refugees

Grassroots Community Rally Supporting Refugee Resettlement

by

“Is this the new “Great America”? It infringes on Tucson’s “Immigrant Friendly” status. It stops/reduces refugee resettlement in America. It blocks refugees from Syria. It bans visitors from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, Yemen. It it is a penstroke away from becoming an executive order. Come help organize a greater voice against unAmerican injustices … Read more

GOP candidates appeal to Islamophobia; President Obama: Americans ‘don’t have religious tests to our compassion’

by

GOP presidential candidates pandering to the GOP’s Christian Right base for votes by engaging in Islamophobia hysteria have crossed over a line.

J.E.B.! Bush said over the weekend that relief efforts for refugees fleeing war and terrorism in the Middle East should be limited to Christians. Jeb Bush: U.S. assistance for refugees should focus on Christians:

gop-elephant-w-flag-crossRepublican presidential candidate Jeb Bush says that any U.S. assistance to Middle Eastern refugees should focus primarily on Christians fleeing persecution.

“We should focus our efforts as it relates to refugees on the Christians that are being slaughtered,” he told CNN’s “State of the Union” in an interview on Sunday morning.

J.E.B.! is definitely not his brother George W. Bush who was deliberately careful not to turn terrorist attacks by extremists into an apocalyptic clash of civilizations between the Western world and Islam:

Just six days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Bush went to the Islamic Center in Washington, D.C., and gave a speech cautioning against bigotry and religious discrimination against Muslims.

“The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam,” he said. “That’s not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace. These terrorists don’t represent peace. They represent evil and war.”

More quotes by Bush distinguishing between the fight against extremists and the Islamic faith.

  • “Americans understand we fight not a religion; ours is not a campaign against the Muslim faith. Ours is a campaign against evil.” [9/27/01]
  • “We’re taking action against evil people. Because this great nation of many religions understands, our war is not against Islam, or against faith practiced by the Muslim people. Our war is a war against evil. This is clearly a case of good versus evil, and make no mistake about it — good will prevail.” [1/5/02]
  • “Islam is a vibrant faith. Millions of our fellow citizens are Muslim. We respect the faith. We honor its traditions. Our enemy does not. Our enemy doesn’t follow the great traditions of Islam. They’ve hijacked a great religion.” [10/11/02]

Read more

World Refugee Day in Tucson

by

From their FB page: World Refugee Day: We want you to be part of the influential event to celebrate the contributions of new Americans in our communities. Donations will help to honor the courage, strength and determination of the women, men and children that been forced to flee their homes. Will have culturally food, games … Read more

UPDATE: Guatemalan Children Get Six-Month Reprieve on Deportation

by

Yesterday, I juxtaposed three immigration stories in my post— the sad news about the murder of 5-10 Honduran refugee children that the US deported recently, the plight of a young Guatemalan mother and her three children who crossed the border alone and are facing deportation, and the callous reaction to the child refugee crisis by … Read more

deportation

‘Uncovering the Truth’: Day Laborer Network Leaders Travel to El Salvador

by
NDLON poster
NDLON poster

Leaders from the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), faith leaders, and academics are in El Salvador to assess the situation and determine why thousands of Central American children are traveling to the US, seeking asylum and relatives.

From NDLON:
Between Over-Complication and the Overly Simple:
Day Laborer Network Leading US “Deported Dreams” Delegation 
in El Salvador
Migrant RIghts Organizers, Faith Leaders, Academics to Convene Forums, Initiate Community Development, Release Study Profiling Deportees
 
On the last day of college, the director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, Pablo Alvarado, left his home country atop a train headed toward the US with his little brother who had become the target of threats by death squads. Decades after their journey North, Alvarado is leading a delegation in the opposite direction to expand the conversation on migration, investigate root causes, and release a study of those Salvadorans who were returned by deportation instead of by choice.
 
Beginning Sunday, July 19th to the 27th, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network will bring organizers from the front-lines of the domestic immigrant rights movement accompanied by faith leaders and academics, hosting public forums on the dynamics of migration and releasing a new study “Deported Dreams” by the University of Central America in San Salvador.
 
“We are going to uncover the truth of what’s happening in Central America without the political spin,” explains Alvarado.  “To advocate effectively, we have to be grounded in reality and that is what we are going to witness in El Salvador.”

Read more