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August 1, 2019
Your Action of the Week: "Sign petition: Hold ICE Accountable" Sign IMIrJ's Petition To Hold ICE Accountable! Join IMIrJ this summer in an effort to disentangle local law enforcement from ICE and hold our public officials accountable to the vision of a welcoming Oregon that voters overwhelmingly affirmed in the defeat of Measure 105 last fall. IMIrJ is coordinating these actions as part of a broader strategy being developed with our partners at Innovation Law Lab, CAUSA, ROP, Unidos Bridging Community and other groups in the Oregon Ready Coalition! Sign this petition for a safe and inclusive Oregon! Keep Oregon Courthouses Safe & Accessible! Oregon Chief Justice Martha Walters has the power to issue a ruling that explicitly prohibits ICE arrests in and around our courthouses. In December, a group of Oregon advocates and service providers submitted a formal request to the chief justice urging her to do just that. Advocates hoped for a speedy reply. Unfortunately, months have gone by without a resolution. Meanwhile, New York's Court has issued a similar directive, and a recent injunction has prohibited ICE arrests in Massachusetts courthouses. On July 3rd, IMIrJ sent Justice Walters this letter, signed in less than 5 days by nearly 300 clergy across the state, urging her to take action. On July 8th, Justice Walters indicated that she wants more information from ICE, effectively further delaying her decision. Now we are asking community members to follow up, and ensure Chief Justice Walters knows that keeping ICE out of our courthouses is urgent and a priority for Oregonians Please call Justice Walters today! For more information, read here and here and here
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You may know that under the current administration’s zero tolerance policy everyone crossing the border is being arrested whether they are requesting asylum or not. Requesting asylum is legal. Can you imagine traveling thousands of miles, fleeing horrible conditions to the United States, thinking this will be a safe haven and instead being chained and shackled and sent to a federal prison? These men have spent months in lock down conditions, never even going outside, not understanding why they are there since they committed no crime. Thanks to a number of pro bono attorneys, including Innovation Law Lab, a judge found they all have valid asylum claims but is requiring they post bond. There are 10 men left in Sheridan who have not been able to raise the bond money. The Action of the Week is to donate to the bond fund for these men. Help get them out so they can continue to pursue their claims for asylum. https://www.mightycause.com/story/Bondplus Ballot measure 105 violates several of our seven UU principles including:
1st Principle: The inherent worth and dignity of every person; 2nd Principle: Justice, equity and compassion in human relations; Ballot measure 105 would end the state’s tradition of being a sanctuary state, the first state to have adopted this position. For 30 years it has guided the state in its actions regarding immigration. We received this message from CAUSA with suggestions on actions that should be taken to oppose Measure 105. Their message in part reads: Late yesterday we learned that Oregonians for Immigration Reform turned in enough signatures to qualify their measure for the November ballot. Measure 105 would throw out Oregon’s sanctuary state law, a law that has been working for over 30 years to protect Oregonians from unfair racial profiling. We need your help to power an inclusive, statewide campaign to defeat Measure 105. Here are some important actions we ask that you take ASAP to mobilize your supporters to join the campaign to VOTE NO on Measure 105:
