gbcs.org/site/apps/nl/content3.asp?c=frLJK2PKLqF&b=3631781&ct=3957095

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
"The so-called “illegals” are so not because they wish to defy the law; but, because the law does not provide them with any channels to regularize their status in our country – which needs their labor: they are not breaking the law, the law is breaking them."
http://www.justiceforimmigrants.org/

Vision and Mission of the Coalition

We are a faith coalition in New Mexico responding to our country's broken immigration system because our religious traditions teach us to practice hospitality and promote social justice. We are affiliated with the national New Sanctuary Movement and faith groups all around the country. We seek to educate our communities, provide compassionate services, and advocate for humane immigration policy.

Clergy and laypeople from seventeen congregations across the Albuquerque/Santa Fe area have been meeting since May 2009. We meet every other Sunday afternoon, and congregations take turns hosting meetings. Please refer to our calendar to find out about upcoming meetings and events.

Most of us are immigrants to the United States in one manner or another. We remember that our relatives left their ancestral homes and immigrated here, hoping for a better life. New Mexico welcomed them and enabled them to establish roots, creating the rich and multicultural region that we love. We are proud of the diversity of our city, where 73 languages and dialects are reflected in the student body of our public schools.

We seek to educate our community about immigration, provide compassionate services, and advocate for humane policies that promote family unity and respect the inherent dignity of every person.

NM Religious Participate n Las Posadas Vigil atAbq Dept of Homeland Security

More than 70 people from eight local churches, several immigrant rights groups, and immigrant families gathered with candles and processed to the Department of Homeland Security in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The local band, L@s Otr@s, brought guitars and a violin and led the group in traditional Las Posadas songs.

Six clergy/religious leaders representing the Catholic, Episcopal, Unitarian, United Church of Christ/Disciples of Christ, Mennonite and Quaker churches read statements from their faith traditions about immigration. Some read from the Bible; others gave sermons.

Univision, the largest Spanish language television network, covered the events and interviewed multiple people, including an immigrant family who bravely shared their horror story of immigration. A local newspaper also covered the event.

Security officers from DHS did approach the gathering but moved back from the crowd when a Catholic priest began reading from the Bible.

The event was organized by the New Mexico Faith Coalition for Immigrant Justice. The vigil coincided with Rep. Luis Gutierrez's introduction of comprehensive immigration reform today in the US Congress.

Click these links to read the media coverage of the event:
http://ncronline.org/news/justice/las-posadas-call-action

Las Posadas Vigil Dec.15, 2009 5:30pm in Abq

Join clergy and laypeople from congregations around Albuquerque/Santa Fe for a Las Posadas vigil to the Department of Homeland Security, where ICE holds immigrants in temporary detention.

Tuesday, Dec. 15th, 5:30-6:30pm
Meet at the corner of Renard Pl SE and Buena Vista SE (near airport)
Light candles and process to the Dept of Homeland Security.

We will sing Las Posadas songs and hear statements on immigration from a faith perspective from several local religious leaders.

During this holiday time of year, we want our families to stay together, not broken up by our immigration policies.

This vigil is part of a national Las Posadas journey occurring from the West Coast to the White House from Dec. 10-18, 2009. Read more about it on the post below.

For more information about the Las Posadas vigil in Albuqueruqe, call: 842-7343.