"I am getting deported because of unjust laws"

"I am getting deported because of unjust laws"

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January Coalition Meeting and important announcements

New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia
Monthly Coalition Meeting

Thursday, 1/14 @ 7pm
Visitation BVM Church 300 E. Lehigh Ave

Happy New Year! This month we will come together and learn about the limits of the immigration process.  We will look at examples of stories of people who are trying to immigrate and aquire legal status and see how challenging and slow the process can be, for most.  We will also hear updates from working groups, announce upcoming events and share the story of Jean Montrevil, one of the founders of NYC New Sanctuary Movement who is in ICE custody and awaiting deportation. 

Reform Immigration for America Rallies

Attend the rally closest to you, or attend them all! It is time for a big push to tell congress that Comprehensive Immigration Reform mush happen this year!

 

Prayer Vigil for Comprehensive Immigration Reform:
Monday Jan 11th, 6:30 pm
Sisters of Saint Joseph Welcome Center
728 E. Allegheny Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19134

 

Irish Immigration Center Kick Off Event
Tuesday Jan 12th, 5:30 pm
Tir Na Nog Irish Pub
16th & Arch, inside the Phoenix Building

 

 Southeastern Pennsylvania Regional Kick-off Event:

Friday January 15th, 6 PM
St. Thomas Aquinas Church
17th & Morris, Philadelphia
Followed by special immigrant mass at 7 pm

 

February 11th Coalition Meeting to be held at Tabernacle United Church

-- Note the change of location--

For our February coalition meeting, we're inviting the original Philadelphia Sanctuary Congregations from the 1980s to a reunion to share stories about the vision that united them in their work for justice in that time.  And we'll also be sharing stories with them about the NEW Philadelphia Sanctuary Movement happening right now!  This special gathering will be held from 7pm to 9pm at Tabernacle United Church (Chestnut and 37th), which was the first Philadelphia congregation to declare sanctuary status in the original movement.  (NOTE THE LOCATION CHANGE)  More details to follow, but save the date now.  We hope you'll join us to celebrate the passions that created the original sanctuary movement and to learn from that collective wisdom for NSM's work today!

 

 

In Peace and Solidarity,

Jen and Peter

                                        ___________________________________________

Nuevo Movimiento de Santuario
Reunion de Coalicion

Jueves, el 14 de enero a las 7pm
a la iglesia de Visitacion.  300 calle E. Lehigh
 

Feliz año nuevo! En el mes de enero vamos a juntarnos y aprender sobre sol limites del proceso de inmigración. Vamos a ver ejemplos y escuchar historias de personas quienes están intentando inmigrar y obtener documentos legales; veremos lo difícil y lento que puede ser el proceso para la mayoría. También recibiremos informes de grupos de trabajo, anunciar eventos próximos, y compartir la historia de Jean Montrevil, uno de los fundadores de New Sanctuary Movement en NYC, quien se encuentra detenido por ICE esperando deportación.

Acciones de Reform Immigration for America:

Asistir la acción que se encuentra mas cerca a usted, o asistir a todas! Ya es la hora para decir al congreso que una reforma migratoria comprensiva tiene que pasar en este año!

Vela de Oración para la Reforma Migratoria Comprensiva:

Lunes 11 de enero, 6:30 pm
Hermanas de San Jose Welcome Center
728 E. Allegheny Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19134

 

Centro de inmigracion de Irlanda Kick Off del suceso
Martes 12 de enero, 5:30 pm
Tir Na Nog Irish Pub
16th & Arch, en el edificio Phoenix

 

Sureste Pennsylvania Regional Kick-off del suceso:

Viernes 15 de enero , 6 PM
St. Thomas Aquinas Church
17th & Morris, Philadelphia
Y Una misa especial de inmigracion a las 7

 

 

La reunión de la coalición programado para el 11 febrero va a tener lugar Tabernacle United Church -- Apunta el cambio de lugar -

Para la reunión de febrero estamos invitando a miembros originales de Philadelphia Sanctuary Congregations que formaron el los anos 80' para reunirse y compartir historias sobre la visión que les unió en su trabajo para la justicia. También estaremos compartiendo historias con ellos sobre el NEW Philadelphia Sanctuary Movement y lo que esta pasando ahora mismo! Esta junta especial va a ser de 7pm a 9pm en Tabernacle United Church (37 y Chestnut), que era la primera congregación en Philadelphia a declarar su status de santuario durante el movimiento original. (APUNTA EL CAMBIO DE LUGAR). Van a seguir mas detalles, pero guarden la fecha ahora. Esperamos que vendrás a compartir y celebrar la pasión de que nació el movimiento santuario original; y también aprender de la sabiduría colectiva para mejorar el trabajo de NSM hoy! 

