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Greetings!
Last week, Pax Christi USA joined the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights in calling on the Obama administration to suspend immigration enforcement during the 2010 Census. This weekend, on Sunday, March 21, we'll be joining Pax Christi members and thousands of others from around the nation in the "March for America: Change Takes Courage," hoping to push our leadership toward just and compassionate immigration reform in 2010.
Immigration continues to spark intense debate in the U.S. Since the failure of Congress to enact any immigration reform in 2007, it has become even more urgent to promote and push immigration reform to our representatives in government. We stand at a new moment for immigration - we can advocate for and support a new immigration reform bill while also countering negative stereotypes and categorizations of those who have immigrated to our country.
We invite you to pray for our immigrant brothers and sisters, both those living in our own country and around the world; to reflect on the need for just reform in our immigration system; and to take action to promote and agitate for long-needed reform.
In peace,
Beth Kenyon
Program Associate, Pax Christi USA
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PRAYER: A Prayer for the Immigrant
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(Written and offered by the students of the Latin American Student Association at Azusa Pacific University)
God of Cultures, we pray for the millions of immigrants who are living around the world in countries that may be hostile to "strangers." Teach us to look beyond the borders of the nation and city in which we live.
God of the Poor, we pray that immigrant families and especially children who have restricted access to shelter, food, health care, and education would cease to be marginalized by the systems in which they live and instead be treated with dignity. We pray that they would be provided with covering shelter, nourishing food, sustaining health, and a nurturing education.
Click here to read the entire prayer.
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STUDY: The Need for
Comprehensive Immigration Reform
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Excerpts from the Pastoral Letter "Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope"
The Catholic Bishops of United States of America and Mexico collaborated together on the "Pastoral Letter Concerning Migration from the Catholics Bishop of Mexico and the United States" to discuss and analyze the current political and socio-economic situations which affect migration and immigrants in both Mexico and the US. The Pastoral Letter reviews the root causes of migration, the need for family-based immigration and employment-based immigration, a path for legalization of the undocumented, as well as the need for humane enforcement policies in Mexico and the United States. We invite you to consider reflection upon some of the passages from this prophetic statement. Click here to read excerpts we have chosen from the USCCB statement.
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ACTION:
Postcards, Call-In, and Echo Events!
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The time for Comprehensive Immigration Reform is NOW! We have several action items for you to consider. Depending on the time you have available, we encourage you to do as many as you can.
March for America, March 21: If you will be in D.C. for the March for America on March 21, join Pax Christi USA members in at 12:45pm at the corner of Madison and 7th if you are looking for a group with whom to march. Here is a helpful map of the area. Where your Pax Christi t-shirts and bring banners and signs!
If you cannot join us for the march, mark your calendar for Monday, March 22 to call your Representative and Senators and tell them we need progressive immigration reform now! These call-ins will magnify the effect of the in-person lobby visits happening on that day.
Plan an "echo" event in your own state. These are very important! The week after the D.C. march and lobby visits, Congress goes on recess. During this recess, from March 29-April 11, it's a great opportunity for members to hear from their constituents at home so that the same message is echoed about immigration reform! Hold a vigil outside the Representative's or Senator's office as a community witness and then meet with him/her to ask how they are supporting reform. Try to link up with other Pax Christi groups in your state to coordinate these efforts! If you volunteer to coordinate a vigil, let the Pax Christi Regional Coordinator know so others can get involved too. For organizing materials and a sample prayer vigil outline that you can adapt for your own use, click here.
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