Category: Updates

Victory for Access to SF Immigration Court: Clergy Can’t be Shut Out

Post author By Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity
Post date May 22, 2015
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CLERGY CAN’T BE SHUT OUT OF IMMIGRATION COURT ANYMORE!

https://www.aclunc.org/blog/victory-clergy-can-t-be-shut-out-immigration-court-anymore

written by Megan Sallomi, ACLU Northern CA & Rev. Deborah Lee, ICIR-IM4HumanIntegrity

In times of crisis, many people rely on their religious leaders for support. Yet, until recently, private security and court bureaucrats refused to permit pastors to accompany children and families to their hearings at the San Francisco Immigration Court. Even more disturbing, the denial of access was in apparent retaliation for the pastors’ participation in a peaceful vigil outside the building.

Access denied

In the fall of last year, the Interfaith Coalition of Immigrant Rights began holding regular vigils outside of the San Francisco immigration court to silently protest and draw public attention to the government’s practice of shuffling thousands of families and unaccompanied minors through rapid-fire immigration court proceedings, with little regard for their legal rights or the danger they may face on return to their home countries.

As part of the vigils, clergy and other members also support families attending these hearings by handing out lists of pro bono service providers to families without attorneys and giving children stuffed animals and coloring books on their way into court.

Many children and families endured harrowing experiences of persecution and violence and relive the trauma through testimony at court – often with no one present to support them, not even a lawyer. On occasion, families request that the pastors accompany them to their hearings to provide spiritual and moral support.

Disturbingly, building security at the San Francisco Immigration Court forbade pastors who participated in the peaceful vigils from accompanying the families to their court hearings in what we saw as blatant retaliation, even though both activities are strongly protected by our country’s First Amendment.

Barring clergy from attending immigration hearings carries with it serious constitutional implications and takes an emotional toll on families fighting for their right to refuge in this country. In response to these events, the ACLU of Northern California sent a letter to the immigration court and building management urging them to comply with the law and permit pastors to accompany immigrant families to court. In response, the Court Administrator quickly agreed that the pastors should be allowed to enter the building and accompany families during their hearings.

We welcome their decision and will remain vigilant to ensure that building staff hold true to their word and that everyone’s constitutional rights are respected.

The First Amendment and federal regulation guarantees the public’s right to attend most immigration court hearings (with a few specific exceptions). If you believe this right is being violated, please contact us.

Megan Sallomi is a Legal Fellow at the ACLU of Northern California. Reverend Deborah Lee is the Director of the Interfaith Coalition of Immigrant Rights.

-Updates-

Join the #Im4HumanIntegrity Campaign

Post author By Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity
Post date April 28, 2015
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In honor of transition and our exciting name change we are launching the #Im4HumanIntegrity Campaign. We want to know what Human Integrity means to you and why YOU are 4HumanIntegrity. Post your photo and the reason why you are for Human Integrity to your social media account and add the hashtag #Im4HumanIntegrity and we will share your photo! Feel free to email your photo to kshann@im4humanintegrity.org also!

-Updates-

CLUE CA Announces New Name and Structure

Post author By Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity
Post date April 9, 2015
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CLUE CA Announces New Name and Structure

Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity

“Every Human Person Is Sacred Across All Borders”

After a year-long discernment process, CLUE CA has changed its name and structure. Our new name is Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity. We will continue with the same staff in our current program areas, including immigrant rights, health and wellness, and leadership development with an aim to “engage the religious community in issues of human rights, social and economic justice based on our diverse faith traditions, and offer leadership through our congregations and communities to achieve a more just society.” [1]

We recognize our new name may require some explanation. We selected this language very intentionally because it captures a strategic direction that we believe is needed for transformative change in this country. Our name change and new structure reflect the core value that undergirds our work – to galvanize faith communities to action around the principle that all human life “is sacred across all borders.” In future years, we imagine “human integrity” as a concept and value as familiar in our sector as health and justice.

