Immigration

Rev. Sandra Pontoh, 8-13-11

The Rev. Sandra Pontoh offers an invocation before a "community conversation" at the Union Church in Madbury, New Hampshire.

MADBURY, NEW HAMPSHIRE --- A celebration of Indonesian Independence Day at the Madbury Town Hall on August 13 included an opportunity for members of the region’s Indonesian community to learn about their rights and also enabled members of the wider community to learn how it came to pass that the Dover, New Hampshire area became home to more than a thousand Indonesian immigrants.  

Jose Chavez at rally

José Chávez and his younger brother Jesús Castañeda Chávez during a public gathering in support of an immigration reform in downtown Madera, California.

José Chavez, Minerva Mendoza, and Juan Santiago are all energetic young leaders, dedicated to working for immigration justice and widening horizons for their families and neighbors. When they were chosen to inaugurate a new, year-long apprenticeship program developed by AFSC's Pan Valley Institute (PVI) in Fresno, CA, they already had the experience and contacts that are an organizer's basic tools. It was exactly this experience that prepared them to learn and grow in the program, and to directly apply what they were learning in their own communities.

Gabriela Flora 8-1-11

Gabriela Flora, AFSC Regional Project Voice Organizer, addresses a crowd of 150 people outside the GEO immigrant detention center in Aurora, Colorado on August 1, 2011.

From MSN Latino, 8-4-11

Rally against S-Comm

Rally against S-Comm outside City Hall in Springfield, MA.

The city council of Springfield MA has unanimously voted to opt-out of participating in a federal anti-immigrant program that has been denounced by the immigrant rights movement and resisted strongly by governors - including Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick -  other elected officials and law-enforcement representatives nationwide.

The council’s rejection of Secure Communities, the controversial federal program, came after intense efforts by a coalition formed by AFSC’s Western MA office. The resolution makes Springfield the largest city in New England to do so.

Leticia speaks at Colorado vigil May 2011

Leticia, at left, speaks through interpreter Gabriela Flora at AFSC's May 2011 interfaith vigil outside the GEO immigrant detention center in Aurora, Colorado. Leticia holds a photo of her son, who had been detained in the center for six months.

By Jennifer Piper, AFSC Colorado Interfaith Organizing Director

Over a year ago I brought together a core group of 10 people to think about how to start a visitation and family support and empowerment program. Those ten people formed a group called Colorado AID. AFSC staff are key members of this group, continue to steer it and have dedicated a phone extension to the group’s hotline.