The Immigrant Justice Action Team mobilizes UUs to engage their elected officials on important legislation, supports immigrants in sanctuary and participates in public witness on issues related to immigrant justice.
In addition, we host experiential learning trips to the Tijuana Border : click here to learn more and register!
Join the conversation! You can sign-up for our email list, an online community for California UUs passionate about immigrant justice! Click here to sign up.
Roundtable update: UU Church of Davis
Thank you to Reverend Beth Banks and Kathy Robertson for participating in the February UUJM Roundtable! Rev. Beth is minister and Kathy is a congregant at UU Church of Davis. We wanted to learn more about the work that they and their church are doing related to supporting DACA students at UC Davis. This was the third webinar on the topic of Immigrant Justice being carried out by fellow UUs in California. This recording is not available, but we are providing links to important discussion points in the webinar.
Sanctuary is a way to be in solidarity with the undocumented community by creating safe spaces for the prophetic voices of immigrant leaders to be lifted up as we together confront unjust laws.
Through the Sanctuary Movement, faith communities can powerfully enact and embody their commitment to justice. A church that declares itself a Sanctuary congregation is one willing to engage on a spectrum of solidarity actions including welcoming undocumented people, advocating to help stop deportations, assisting with legal clinics, and physically sheltering an immigrant in danger of immediate deportation.
--from UU College of Social Justice SANCTUARY TOOLKIT
UNDOCUALLY TRAINING—An online search reveals that Undocually Training is being held nationwide, on college campuses and in the community. Two main components taught in such a training are: 1. Laws & Policies; and 2. Effective Ally Strategies.
ACT—Area Congregations Together—UU Church of Davis, to broaden and strengthen its sanctuary work, has worked in relationship with ACT, a member of PICO California.
STAY STRONG, CALIFORNIA! May 14, 2018 | Immigrant Day at the Capitol
2017 was a profound legislative year for immigrant communities and pro-immigrant policies.
Come to the Capitol on May 14, be a moral witness and support the impacted community as they speak to our legislators to advance and strengthen this work. Policy agenda, developed by California Immigrant Policy Center, includes:
Access to Health Care & Public Benefits Fighting Mass Detentions & Deportations Immigrant Integration & Inclusion
WEBINAR: Marching Forth--Our Immigration Justice Landscape
Sunday, March 4, 2018, 5pm
Our communities are under attack and we are resisting in many ways. TPS, DACA, Sanctuary – things change fast and we have to sort out how to really listen to what is needed from us. Join Katia Hansen of UU Refugee & Immigrant Services & Education (UURISE) and UUCSJ Program Leader Marissa Gutiérrez-Vicario for an informal conversation to help understand what is happening, how we can live our values and what folks most impacted are asking from us.RSVP here
WEBINAR: Tues. Feb. 27th, 7pm
TWO QUESTIONS...
How can your church become a Sanctuary?
What can your church do to be an ally to DACA recipients?
Get Ideas, Get Inspired and Join the conversation at our next UUJM Roundtable!
Tuesday, February 27, 2018, 7pm
PANELISTS: Rev. Beth Banks Senior Minister at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis (UUCD), Beth worked with political refugees prior to becoming a U minister, and has participated in border trips with both the UU College of Social Justice and UU Justice Ministry of California.
Beth works closely with Andrea Gaytan, Executive Director of the AB 540 Undocumented Student Center at the University of California in Davis, who introduced Beth to the leadership of SPEAK (Scholars Promoting Education, Awareness and Knowledge), a student university group of approximately 60 students, including those who are protected by DACA, those who do not qualify for the benefits of DACA as well as student allies. Members of the congregation are starting to work directly with the students.
Kathy Robertson A journalist for more than 30 years, Kathy’s coverage of health care, labor, law and immigration has appeared in The Davis Enterprise, The Sacramento Bee, The Sacramento Business Journal, The California Health Care Report and the California Labor Relations Report.
