4th of July

Photo credit Tim Paynter

On the 4th of July 2011 I attended my first Solidarity Vigil, it was held this past Monday in front of the Detention center in Aurora. The Vigil was sponsored by Denver Fair Food, and it was an act of solidarity "...with all who are imprisoned, exploited or enslaved!" This vigil, which took place on the date of the independence of the United States, was symbolic beyond measure. The participants were of a diverse crowd with people from all ages, socio-economic classes and life paths. As we were making our way down the road there was this atmosphere that was charged with the intensity of the present, melancholic memories of the past and bittersweet hopes for the future.

The wind transported our loud, passionate and eager voices in all directions as we chanted "What do we want? JUSTICE, how do we get it? MELT the ICE". We were a sight to behold, because there was a lot of depth and symbolism accompanying the date we chose to go on that vigil. It was evident that we had acknowledged the progressive strides that have been taken in the America, but we also emitted a profound yearning for the amelioration of the conditions of those who have been and are still imprisoned, exploited or enslaved.

The vigil was also a very educational one; Denver Fair Food enacted a short skit that retraced the exploitative and enslaving roots upon which the American system was built, this skit provided us with enough knowledge to understand the gravity of the situation and prompt us to action. We were faced with the realities of America with all its flaws magnified.

The most moving parts of the day included the testimonies of the people, and the beautiful silence that was a silent cry of prayer. The people in the immigrant community who were bold enough to testify included a father, a mother of six who is forced to support her large family by herself, and another mother who has been deprived of her child. The only crimes that these victims can be accused of are the fact that they were born in another country and wanting to provide a better life for their children. Despite all these injustices, I strongly believe that these testimonies demonstrate fearlessness and bravery beyond measure and I wish I had half the courage and internal strength that these heroes have.

The first person who stepped up to speak was the Mexican father of two (a son and daughter) who had been detained in Montana and subsequently released. He tried to relay to us that he is not a criminal and that we need to keep on fighting; all he ever wanted is give a better life to his children and provide them with opportunities he never had. He mentioned how he can take them to the movies and those were things that he was not able to do while he was growing up. He explained the despicable conditions in these detention centers: in one room there were 70 detainees and they had to share five rolls of toilet paper, and they were reprimanded for pointing out that the toilet paper was not sufficient.

This inhumane treatment struck a chord in a Leticia, mother who has seen her son, Sharif only once in eight months, it caused her to wail in anguish and that was one of the hardest things I had to watch in helplessness. Her son was taken at 5:00 am in the Morning shortly after thanksgiving and he was taken to the GEO detention center. Last month he was transferred to Colorado Springs and has been detained there ever since. The third testimony was from a mother of six, two of which are sick and her husband has been detained in the Aurora detention center since March and she is struggling with taking care of her six children. She mentioned how she has been struggling to find a job and how it is hard to find day care.

My first vigil was nothing short of eye-opening and emotionally charged. I would have to say that my favorite part of the whole evening was when we were asked to get close to our neighbors and touch them, close our eyes and just take deep breaths. There was a cool breeze, the sun was setting and the beautiful silence that ensued felt like a silent victory and a promise that the best is yet to come.

- Written by: Fadima Gologo


The next Vigil: United Communities, Living in Freedom.
Monday, August 1st, 2011.
We will meet at 30th Ave & Peoria Street, Aurora, CO.
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm

Obama Administration’s Announced Tweaks to Secure Communities Fail to Address Ongoing Human and Civil Rights Abuses

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jennifer Piper
jpiper@afsc.org

Denver, CO -- (June 20, 2011) The Colorado office of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) rejects the Department of Homeland Security’s recently announced fruitless adjustments to address the overall failure of the Secure Communities Initiative and it’s continued civil and human rights abuses.

“Creating an advisory commission does not addresses grave concerns brought by civil, human and immigrant rights groups. This program has been foisted on local governments and communities under false pretenses,” said Gabriela Flora, Project Voice Regional Organizer of the AFSC. “We restate our demand that the Obama administration suspend Secure Communities.”

In recent weeks Illinois, New York, and Massachusetts have either pulled out of or refused participation in the program. Numerous cities across the country continue to seek a way out of this deportation dragnet that stretches local law enforcement’s resources and entangles them in immigration laws. As a result, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Progressive Caucus have both called for a moratorium on the program pending an investigation by the Office of the Inspector General called for by Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren slated to begin next month.

