The Interfaith Immigration Coalition is launching a “Breaking Bread and Building Bridges” campaign to push for immigration reform and build grassroots momentum. Local events such as potlucks, vigils, and detention visitation will connect advocates with those most directly affected by unjust immigration policies.
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Posted by David Stoltzfus Jost
The Diversity Visa lottery provides up to 50,000 visas annually for immigrants who do not have access to employment- or family-based visas. On Friday, the House of Representatives is expected to vote on H.R. 6429, also known as the STEM Jobs Act, to replace the Diversity Visas with visas for high-tech workers. As people of faith, we recognize the inherent dignity and worth of all people and lift up the diverse contributions they make to our communities. While scientists and engineers certainly benefit our society, so do the people who harvest our food, clean our offices, and care for our young children.
Ask your representative to preserve the Diversity Visa program.
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Posted by David Stoltzfus Jost
This post-election call will center on the election’s implications for immigration issues. Angie Kelley of the Center for American Progress will join us. A time of conversation and collaboration will follow with space for your input.
The conversation will address how to work for positive change in the new climate and what next steps should be.
Please submit any questions you would like answered via the RSVP link.
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Posted by David Stoltzfus Jost
A variety of human rights groups, faith-based organizations, policy institutes and humanitarian organizations have released a statement on the second anniversary of Haiti’s cholera outbreak, renewing their call for the United Nations and U.S. government to help control the ongoing epidemic. Since the outbreak in October 2010, 7,564 Haitians have died from cholera, with some 600,000 reported cases of infection. Signatories are asking specifically for the United Nations and U.S. government to help Haiti install vital clean water and sanitation infrastructure. According to the World Health Organization, individuals without access to these amenities constitute the majority of cholera cases.
Click here to read the statement.
Leave a Comment » | Issues, Latin America/Caribbean, Sign-on Letters, Uncategorized | Tagged: cholera, haiti, international health, MINUSTAH, UN | Permalink
Posted by Heather McGregor
Photo: Alexis Erkert
Under Tents, an international campaign for housing rights in Haiti, released a housing brief this week highlighting the facts on the country’s internally-displaced persons (IDPs). Thirty-three months after the earthquake, over 369 000 Haitians are estimated to be living in tent camps. Designed as temporary housing for the 1.5 million people left homeless following the earthquake, almost no progress has been made towards transitioning residents of displacement camps into permanent housing. Of the US government’s $988 million contribution to post-earthquake recovery efforts, only 10% has been spent on housing, with almost none of this percentage supporting permanent housing options.
Leave a Comment » | Civil Rights, Issues, Latin America/Caribbean, Uncategorized | Tagged: affordable housing, haiti, haiti earthquake, housing, IDP camps, IDPs, land rights, Under Tents | Permalink
Posted by Heather McGregor
Middle Eastern kings and princes are about to force up to 48,000 people in Tanzania from their land to make way for corporate-sponsored big game hunting. But Tanzanian President Kikwete has shown before that he will stop deals like this when they generate negative press coverage. Click to deliver a media blitz that will push President Kikwete to stop the landgrab and save these Maasai.
For More Information:
The Guardian: “Tourism is a curse to us”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/06/masai-tribesman-tanzania-tourism
News Internationalist Magazine: “Hunted down”
http://www.newint.org/columns/currents/2009/12/01/tanzania/
Society for Threatened People: Briefing on the eviction of the Loliondo Maasai
http://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/session12/TZ/STP-SocietyThreatenedPeople-eng.pdf
Voices of Loliondo: Short film from Loliondo on impact of eviction on Maasai
FEMACT: Report by 16 human rights investigators & media on violence in Loliondo
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/58956/print
Leave a Comment » | Africa, Global Economic Justice, News Stories, Uncategorized | Permalink
Posted by Patricia Kisare
Last week Patricia Kisare and I led the first-ever “advocacy class” at the Global Anabaptist Peacebuilders (GAP) Institute, sponsored by West Coast MCC. We discussed why advocacy is important, explored Scripture passages about relating to the government, and learned how to do advocacy, from emails to congressional visits. We also got a chance to try it out, meeting with staff from Senator Feinstein’s and Senator Boxer’s district offices in Fresno and Sacramento. Thanks to a great group of students for sharing the week with us!
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Posted by Rachelle Lyndaker Schlabach
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