A UUCD member, Kathy was a part of the Sanctuary Discernment Team in June 2017 to assess community needs, gauge congregational interest and craft a sanctuary policy to address the new environment. On October 29, 2017, UUCD voted to become a Sanctuary Congregation.
For the SPEAK group, Kathy helped to author two successful grant proposals which totaled $13,000.
This UUJM Roundtable is sponsored by the UUJM Immigrant Justice Team.
Webinar: IMMIGRATION DETENTION--Visiting Programs and Alternatives to Detention
Announcing…
UUJM Roundtable…
building stronger collaboration among California UUs by lifting up and learning about the justice ministry of our congregations.Monday, December 4, 2017, 7pm IMMIGRATION DETENTION: Visiting Programs and Alternatives to Detention
GUEST SPEAKERS: Kathy Smith, First UU San Diego, and SOLACE (Souls Offering Love and Compassionate Ears) is a project of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego. An interfaith program, SOLACE visits immigrants & asylum seekers detained at Otay Detention Facility in San Diego. Jan Meslin, Orange Coast UU, and CIVIC Jan is a founder of Friends of Orange County Detainees, which started in 2012 and remains sponsored by Tapestry UU Congregation in Mission Viejo. Today, Jan is Director of Social Change for CIVIC (Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement), an organization which is devoted to abolishing U.S. immigration detention through two main strategies, while ending the isolation of people currently suffering in this profit-driven system. This webinar is hosted by UUJM Immigrant Justice Team. At 7pm on December 4, join the Webinar here. Take away ideas of how to bring yourself and/or your congregation to the table.
#LoveResists Webinar
Criminalization: Mass Incarceration, Deportation, and Surveillance Today
Tuesday, November 14, 2017, 7pm Eastern/4pm Pacific The United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the entire world - and who ends up detained has a lot more to do with race, sexual orientation and gender identity, mental illness, immigration status, and poverty than what they are detained for. We see criminalization in action when undocumented immigrants receive felony criminal convictions for re-entering the country after deportation, when police officers have quotas to meet for a number of arrests and fines and go into communities of color to meet those quotas, and when Muslims nationally live under enhanced surveillance in the name of "counter-terrorism." Speakers Include: • Jacinta Gonzalez, Field Director, Mijente (Phoenix, AZ) • Fatema Ahmad, Deputy Director, Muslim Justice League (Boston, MA) • Jamila Hammami, Executive Director, Queer Detainee Empowerment Project (NYC, NY) • Ruth Idakula, Co-Director of Center for Ethical Living and Social Justice Renewal / Dignity in Schools Coordinating Committee Member (New Orleans, LA)Register here
July 27, 2018 Border trips
The Unitarian Universalist Justice Ministry of California hosts experiential learning trips to the U.S.-Mexico Border. Register now! July 27 - 30, 2018 For more information about our justice journeys to the border, visit uuborders.org.
Immigration: What Now?
Listen to our webinar on September 14, 2017 related to next steps in immigrant justice. Following the federal administration's announcement of their intention to end the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program and the negotiations around Senate Bill 54 (the "Sanctuary State" legislation) in the California legislature, we gathered online for a conversation with UUJMCA's Executive Director as well as Katia Hansen, President and CEO of UURISE. A few things mentioned in the video:
- You can take action to protect DREAMers by clicking here, which will take you to the UUJMCA e-Advocacy Portal. If you put in your address, it will load the phone numbers to your federal officials for you and give you talking points.
- To join our Immigrant Justice Email List, click here. This list is made up of UUs justice-makers who work on immigrant justice in their communities and/or congregations. Feel free to share and receive ideas, knowledge, up-to-date information and support from others as well as communications from UUJMCA's Immigrant Justice Action Team.
- Senate Bill 29 is still alive. The Governor has not signed or vetoed the measure, so it is critical we express our thoughts on the "Dignity Not Detention" legislation. Click here for more information.
Continue reading
