Poverty/Immigration Reform

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops  has launched an initiative, Catholics Confront Global Poverty, www.crs.org/globalpoverty to mobilize one million Catholics to advocate with the U.S. government for the following

• Improve and increase U.S. international assistance, so peoples can lift themselves out of poverty.
• Strengthen international peacekeeping and peace building initiatives, so wartorn countries can live in peace.
• Complete debt relief, so poor nations can invest in the needs of their people.
• Reform global trade and agricultural policies, so that rural people throughout the world can flourish, and smaller farmers in the United States are protected.
  
• Ensure that poorer countries’ wealth of natural resources are explored in ways that protect the environment and ensure that poor people benefit and have a voice.
• Promote comprehensive immigration reform and address the root causes of migration, so the rights and dignity of migrants can be upheld.
• Address global climate change and help poorer nations adapt to its effects

To sign up for this initiative, go to the website listed above.

Confronting global poverty means reducing the need for people to migrate and protecting those people who have little choice but to do so.  The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic organizations nationwide have formed Justice for Immigrants: The Catholic Campaign for Immigration Reform to promote comprehensive immigration reform policies. http://www.justiceforimmigrants.org/

The 111th Congress is now in session. President Obama supports the passage of comprehensive immigration reform and promised during the campaign to move on this issue during his first year in office.  U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has stated that he expects immigration reform to be taken up by the Senate by the end of 2009, and Senators John McCain and Mel Martinez, both Republicans, have publicly stated that immigration reform should move forward and that Republicans should support it. Now it is our job to make sure they stick to their commitments! Please take a few minutes to write a quick note to your Representatives urging them to support comprehensive immigration reform in the 111th Congress. http://capwiz.com/justiceforimmigrants/issues/alert/?alertid=12502751&queueid=%5bcapwiz:queue_id%5d

Senator Richard Durbin (IL) and Senator Dick Lugar (IN) have introduced the bi-partisan Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM Act). Such legislation would permit undocumented students to become permanent residents if they came here as children, are long-term U.S. citizens, have good moral character, and attend college or enlist in the military for two years. Senator Durbin’s statement: http://www.nilc.org/immlawpolicy/DREAM/Durbin-press-statement-2009-03-26.pdf.To advocate go to http://icirr.e-actionmax.com/tf.asp?aacwc=363233423560676646318289

Postville, IA update (5/12/09):
Last month, the Obama administration issued enforcement guidelines that place more emphasis on prosecuting employers rather than illegal workers. Then last week, in a ruling with clear echoes of the Postville raid, the U.S. Supreme Court required federal prosecutors to prove that someone using a fake ID knew it belonged to a real person before pursuing identity theft charges. Many of the Postville workers were charged with that crime, but they chose to leave the country instead of facing jail time. Additionally, twenty of the immigrants who were detained in the Postville raid were awarded visas with the opportunity to apply for a green card in three years. Others are still waiting to hear about whether or not they received a visa, but so far no one has been denied. This represents about 5% of the immigrants who were arrested in Postville. 

Earlier this month, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers was recognized with the Salem Award for Human Rights and Social Justice for its work to eliminate modern-day slavery in the agricultural industry. Their work continues. We invite you to join in writing to the grocery chains, Ahold and Kroger, to encourage them to improve wages and conditions for farm workers in their supply chain. For preprinted postcards to Ahold and Kroger that you can share with your congregation or group, e-mail us at info@interfaithact.org to request the postcards you'd like and how many. To find out which of the many supermarkets owned by The Kroger Co. might be near you, visit http://www.interfaithact.org/supermarkets for a complete list of their supermarkets.