As the momentum towards getting comprehensive immigration reform done in 2009 continues to build, I hope you will join us on our next National Faith and Immigration Conference Call, May 4 at 4 pm EST.

The call-in number is 800-920-7487 and the conference code is 76723736.

On this call we will discuss some exciting new ways to educate faith communities concerning the need for just and humane immigration reform. We will also hear about some important grassroots efforts including the May 12 Postville Commemoration; a national remembrance among faith communities of the year old raid of Postville, Iowa.

There will be plenty of time for sharing, listening, learning and asking the important questions of how we can keep moving forward until comprehensive immigration reform is achieved!

Update neighbor to Neighbor Campaign

The Interfaith Immigration Coalition (IIC) called faith communities to hold “Neighbor to Neighbor” in-district meetings with their Members of Congress during the congressional recess April 6-17. This campaign was part of a larger campaign of in district visits organized by the National Immigration Forum and other national organizations. As part of this larger campaign we had hundreds of in-district visits with Representatives and Senators during the April recess, which ends April 19.  If you have held a meeting with your member of Congress, please report back about how it went and what you learned!  If you have not held a visit and you are interested in doing so, please go ahead and schedule a visit with the local office of your representative or senators, and after your meeting report back to us!

Postville Campaign: May 12^th Postville Commemoration

On May 12, 2008 Immigration and Customs enforcement came to Postville Iowa and conducted one of the largest raids in United States history, arresting over 389 undocumented persons and forever changing the town of Postville. To some the raid ended a year ago, but to those involved, the raid is still not over and never will be. As the one year anniversary of the raid approaches people from across the nation are asked to stand in solidarity with the Postville community as they remember what happened and that it is a consequence of a broken immigration system that has yet to be fixed.

Your community can stand in solidarity and make the call for comprehensive immigration reform by doing one, two, or all of the following activities on May 12, 2009: 

Sound a call for justice, e.g., ring a church bell or blow the shofar at 10:00 a.m. CDT, the time the raid began

Hold a prayer vigil, using the text that will be used in Postville (found at: www.postvillestbridget.org) or using your own text.

Don red ribbons on the anniversary as Postville did on the day of the raid.

Attached you will find an Organizing Guide for the May 12^th Postville Commemoration and a document with background information about the raid in Postville.

Immigration Reform part of EPPN Lent Series

As part of a series of alerts put forward by the Episcopal Public Policy Network (EPPN) one week of lent was dedicated to Immigration reform. The alert was titled “Humane Immigration Reform: A Faith Perspective” and focused on the Episcopal Church committeemen to Matthew’s call to “welcome the stranger” as a matter of Christian responsibility. The public policy positions of the Church regarding immigrants and refugees draw inspiration from that Gospel and are based on the resolutions passed at General Convention and Executive Council.  In the 111th Congress, the Church will continue its work for fair and humane immigration reform to fix the existing broken system.  It is a system that separates families, spreads fear and keeps millions. You can access the alert here: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3654_105374_ENG_HTM.htm

I participated in the Immigration Summit organized by Province VIII in PhoenixArizona from the 20^th to the 23^rd of April. The summit focused on immigration reform, national and local efforts, advocacy, grassroots efforts, border issues, and moving forward immigration issues in the Episcopal Church. Bishop Smith participated in the event.

The House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church sent a letter to President Obama on March 26 requesting Temporary Protected Status for Haitian immigrants in the United States.

Legislative and Administrative Updates:

ICE Rethinking Enforcement Priorities
Back in January, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano issued a series of "action directives" to assess the immigration enforcement policies of the Department.  According to unofficial reports, DHS is now rethinking how it conducts home and workplace immigration raids, focusing enforcement operations on abusive employers rather than undocumented workers -a noteworthy shift in policy compared to the previous Administration that represents an intelligent approach to targeting scarce enforcement resources where they will do the most good.  For more information, read the Los Angeles Times and Washington Post articles.  

Another recent sign that the momentum for comprehensive immigration reform continues to build, is the soon to be reintroduced Reuniting Families Act by Rep. Michael Honda (D-CA).  This bill, originally introduced in the 110th Congress, addresses the need to remedy important issues affecting immigrant families such as processing backlogs in visa issuance and the treatment of immigrant widows and orphans of U.S. citizens.

This week the College Board urged DREAM Act passage, showing that top universities understand the need to retain talented students and increase our competitiveness in the global economy.  Read their report here.  They are the latest of many voices speaking in favor of the DREAM Act.  For more: AP article, NY Times debate.

Senate Judiciary — Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security

Subcommittee Hearing Immigration, Refugees and Border Security Subcommittee (Chairman Schumer, D-N.Y.) of Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing titled "Comprehensive Immigration Reform in 2009, Can We Do It and How?"  Thursday, April 30, 2 p.m.

Panel: Alan Greenspan - economist and former chairman, Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System Joel Hunter - senior pastor, Northland Church, Fla., and member, President's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships

J. Thomas Manger - chief of police, Montgomery County, Md., and director, Major Cities Chiefs Association Doris Meissner - senior fellow, Migration Policy Institute, and former commissioner, Immigration and Naturalization Service Eliseo Medina - executive vice president, Service Employees International Union Janet Murguia - CEO, National Council of La Raza

U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs Subcommittee

Hearing on the Return and Resettlement of Displaced Iraqis, March 31, 2009

 During his opening statement, Senator Casey gave a brief overview of the current status of Iraqi refugees and IDPs.  While acknowledging that the population numbers often quoted for the Iraqi refugees are disputed, Casey stated that the UNHCR estimates that 4.7 million Iraqis have been forced to leave their homes, 2.7 million are IDPs, and 2 million have fled to neighboring states (mostly Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon). 

Panel: Ellen Laipson, President and CEO of the HenryStimsonCenter, Nancy Aossey is President and CEO of the International Medical Corps, Dr. Nabil al Tikriti is a professor at the University of Mary Washington and has worked with CRS in Iraq and Doctors without Borders throughout the Middle East. 

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), the Chairman of the Senate subcommittee on immigration, released the following statement Thursday regarding Congress’ willingness to work with President Obama on comprehensive immigration reform within the coming year: “We must solve the immigration issue and we can, even in these difficult economic times. I believe there is a real chance of passing comprehensive reform this year, and the Senate panel on immigration will begin a series of meetings and hearings later this month with an eye towards meeting that goal.”

Obama to Make Statement on CIR in May
 President Obama will speak publicly about the issue next month (see article).  Many advocacy groups are gearing up to show strong public support for the President's efforts and counter backlash anticipated from anti-immigrant groups. 

A fact sheet entitled “The 2010 Census: How Your Organization Can Participate” has been posted on the CLINIC website next to the slides for the February 23 webinar on the Census.  The fact sheet is based on information shared by the U.S. Census Bureau during the webinar, and is available at:

http://cliniclegal.org/resources/citizenship-civic-participation-project  and

 Immigrants in the United States and the Current Economic Crisis
Immigration flows to the United States have noticeably slowed in the last year, raising fundamental questions for policymakers and analysts about the effect the economic crisis is having on inflows and return migration. MPI's Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Aaron Terrazas assess the potential impacts by examining recent data, the likely behavior of immigrants, and immigration history.

Policy Beat:
Push for Comprehensive Immigration Reform Grows, But Several Obstacles Remain MPI's Muzaffar Chishti and Claire Bergeron report on the Obama administration and immigration reform, the shift in enforcement policy, additional resources for the US-Mexico border, fewer requests for H-1B visas, and more.