Empowering Latino Immigrant Congregations
We engage in relationships with Latino immigrant congregations and invite them to foster leadership skills that respond to immigrant needs, lead to advocacy, and empowerment of the immigrant community.
Inland Valley Region: Hilda Cruz, hcruz@im4humanintegrity.org
Bay Area Region: Miriam Noriega, mnoriega@im4humanintegrity.org
Empowerment of the Immigrant Community
We promote the leadership of directly impacted immigrants to center their experience in our work.
- We train immigrants to become the ambassadors of their own experience and share their testimonies publicly to shift the narrative in the U.S.
- Congregations can learn to implement a Naturalization Campaign, where citizenship classes are taught in their own congregations with an emphasis on developing new citizens who will be engaged and conscientious voters.
Faith-Rooted Organizing Training
Develop leaders who foster a deeper commitment of advocacy and service to immigrants who are seeking support in their local congregations.
- Facilitate regional intentional meetings to learn faith-rooted organizing techniques.
- Implement non-violent skills and peace building interfaith traditions that promote solidarity to change institutions and politics.
- Host a yearly nurturing, weekend retreat for committed volunteers as they reflect on the connection between faith traditions and their personal immigration story.
Deportation Defense and Accompaniment
Clergy and faith leaders across race, culture and spirituality gather to achieve a world which honors the dignity of every human person and provide Spiritual Care to those affected by immigration detention.
- Visit and write to people in immigrant detention centers to provide accompaniment and community presence at their court hearing and ongoing ICE check-ins.
- Provide spiritual and emotional support to the detainees’ family who is facing the crisis of having a loved one in detention.
- Prophetic presence in public spaces as we pray for all immigrants and their families as they go through the stressful and complicated immigration process.
Currently accompanying people in the Adelanto Facility (Adelanto, CA) — contact Hilda Cruz
Policy Advocacy
We engage in policy campaigns and activities to shift the public discourse towards immigrants/refugees, Muslims, and formerly incarcerated. In addition we educate the public on the root causes of immigration and mass incarceration.
- Invite people to lobby local representatives and share their testimony to advocate for policies that protects their rights, dignity and well being.
- We educate on the implementation of new and ongoing pro-immigrant laws and policies.