Jennifer Piper, Interfaith Immigration Organizing Director of the AFSC, declared “We call on Governor Hickenlooper to follow Illinois, New York and Massachusetts and retract Colorado’s participation in this flawed program. Although ICE claims the program secures our communities, we are all aware of the fact that it has the reverse effect.”

United Church of Christ Pastor Anne Dunlap explained her opposition to the program saying “My faith calls me to support policies that unify our communities and to challenge divisive and unjust policies. ‘Secure Communities’ is a fundamentally flawed program, and cannot be fixed by even well-intentioned minor tweaks. This program perpetuates racial profiling, creates tensions between police and immigrant communities, and pulls people into the broken deportation system, tearing apart families and communities in the process”.

In light of the failure of Secure Communities, the American Friends Service Committee calls on the Obama Administration to:
• Publicly oppose and terminate all programs that create partnerships between state and local law enforcement and ICE.
• Halt the development of the vast data-gathering infrastructure that houses Secure Communities and inform the public of the current scope and purpose of its data collection and dissemination activities.
• Ensure any immigration enforcement programs have rigorous safeguards against racial profiling and human rights violations.
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The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization that includes people of various faiths
who are committed to social justice, peace and humanitarian service. Its work is based on the belief
in the worth of every person and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice.

Reflections of Solidarity-What does love mean?

Last week, Reverend Dunlap searched for the biblical meaning of love at the Reflections of Solidarity shrine. Her reflection is posted below. As I read it, I was inspired to work towards policies that reflect love. I also thought about how I might embody love in my everyday life and actions, even when I'm tired or lacking energy.

Week Two Reflection, Don Juan Patraca
This week's reflection comes from Don Juan Manuel Patraca and is up at the shrine. His poetry describes trial and tribulation and answers whether love can stand the test of time and distance, whether love can sustain us through the worst of times and make us better people. In his poem La madre de un inmigrante-The mother of an immigrant Don Patraca begins this way:

Mother
I write you these lines hoping you are well from day to day
I find myself today as an immigrant in this strange country.

To read the rest and light your candle go to the shrine.

Week One Reflection, Pastor Anne Dunlap

Leviticus 19:34 "The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God."

Let’s cut to the chase: What, exactly, is loving about the way we treat “the alien” among us – the immigrant, the foreigner, the non-native who has left her/his own land because of war, starvation, disease, desperation, and travels to another in hopes to make a better life for her/his family (the meaning of the original Hebrew in this text)?

What, exactly, is loving about building steel walls across a borderline with the express intent to force migrants into the desert, sure that their deaths will be a deterrent to future migration?

What, exactly, is loving about slashing water bottles and shooting water tanks left for migrants so that they won’t die of thirst?

What, exactly, is loving about exploiting immigrant labor by neglecting to pay workers, by not providing for workplace safety, by threatening workers with deportation if they try to organize?

What, exactly, is loving about police harassment of families who contribute to the well-being of our communities?

What, exactly, is loving about workplace and home ICE raids that terrorize hard-working communities, that rip families apart, disappearing partners and parents into a detention system that provides for careless representation of immigrants at best, and no representation at worst? What is loving about leaving children behind with no support, wondering if they will ever see their parents again?

What, exactly, is loving about any of this?

This verse from Leviticus sums up the preponderance of biblical opinion regarding how faithful followers of God’s way are meant to treat the “alien:” just like yourself. The non-citizen should be treated just like the citizen, and be treated with love.

The ways in which God’s vision for the treatment of immigrants differs from current US reality – both in terms of policy and in terms of anti-immigrant sentiment and violence – is vast and hardly in need of repeating here. For those of us who are trying to be faithful to God’s way, God’s vision of communities filled with justice, dignity, and love, the reminder to “love the ‘alien’ as you love yourself” should be the touchstone of our work in solidarity with the immigrant community. For the person of faith, the question is not “What is legal and expedient?” but “What is faithful?”

And the answer to that question is always love.

Let us pray for comprehensive immigration reform that embodies love for the immigrant.

Rev. Anne Dunlap
Pastor, Comunidad Liberación/Liberation Community