En paz y solidaridad,
Jen y Peter

 

Haitian immigrant rights leader Jean Montrevil on hunger strike at PA's York Detention Center -- 8 NY clergy arrested for civil disobedience in support of his case

Jean Montrevil, a long time community leader and activist in a variety of immigrant rights groups including the NYC New Sanctuary Movement and Detention Watch Network, was detained for deportation to Haiti on December 30, 2009.  Mr. Montrevil was attending a regular check in New York when he was detained by agents of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  He is now being held at the York Detention Center in Pennsylvania, where he has joined the "Fast For Our Families" hunger strike.

Click HERE for WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW to stop Jean's deportation. 

Montrevil is the husband of a U.S. citizen and father of four U.S. citizen children, and has been a legal immigrant in the United States since 1986. He is facing deportation for a 20-year old conviction, for which he has long since served his sentence.  He has never broken any law since.

On January 5th, at a rally attended by over a hundred people outside the Varick Street Immigrant Detention Center, eight clergy and two community leaders were arrested after stopping traffic for a half hour to prevent vans transporting new immigrant detainees to the center. The participants called for Montrevil's release. They also demanded reform of draconian immigration laws separation of families.

The Rev. Donna Schaper of Judson Memorial Church, where Montrevil’s family worships, stated: “I am being arrested because it is a moral outrage that our government would do this to such a great man and father. These immigration laws that destroy families contradict the values we should uphold as a society. They need to change now.”


FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Read more from NYC IndyMedia at http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2009/12/108935.html

Check out http://newsanctuarynyc.wordpress.com/ for amazing photos as well as links to press coverage.

For photos, videos and more information on Jean, go to http://newsanctuarynyc.org/jean.php.

For information about the hunger strike, go to www.fastforourfamilies.org.

You can also follow the Fast For Our Families on:
Facebook
Twitter (English)
Twitter (Espanol)
Blogger

Special February Coalition Meeting - Note change of venue

For our February coalition meeting, we're extending a special invitation to the original Philadelphia Sanctuary Congregations from the 1980s to share stories about their vision and passion. And we'll be sharing stories about this NEW Sanctuary Movement happening now in Philadelphia.

This special gathering will be held at Tabernacle United Church (Chestnut and 37th), which was the first Philadelphia congregation to declare sanctuary status in the original movement.

There are several goals:
1) To celebrate the passions and visions that created the original movement in a reunion of those Philadelphia Sanctuary congregations

2) To hear stories of that rich history in order to be inspired by and to learn from that collective wisdom for NSM's work today

3) To share the NSM vision and to forge personal relationships with the network of Sanctuary congregations

4) To invite individuals and congregations to reaffirm a commitment to stand in solidarity with immigrant communities in Philadelphia today, especially through NSM's campaign to end the "Secure Communities" program in the city

More details to follow, but save the date now!

NSM and the Philadelphia Storytelling Project

The current focus of NSM Philadelphia is a collaboration with the Philadelphia Storytelling Project and co-directors Manuel Portillo and Mark Lyons. Through these efforts, immigrant communities are recording first-person accounts of their experiences which will become a powerful voice in organizing and advocating for justice. 

Listen to stories by Sarbelia and Marta, two women in the Ecuadorian community in Upper Darby who have participated in the storytelling project.  The recordings are available in Spanish and in English.

Read an online account of the vision for this compelling work in this introduction by Manuel and Mark.

Here is an excerpt from that introduction on the Open Borders / Philadelphia Storytelling Project website...
 Participants record their stories, mix them with music, and share them on CDs, the radio, webcasts. The process of creating our stories and sharing them has been profound. Listening to each other’s stories and reflecting on our common experience is an act of honoring our lives and affirming our dreams and sacrifices. Through our stories we develop a collective identity as immigrants. Telling our story allows us to take risks, to talk about missing our families, our isolation, our frustrations as we try to feel at home in our new world. Our stories create openings for conversations with our friends and family, to say things unsaid. And now we are taking our stories to the world—to immigration authorities developing deportation guidelines, legislators who are deciding whether to provide healthcare for undocumented children, communities terrified by the specter of immigration raids. These stories must become part of The Great Immigration Debate.

