January 9: National Faith and Immigration Webinar

January 5, 2012
  • Monday, January 9, 2012, 3:30pm Eastern Time
  • RSVP here.

Please join the Interfaith Immigration Coalition on January 9th for the National Faith and Immigration Webinar on Secure Communities.

The webinar will provide concrete tools to launch a community campaign to demand your city or state to stop turning people over to ICE and to halt unjust deportations.

Lines will be limited, so register today!

  • Monday, January 9, 2012, 3:30pm Eastern Time
  • RSVP here.
See the full action alert announcement here.

Immigration resources  |  State-level policy resources

Leave a Comment » | Action Alerts, Crime and Justice, Events, Immigration, Issues | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by emilywh

In a world of turmoil, a light appears

January 3, 2012

Jesse Epp-Fransen reflects on the need for hope in a world full of turmoil, both in the biblical era, and today.

We… live in a turbulent world, desperately in need of good news. In America 15 percent of the population experienced poverty in 2011. More than 2 million people are in federal or state prisons, or in jails awaiting trial. One in nine African-American males ages 25-29 was in prison or jail in 2009, according to The Sentencing Project(1). The Mayor of New Orleans recently noted in a statement that “from September of last year to February of this year, a student attending John McDonough [High School] was more likely to be killed than a soldier in Afghanistan”(2).

Read the full article here.

Leave a Comment » | Articles, Crime and Justice, Issues, Uncategorized | Permalink
Posted by jesseeppfransen

“A Culture of Cruelty”

November 21, 2011

“They treated me like a dog…They asked if [I] wanted water, but when [I] responded ‘yes,’ they wouldn’t give [me] any.”  -2010, 16 year-old boy from Guatemala, in A Culture of Cruelty.

Credit: No More Deaths (No Mas Muertes) www.nomoredeaths.org

When we, as Americans, hear about human rights abuses we imagine distant mass atrocities, reminiscent of genocide in Cambodia and Rwanda or widespread abuses in today’s Democratic Republic of Congo and Colombia. We fail to associate human rights violations with our own country, occurring within our own nation’s borders. However, the organization No More Deaths has released a shocking new report, A Culture of Cruelty: Abuse and Impunity in Short-Term U.S. Border Patrol Custody, detailing widespread abuse of migrants by the U.S. Border Patrol along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | Crime and Justice, Immigration, Issues, Latin America/Caribbean | Permalink
Posted by emilywh

Stop Gun Smuggling to Mexico

October 12, 2011

Since 2007, nearly 40,000 people have been killed as a result of the Mexican “drug war.”  Approximately 80 to 90 percent of the guns used by Mexican drug cartels originate from gun sellers in the United States.  Weak gun laws within the US have created an open market by which unlicensed sellers are able to sell guns without a background check.  Current figures estimate that 2,000 weapons flow from the United States each day.  Easy access to guns has increased the violence in Mexico, contributing to the execution of 34,162 Mexicans, the disappearance of 5,397 individuals, and the kidnapping of 11,333 migrants in recent years.

Weapons acquired in the U.S. perpetuate transnational criminal activity, and are increasingly destructive to communities on both sides of the border. Violence destroys lives and families, and it threatens Mexican democracy.  Expanding and improving measures to ensure that military-style firearms do not end up in the hands of traffickers will save lives.

Petition President Obama to help stop gun smugglers who are fueling violence in Mexico.

1 Comment | Action Alerts, Crime and Justice, Latin America/Caribbean | Permalink
Posted by Heather Sell

New MCC U.S. campaign launched

July 28, 2011

Do not fear, for I am with you. –Isaiah 41:10a

“Fear not: Seek peace”, the new MCC U.S. campaign provides educational materials, worship and advocacy resources focused on domestic violence, gun violence and U.S. militarism.

Waiting in exile God’s people were reassured, “Do not fear, for I am with you.” These words still resonate powerfully today. We live in a world of fear—fear of death, fear of personal assault, fear of terrorism and losing what we have.

Some level of fear is healthy. It keeps us from doing unwise things and grows out of concern for our own safety and the protection of those we love. But it must not become an idol and keep us from experiencing the abundant life God desires for us.

The Bible offers us an alternative way of understanding security, promising that God is present with us. Because of this we need not live in fear and can put our trust in God, rather than in human rulers or weapons.

Join us as we explore ways to seek peace in our homes, communities and world.

Leave a Comment » | Crime and Justice, Events, Global Economic Justice, Militarism, Office Campaigns | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Christina Warner

Colorado ministry counters harmful policies

June 24, 2011

The work of the church often highlights the depravity of government policy.  I found this to be particularly true in this Mennonite Weekly Review article about New Horizons, a women’s prison ministry associated with Skyline Mennonite Church in Canon City, Colorado.  In short, the ministry offers volunteer nanny services for children of incarcerated mothers.

The story is well worth the read.  Policy is not the focus of this ministry, but by caring for the children of these incarcerated mothers and faithfully attending visitation sessions, the active love of Jesus radically counters policies which can affect generations.

Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | Crime and Justice, News Stories, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Christina Warner

“Five myths about Americans in prison”

June 21, 2011

Myths abound in U.S. society when prison and inmates are concerned.  Media and policy decisions have too-often drawn upon “tough on crime” stances.  The result is that we as a society have become inundated with misconceptions about the criminal justice system, while prisons have become overcrowded and racial disparities only get bigger.

What is the work of the church in this?  Perhaps a good place to start is to address the misconceptions we may live with still.  An editorial in today’s Washington Post helps shine light on some common ones:

  • crime has fallen because incarceration has risen
  • the prison population is rising because more people are being sentenced to prison
  • helping prisoners rejoin society will substantially reduce the prison population
  • there’s a link between race and crime
  • racial disparities in incarceration reflect police and judge’s racial prejudice
Scripture offers us an opportunity to step outside of society’s misconceptions and envision a new community which offers restoration for those who are hurt as well as for those who hurt others.  Setting aside myths may allow us an opportunity to redefine what the criminal justice system means for us, and for the millions of men, women and children affected by the system.

Leave a Comment » | Civil Rights, Crime and Justice, Issues, News Stories | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Christina Warner

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