Relief, Reform, Respect for our Families: An Immigration Forum
to be held on September 15, 2010
WHAT: Relief, Reform, Respect for our Families: An Immigration Forum
WHO: More than 500 faith and civic leaders from at least 23 states
Featured speakers include:
Arturo Rodriguez, president, United Farm Workers of America
Rev. Jim Wallis, CEO of Sojourners
Deepak Bhargava, executive director, Center for Community Change
Pastor Warren Stewart, First Institutional Baptist Church, Phoenix
Rev. Jim Tolle, The Church on the Way, Los Angeles
Rep. Gutierrez, D-Ill.
Gideon Aronoff, president and CEO, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society
Pastor David Bigsby, In The Upper Room Ministries Missionary Baptist Church (Chicago), vice president of the African American Leadership Commission and president of Gamaliel National Clergy Caucus
Pastor Margarita Gonsalve
Reverend Walter Contreras, director of Outreach and Hispanic Church Planting for the Pacific Southwest Conference for the Evangelical Covenant Church with
Imam Konate Souleimane, Masjid AQSA Mosque (Harlem, NY)
Angelica Salas, executive director, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles
Muhammad Zahid Chaudhry, United States Veteran (Seattle)
Yves Gomes, student (Maryland)
WHERE: Lutheran Church of the Reformation, 212 East Capitol St. NE, Washington, D.C.
WHEN: Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Forum 10:30 a.m.
Lobby visits 1:30 p.m.
WHY: Politics has thus far trumped moral and practical solutions, but on September 15, people of faith and immigrant advocates will make the call for a way forward for comprehensive immigration reform. Advocates will appeal to Republicans and Democrats to create space for legislative and/or administrative changes in 2010.
Without comprehensive immigration reform, an average of 1,100 people are deported every day, tearing families apart. This national day of action will lift up the stories of families who have been devastated by deportations, and call attention to the social cost and the moral deficit of our government’s immigration policies.
The day of action will begin with a faith forum at 10:30 a.m., followed by lobby visits at about 1:30 p.m.The public is frustrated with the lack of action on immigration reform in Washington and the inhumane treatment of immigrants that do not reflect our values as a country. There’s a right way and wrong way to address this problem — and only one real solution.
The wrong way is the scapegoating of immigrants, which leads to misguided policies and division in our communities – from Arizona’s racial profiling law to some senators’ radical plan to amend the Constitution and deny citizenship to children born in the United States.
The right way is for Congress and the President to adopt immigration reform that is practical and humane. The right way is to ensure that policy RESPECTS the human dignity of all people, provides RELIEF for families being torn apart, and embraces REFORM that provides a long term solution for immigration in America. At the Relief, Respect, Reform Forum we will push for the right way.