10 Christian pastors decided to have a service in the field next to the Federal Prison in Sheridan on Sunday Morning.
They wanted to bring the people together and protest in a holy way. Although, President Trump has supposedly stopped separating families there is still work to do. His new policy is confusing and unworkable. And, he has already separated thousands of families and is not putting them back together. Over a hundred men are being held in the Sheridan prison because they got caught in Trump's Zero Tolerance policy. Some of them have been separated from their families. They are also being held without communication to the outside world. They haven't had visitation of any kind. No lawyers, no outside help. Remember, they are being held in a prison without due process! When the Sikhs heard about the Ecumenical Service (a Christian service across denominations) they asked to be a part of it. Now the service is Interfaith, and, additionally, the Sikhs are serving a Langar (community meal). Action of the Week Attend and worship together with Christians, Sikhs and many others. The service is in a field outside of the Sheridan Federal Prison this Sunday, the 24th, at 11pm (tomorrow). Location: Sheridan Fishing Pond, South Side Park SW Ballston Rd, Sheridan, OR 97378 Details are here! Read up on the location, parking and what to bring. Think about chairs and a good sun hat. The forecast is for sun, and a high of 84. For continued updates check the Facebook page. If you want to help out -- they still may need volunteers. They need volunteers to help with parking, shuttling, security, and traffic. If you can help, please contact ron@imirj.org and arrive at 9:30am for an orientation. Sound System: They are still looking for a good sound system. It needs to be battery-operated. Or, if you have a small generator that can power a sound system, please let sarah@imirj.org know ASAP. Lunch: Is there a person or congregation willing to bring biodegradable sectioned plates, spoons, napkins, water cups for 300? Will you letsarah@imirj.org know? Van & Driver: We’re looking for a van and driver that can help shuttle people between the worship site and overflow parking. Might this be you? E-mail sarah@imirj.org. In Love and Faith, Rev. Katie Larsell PS During this moral crisis for our country, I have been sending out Actions of the Week a little more often than once a week. It seemed like the right thing to do. Calendar Sept 15 -- Oregon Unitarian Universalist Voices for Justice Annual Social Justice Conference. Mark your Calendar The topic this week is, again, the sudden and traumatic separation of children from their parents at the Mexican border. This feels like a moral emergency. We are not just watching this happen, we have asylum seekers being held locally in Sheridan, Oregon in a men's federal prison.
More than 600 times in May and June, Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel have separated parents from their children using physical force and deceit, according to numerous news reports. Last week, the federal prison in Sheridan, Oregon, near McMinnville contracted with ICE to hold 123 men taken into custody as part of ICE's larger "zero tolerance" policy. Some of these men have been separated from their children. The Action of the Week is to answer this call from the Interfaith Movement for Immigrant Justice (IMIrJ) working on the front lines in Sheridan: "Faith Action: There are three immediate ways that you and your faith community can join with other faith communities in action this week: Show Up: Monday, June 18th from 5:30-7pm for a large vigil and action at Sheridan. On the heels of Father’s Day, we’ll gather near the prison to call for an end to family separation. Public pressure and community support make a big difference and will help keep this story in the headlines. Carpool information from Portland is available at the link above. Clergy: are invited to sign a letter by Sunday, the 17th at midnight. The letter will go to the Warden and Chaplain at Sheridan asking for visitation rights for clergy. You can also sign up to be one of the clergy doing the visitation. However, the first step is a letter signed by a LOT of clergy asking that these detainees get visitation rights. Ask all the ministers associated with your congregation to sign the letter. Pray: In your worship services this week, please take a moment to share about this heartbreaking situation and pray for all immigrants impacted, especially those families separated from one another. Sample Prayer: God of compassion, hear the cries of mothers, fathers, and children separated from one another. Comfort them in their time of need. May they know they are not alone. God of justice, grant us the courage to hear the cries of mothers, fathers, and children separated from one another. Help us to stand in solidarity, speak out, and boldly act. May we know we are not alone. Together we pray, Amen." IMIrJ is working hard and could use your donations. Please be generous. They don't have a 'button' on their webpage for donations. They do have partner churches (several UU) and individual memberships here. In Love and Faith, Rev. Katie Larsell Calendar Sept 15 -- Oregon Unitarian Universalist Voices for Justice Annual Social Justice Conference. Mark your Calendar Action of the Week!
