TACKLING Issues
CRI Call Thursday January 12, 2011
Civil Rights of Immigrants
“When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the stranger. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the stranger as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.” – Leviticus 19:33-34
America’s people of faith have witnessed how our country’s broken immigration system has separated countless families and compromised the dignity of millions of decent people.
That witness inspired the Gamaliel to launch its Civil Rights of Immigrants campaign, whose goals are to enact smart and fair policies that affect immigrants locally and to win Comprehensive Immigration Reform nationally.
At the start of 2010, Gamaliel affiliates began a National Prayer Vigil Campaign to win Comprehensive Immigration Reform. The campaign involved weekly public prayer vigils in front of the offices of members of Congress. Gamaliel leaders used these moments of public prayer to call on members of Congress to support Comprehensive Immigration Reform, and to draw attention to the dire need for reform.
Victories
MOSES won an anti-profiling ordinance in the City of Detroit in May by bringing together Muslim, Christian, Arab, Latino, African-American member institutions. The ordinance was the first of its kind in Michigan by not only protecting immigrants from police harassment of their documentation but also Muslims against being profiled because of how they dress and anyone from racial profiling.
WISDOM mobilized fifty leaders well as the Wisconsin Department of Transportation so that 150 undocumented people received driver’s licenses, and at least 300 obtained state ID cards before the April 1, 2007 deadline when Wisconsin’s version of the “REAL ID” law took effect.
ABLE leaders in the Atlanta area worked with the new mayor of Sandy Springs to address massive police “traffic” stops that targeted Latinos and involved a dozen police vehicles, half parked on church property. The mayor committed to establishing a Spanish speaking hotline for Spanish speakers to call the police without fear of being arrested.
Gamaliel of Metro Chicago trained 200 volunteers to help 1000 Legal Permanent Residents apply for Citizenship and delivered 10,000 petition letters for comprehensive reform to Sen. Dick Durbin, then-Sen. Barack Obama, Congressman Luis Gutierrez, and Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr.
ISAIAH, working in coalition, passed similar ICE/City Separation ordinances in Minneapolis and St. Paul. These ordinances effectively separate the city functions from the federal immigration enforcement and prohibit city officials, including police officers, from inquiring about a person’s immigration status unless required by state or Federal law. These ordinances allow immigrants to more fully participate in the community and feel safe to report crimes.