August 2012: Immigrant Justice Resources for the New Church Year 

Dear Friends,

As we begin our church year, congregations and communities around the country are connecting with our immigrant neighbors and taking the next steps for immigration justice.  In this issue, we have resources for doing so.  Check out our Taking Justice GA Home regional materials, with information on state legislation, local partners, and next steps.  Learn about the UUA/UUSC College for Social Justice upcoming BorderLink service learning trips.  View our webinar on starting a detention center visitation program, which includes contact information for organizers and best practices from UUs involved.  And read about the inspiring UndocuBus Ride for Justice, supported by UUs all over the country!

In faith, Audra, Craig, Jessica, Kat, Meredith, Susan, and Taquiena
UUA Witness Ministries staff

1) Taking Justice GA Home – Next Steps for Immigration Justice-State by State & Community by Community! For the first time ever at GA, UUs gathered by state!  We did so to share strategies and next steps for bringing home what we learned at Justice General Assembly (GA).  The presentations and materials are now online! All of our towns, cities, districts and regions have diverse communities of immigrants. We are neighbors, we are co-workers, we are employers. Some migrants are UUs. Others are part of organizations that are partners with UU churches. We have opportunities to be in solidarity and to build beloved community.

2) UUA/UUSC College of Social Justice is offering service-learning trips to the southwest United States and the borderlands of Mexico to learn firsthand about the complex struggles of the immigrant community. This journey will help you engage your congregation in immigration justice in your own community. Trips: February and May 2013. View the brochure (PDF).  Please visit our website for details on these and other UUCSJ programs — and register for a trip today.

3) View our Webinar - Breaking the Isolation of Immigration Detention: Starting a Visitation Program. On July 25, 2012, Standing on the Side of Love hosted an online training with Grassroots Leadership and the National Visitation Network on, “Breaking the Isolation of Immigration Detention: Starting a Visitation Program.” Through this webinar training, participants learned why and how to start a visitation program with information from other successful visitation programs that have resulted in hundreds of visits to detained immigrant and asylum-seeking women in the past year.  View the webinar and download resources, connect with organizers, and learn more here.

4) No Papers No Fear! Best Practice: UU Congregations Support ‘UndocuBus’ Ride for Justice. The UndocuBus riders are individuals who are risking it all by coming out of the shadows as undocumented and unafraid. On July 28, UUs in Phoenix gave the tour a great send off, and the UndocuBus headed to Denver, CO.  Stopping there, they were met by ‘Love People’ clad in yellow shirts, including six UU ministers and other faith allies (see blog post).  Rev. Nancy Bowen, the Mountain Desert District Executive, spoke at the press conference. UU congregations also provided meals to riders.  After that, the UndocuBus stopped in Austin, TX where the riders, UUs, local community organizations, and supporters rallied in front of the Sheriff's office for an end to deportation programs like Secure Communities. First Austin UU hosted Texas residents and undocumented leaders to talk about their experience in detention and train others in starting a visitation program.  From there, the UndocuBus rallied in New Orleans, LA, where local UUs joined the rider and area organizers at the U.S. Immigration Courthouse to rally for the “Southern 32,” a group of immigrant leaders facing deportation for speaking up about civil and labor rights violations in New Orleans.  You can follow the tour and support UndocuBus virtually.

See www.uua.org/immigration for resources, congregational stories, policy information and more!