We invite you to listen to some of these remarkable stories, filled with honesty and risk-taking and possibility and anger. Over the next few months we will share stories of sacrifice, separation and grief, of teens who talk about pregnancy and homelessness and finding a way to connect with their father at a baseball game, of farmworkers who harvest our food, of the terror of immigration raids and deportation, of high school graduates who came to the U.S. ten years ago and whose dreams of going to college are deferred because they have no documents, of learning English while hanging on to their culture, of frontier justice. And more. We will tell the story around the story—how sharing stories changes the way people see themselves, each other, the world. How stories demand an act of listening—the basis of all relationships. You will be able to listen to many of these stories on this website—three to six minutes in length, often produced by the storytellers themselves. All will be in English; some will be in Spanish, as well.


Source:  http://www.wildriverreview.com/intro/open-borders/welcome-to-open-borders/lyonsportillo/oct09

NSM's intern featured in Goshen College news

(Photo by Timoyer/Franconia Conference)

Check out this article about NSM Philadelphia's recent intern, Maria Byler, in the Goshen College news archives. http://www.goshen.edu/news/pressarchive/12-04-09-mip-byler379.html

(The complete article, by Noël King, first appeared in the Fall 2009 issue of Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference's Missional Seeds newsletter.)

Maria Byler spent the summer as a field worker in South Philadelphia with Franconia Mennonite Conference through the Ministry Inquiry Program. Above, she translates a worship service from Spanish to English at the Centro de Alabanza de Filadelfia (Philadelphia Praise Center), the congregation in which she participated during her 11-week internship.  

During her experience working with the New Sanctuary Movement, Maria listened to immigrants' stories, visited detention centers, attended meetings, and helped with projects. She is currently a Goshen College senior social work major with a Spanish minor.

Winter Appeal and December Coalition Meeting

New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia

Coalition Meeting:  Intro to NSM

Thursday, 12/10 @ 7pm

Visitation BVM Church 300 E. Lehigh Ave

6pm: Mailing Party for our Winter Appeal

Come Celebrate Human Rights Day with the New Sanctuary Movement!  Join us for an evening to learn about NSM's different programs, overarching goals, and the campaign to stop the Philadelphia Police Department from collaborating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  This is an opportunity to bring new people to learn about our work and for current members to gain a better understanding of the whole organization.

Join us an hour early to help with NSM's Winter Appeal!  We will provide letters and postage, coffee, and good conversation. Bring your address books to send letters to your personal contacts, and help NSM raise the resources we need to grow this important work. We will meet at 6pm in Visitation school's basement.

Coalition Meetings are the 2nd Thursday of every month

 

In Peace and Solidarity,

Jen and Peter

                                        ___________________________________________

Nuevo Movimiento de Santuario

Reunion de Coalición: Introdución de NSM

Jueves, el 10 de deciembre a las 7pm

a la iglesia de Visitacion.  300 calle E. Lehigh

A las 6pm: Fiesta para Enviar Cartas de Navidad

Venga a celebrar el Dia de Derechos los Humanos con el Nuevo Movimiento de Santuario!  Acompáñenos para aprender de los diferentes programas del NSM, los objetivos generales, y la campana poner fin a la colaboración entre la policia y la migra.  Esta es una oportunidad para a traer  personas nuevas para apprender de nuestro trabajo y para los miembros existentes ganar un mejor entendimiento de la organización.

Los que puedan acompañarnos una hora antes de la reunión, estaremos preparando las tarjetas de navidad de NSM como parte de la campaña para recaudar fondos para nuestro trabajo. Nosotros proveeremos las tarjetas, los sellos, cafe y la buena compañía! Pueden traer su libreta de direcciones de familiares y amigos a los cuales enviarles tarjetas. Nos reuniremos a las 6pm en el sotano de la Iglesia de la visitación.

Las reuniones de la coalicón son los segundos jueves de cada mes

 

En paz y solidaridad,

Jen y Peter