Author: Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity

Categories
Interfaith Prayer Vigils

Interfaith Vigil of Remembrance and Solidarity

Join us on Feb 12, 2022 for an interfaith vigil to remember the 80th Anniversary of Executive Order 9066 signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt that led to the mass incarceration of 120,000 mostly Japanese Americans. This shameful part of American History must be remembered to ensure the survivors stories are not forgotten, and this injustice is repaired.

During Black History Month, while we remember this legacy in the Japanese American community, we will also be calling for solidarity with: Reparations for African Americans and Stop AAPI Hate. Let us acknowledge that U.S. imperialism globally, xenophobia, and systemic racism have all been common threads that weave our struggles together, historically and today.

We invite people of all faiths, cultures, and traditions to join us!

Speakers include:

  • Jeff Matsuoka, San Francisco Bay Area Day of Remembrance Committee
  • Chizu Omori, Tsuru for Solidarity, incarcerated for 3 1/2 years during World War II
  • Tara U., Berkeley Buddhist Temple, grandparents were incarcerated during World War II
  • Rev. Marjorie Wilkes Matthews, Plymouth United Church of Christ
  • Prof. Russell Jeung, Stop AAPI Hate and Professor at SFSU
  • Chanton Bun, Asian Law Caucus – Advancing Justice, served 23 years in incarceration
  • Joyce Xi, daughter of Chinese scientist unjustly targeted by the FBI

Songs, cultural offerings, and prayers by:

  • Ito Yosakoi
  • Rev. Harry Bridge, Buddhist Church or Oakland
  • Rev. Theon Johnson, Downs Memorial United Methodist Church
  • Elijah Chhum, Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants
  • Minister Cherri Murphy, Faith Alliance for a Moral Economy

The vigil is co-sponsored by:

Buena Vista United Methodist Church, Tsuru for Solidarity, San Francisco Bay Area Day of Remembrance Committee, Berkeley Buddhist Temple, Pine United Methodist Church, East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy, Faith Alliance for a Moral Economy, Sycamore Congregational Church UCC, CERI – Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants, and Plymouth UCC

Categories
Freedom Campaigns

Estelito Free! Speaking Out!

On December 30, 2021, after more than two years of active advocacy while in immigration detention, Estelito Adiova, an immigrant from the Philippines, has successfully fought against his deportation and was released from the Imperial Regional Detention Facility in Southern California.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained Estelito after he earned parole following a 32-month prison sentence related to his addiction. While Estelito has been reunited with his family and community in the Bay Area, he has continued to use his voice and experience to help others. This month, Estelito was one of nine detained immigrants that filed a federal complaint to expose the life-endangering medical and environmental neglect inside the Imperial Detention Facility. These include toxic and unfiltered and hazardous air, contaminated drinking and washing water, and exposure to mold at the prison.

IM4HI and others in the Dignity Not Detention Coalition are seeking to close the privately-owned Imperial County detention facility which detains over 500 people and reallocate funds to investments in community health and well-being.

Categories
Updates

One Year into Biden Administration, 900 Faith Leaders, Religious and Immigrant Rights Groups Demand Biden Halt Immigration Detention

Washington, DC – Today, nine hundred spiritual leaders and multiple faith-based and immigrant rights groups delivered a letter to the White House urging the Biden administration to immediately halt all efforts to expand immigrant detention. With the one-year anniversary of President Biden’s inauguration approaching, the signatories – including Church World Service, Detention Watch Network, Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, UCC National Collaborative on Immigration, and members of the Interfaith Immigration Coalition – expressed deep disappointment in the president for failing to keep his early promises to phase out private detention contracts.

In the letter, advocates highlight two immigrant detention facilities in Pennsylvania: the reopening of Moshannon Valley Correctional Center as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center and the expansion of the Berks County ICE detention center into an adult facility for women. These expansions take place as COVID-19 continues to surge across the country, underscoring the urgent need to free people from the harms of detention immediately. The letter signatories urged the Biden administration to reverse course and invest in community-based alternatives to detention and restore access to asylum.

Elissa Diaz, Advocacy Manager at Church World Service and Co-Chair of the Interfaith Immigration Coalition, said: “The values of President Biden’s faith tradition are common across faith traditions represented in the Interfaith Immigration Coalition: to welcome the immigrant in our midst, to love our neighbors, and to proclaim freedom for the oppressed. President Biden’s decision to expand immigrant detention not only goes against these values of our faith, but also the promises he made to immigrants just one year ago. We urge the President to reverse course, return to the core callings of his faith, and put an end to his efforts to expand immigrant detention.”

Rev. Deborah Lee, Executive Director, Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, said: “One common theme in our diverse religious traditions is the value of human freedom: the right to live freely, to not face deprivation of movement and confinement. Immigration detention is not morally acceptable or necessary in any form. We know effective community based alternatives to detention exist. People can navigate their immigration proceedings while living at home, maintaining their employment, and receiving support from their family and wider community. We ask the administration to stand with the faith community to find ways to reduce all forms of captivity in favor of non-carceral solutions.”

Marcela Hernandez, Organizing Director of Detention Watch Network, said: “Biden’s continued actions to expand the immigration detention system despite the administration’s ongoing promises to end the use of for-profit detention and roll back ICE’s fundamentally flawed system is shameful. Detention centers represent abuse, trauma, and sometimes death. People are losing their lives to a detention system that simply does not need to exist. The Biden Administration must shut down immigration detention facilities, end detention contracts, and release people from detention immediately.”