“No Borders, No Walls” – Fall 2023
Are you ready to learn more about U.S. immigration policy from those directly impacted?
UUJMCA has another Pilgrimage Experience event planned for Fall of 2023. The first took place in Spring of 2023. Several Unitarian Universalists travelled to Tijuana to build a small home for a family in an emerging community.
“No Borders, No Walls” will be held virtually in October of 2023. UUJMCA will be engaging with local community leaders to learn about the plight of people at our southern border and how we can provide support. Participants will meet with community organizers in Tijuana, share in faith development around immigration, and learn what we can do as social justice makers and faith activists from our homes in California.
Join UUJMCA for an immersion, filled with learning, service, reflection, and fellowship. It is a great way to live into your UU values along with others who are working for an immigration policy rooted in collective liberation.
“No Borders, No Walls” participants will:
* Please note: All activities will be via computer in virtual environments only. No travel required.
- meet with community organizers in Tijuana,
- visit with several groups providing support to deportees, and
- learn what we can do as social justice makers and faith activists.
All participants will:
- engage in shared reflection and spiritual deepening,
- deepen our understanding of our faith’s call to transform existing policies and practices,
- participate in a bi-national worship service,
- connect to the realities of our broken immigration system on both sides of the US Border,
- deepen our understanding of our faith’s call to transform existing policies and practices, and
- share in faith development around immigration.
Testimonials
Below are some reflections from previous participants. If you would like to speak with someone who has participated in a UUBorders trip, please let us know and we can arrange that.
The Discovery Doctrine was not new to me but the connection to neo-liberal economic policy now feels evident in a way I had not realized before our ongoing discussions.
– Barbara Leighton, Ventura County
I’m pretty aware of the humanitarian crisis that our immigration policy in the U.S. is causing, primarily since S-Communities. I know the roots of immigrants’ misery are deep in our foreign policy. To tell you the truth, I didn’t think I needed to take this Border Trip, well, I’m glad I did because it was an uplifting, spiritual experience.
– Maria Ornelas, Ventura County
I came away with a deep sadness to know that in this day and age – with all of our technology and abilities to build rockets and missiles and super computers – we haven’t found a way to ease the human pain and poverty and suffering at our common border with Mexico – except perhaps in little pockets of human movements. We’ve moved away from being close to the earth and its beings and into a weird material and cyber world that has cut us off from our roots in our ‘tierras’ and spiritual connections,
– Theresa Fellmann, Livermore