This change represents a positive and streamlined expression of our historical work that also led to a few key decisions for our future. Structurally, we are no longer the hub for a federation of six independent affiliates (CLUE-LA, EBASE, Working Partnerships, Interfaith Center for Worker Justice – San Diego, Pueblo de Fe Unido Para Justicia Para Los Trabajadores – Inland Valleys, and CLUE – Orange County). We are still allies and supporters of our former affiliates, but we agreed to make a clear delineation in our areas of work. Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity will not play a leadership role in worker activities as previously conducted in conjunction with the CLUE CA federation.

Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity will focus on issues and aspects of life that promote the oneness of humanity and the wholeness of every human person. Much of nonprofit work today is performed in silos. Our communities and work are segregated by race, ethnicity, religion, issue, and other categories.

In order to solve the fundamental challenges of immigrant integration, healthy communities, and economic, racial, and social justice, we must adopt a new frame rooted in the fundamental connections and oneness of people across these categories and across all borders: racially, economically, and geographically.

Moving forward, Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity will make a unique contribution to the broader immigrant rights and economic/racial/social justice movements by leading in California efforts that are rooted in a transnational and global perspective, while building relationships and coordinating strategies with global movements and organizations to protect individuals and families. As a result, we will see families and individuals living without fear and being recognized for their positive, productive contributions to improve the quality of life for themselves, their neighbors, and our society.

Our current staff works as a unified organization in three geographic areas of California: Inland Valleys (Riverside and San Bernardino counties), Los Angeles County, and the Greater San Francisco Bay Area (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo counties).

We will continue our programmatic work, including:
Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights

We work with religious leaders from diverse faith traditions to call together people of faith to promote the rights, fair treatment, and dignity of all immigrants, regardless of their immigration status. This encompasses Immigration Justice Advocacy, Accompaniment, Connection, Empowerment, and Immigrant Integration.
Community Wellness and Faith, Fellowship, and Fitness
We work with faith and community leaders to improve conditions that can help to reduce health disparities among highly at-risk populations. This includes providing physical activities and nutrition education, fitness training, and promoting workplace health and safety.

Leadership Development

We work to promote a new equitable economy rooted in our deepest faith commitments, where values influence policy and collaborative friendships are built to take concrete actions leading to change. We develop grassroots and faith leadership through travel and events, such as exhibits, workshops and “word-shops” to instill and inspire new understandings about systems, structures, practices and policies that affect quality of life. This includes Art and Cultural Expression, Civic Engagement, and Economic Literacy and Justice Training.

We tested our new name with numerous people, including communication coaches at Spitfire Strategies in Washington, DC; community leaders (East Los Angeles Community Corporation, Justice Not Jails, and California Calls); educators (at California State University at Northridge, University of Southern California, and Occidental College); and, funding partners (Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock, Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr Fund, Walter and Elise Haas Sr. Fund, San Francisco Foundation, Y&H Soda Foundation, and The California Endowment). Our board and staff collaborated to select our name through a day-long strategic planning session, electronic exchanges, and a formal vote to adopt it during a scheduled board meeting.

This organizational transition is being supported by the Flexible Leadership Awards (FLA) of the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund over the next three years. This support will help us strengthen our organization, achieve even greater clarity on our unique niche, and complete a successful transition.

We have received approval from the California Franchise Tax Board and the Internal Revenue Service to retain our Tax Exempt Status as a nonprofit organization with our same 501(c) 3 federal Tax Identification Number, Articles of Incorporation, and Bylaws – as Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity.

IM4HumanIntegrity is grateful to you and all of our partners for your continuing support that has led us to achieve this milestone. We invite you to accompany us on our next steps by reaching out to our Senior Staff: Executive Director Rev. Dr. Art Cribbs and Senior Program Director Rev. Deborah Lee.

You can follow the ongoing engagement of our work at: Twitter.com/4humanintegrity, Facebook.com/im4humanintegrity, and our website: www.im4humanintegrity.org.

[1] Founding Document of CLUE CA 2005