From our friends at the Ultraviolet Team: "Because of Trump's new policy to separate families at the border, as many as 10,000 immigrant children are now held in government custody without their parents. A father, Marco Antonio Muñoz, who was separated from his wife and three-year-old child by immigration agents has killed himself in detention. This is a human rights crisis created by the Trump administration. That's why two days from now, on Trump's 72nd birthday, people all over the country are taking to the streets to oppose his new policy of forcibly separating children from their parents at the U.S. border--and there's an emergency protest happening near you. Action of the Week: Click and find out the nearest place to protest. Will you join the Families Belong Together action on Thursday to demand an end to family separation? According to human rights and legal groups helping families at the border, among the children taken from their parents are a blind six-year-old boy, and babies as young as 18 months. They, along with the other asylum-seeking children under ten years old, are currently locked up and will have to represent themselves in immigration court. All eyes are on what's happening at the border, from the United Nations to newspaper headlines nationwide. To stop Trump's inhumane policy of splitting up asylum-seeking families, we need to keep directing mass outrage toward the administration and its atrocities at the border." In Love and Faith, Rev. Katie Larsell Calendar Sept 15 -- Oregon Unitarian Universalist Voices for Justice Annual Social Justice Conference. Mark your Calendar Action of the Week! In the 1980's refugees from El Salvador were not allowed to seek legal asylum in the United States. Faith groups all over the country started giving them sanctuary in their church buildings. Immigrant communities are under pressure again. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is being pushed by our fearful president to be more aggressive in finding and deporting undocumented people. A new Sanctuary Movement is rising up and taking on the challenge of supporting immigrants. This week, there are three action you can take to support the Sanctuary Movement.
Action of the Week No.1, sign this petition to ask for family visitation for immigrant detainees at NORCOR. To find out more about NORCOR Click here. Action of the Week No. 2 is Love Resists Training on April 27, from 1-5pm. The training, Readying Ourselves for Solidarity with Sanctuary is the Friday before the UUA Western Regional Assembly begins at the Double Tree Hotel in Portland. Find out about the modern sanctuary movement and connect with UU activists from all over the Western Region. There will be time at the end of the training for issue groups other than sanctuary to caucus. This training is supported by the UUA, UUSC, the Oregon, Washington and California State Action Networks and UURise a UU sanctuary/immigration rights group. It is free and open to the public. Click the link above to sign up. Action of the Week No.3 The Interfaith Movement for Immigrant Justice (IMIRJ) is having a vigil/action at NORCOR in the Dalles on Saturday April 28th from 10:30am to 3pm. Join this coalition group as they bring people of faith from all over the region to stand in solidarity with the immigrants held at NORCOR. For more on this organization and this particular action click here. In Love and Faith, Rev. Katie Larsell Every day of the week, the Gorge ICE Resistance (ICE is Imigration and Customs Enforcement) holds a vigil at noon in front of the NORCOR county jail. NORCOR holds immigrants for ICE on their way to being deported or further incarceration.
Immigrant detainees report the conditions at NORCOR are terrible. They are civil detainees but are treated the same as prisoners. They have held 2 hunger strikes to get basic privileges such as milk, hot meals, blankets for the cold temperatures inside the facility, shoes (they are only issued sandals!), family visits (immigrant detainees are not allowed family visits), and prompt health care. These problems are ongoing. Our faith makes no distinction between citizen and immigrant; between those with legal or without legal standing. All have inherent worth and dignity. All deserve justice, equity and compassion. For the Action of the Week, Join Portland Immigration Rights members and friends on Saturday, December 9th in The Dalles. Sign up here via Facebook. It's an opportunity to stand together in vigil with the Gorge ICE Resistance and to say to NORCOR prison "ICE OUT OF NORCOR". If coming from the Willamette Valley here is a meet-up for carpooling: 9:45 AM: Meet up in SE Portland at Ascension Catholic Church parking lot (743 SE 76th Ave) to leave at 10 AM. Carpools will go from there to NORCOR Prison in The Dalles: 201 Webber St, The Dalles, OR 97058 12 Noon to 1:00 PM: Rally in front of NORCOR. The Mid Columbia UU Fellowship in Hood River inspired this action of the week. Members are often found at the daily rally in front of NORCOR. Their minister, Rev. Judy Zimmerman visits detainees weekly to keep their spirits up. In Love and Faith, Rev. Katie Larsell |
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