Walk Toward Trouble–Stop the Deportations July 31st

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Jul 07, 2014

Last week during the UUA General Assembly Ware Lecture, immigration reform advocate Sister Simone Campbell, organizer of “Nuns on the Bus,” made a passionate call for us to “walk toward trouble.” Our General Assembly delegates did that when they passed an Action of Immediate Witness calling on President Obama to stop the deportations of our immigrant siblings and called for Unitarian Universalists to participate in a broad coalition of faith groups and immigrant advocates at the July 31-August 2 Pray for Relief! Not One More Deportation actions in Washington, D.C. Now is the time to walk- or roll, or move- toward trouble and fulfill that call.

Organizers hope 100 faith leaders will engage in civil disobedience to protest the cruelty brought by the over 1,100 daily deportations and that hundreds more will come in support to the Faith Summit and Not One More Deportation Day of Action. Imagine if 25 of those faith leaders arrested were Unitarian Universalists. We have walked toward trouble before to protest the separation of families and we have pledged to do so again at this action.

From July 31 through August 2 we will be in Washington, DC. Will you be there with us? Will you be there for families, for children, for justice? You can sign up to attend the July 31-August 1 summit, engage in witness and/or civil disobedience, and stay for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network’s Not One More Deportation Day of Action on August 2nd atStanding on the Side of Love—Pray for Relief—Take Actions to Stop the Deportations!

And this Thursday, July 10 at 4pm EST/1pm PST, join Standing on the Side of Love and the UU College of Social Justice for a joint call-in and update from the US/Mexico border. Call 605-475-4000 and use code 476389#.

President Obama has said that he will take action in the event of Congressional inaction on immigration reform. The president has the power to bring relief to the millions of families living under the threat or already suffering from mass detention and deportation. The President needs to hear from those who can bring to this moment the moral voice. A voice that values the worth and dignity of all people, over profit and politics. A voice that hears the cries of human suffering and moves in solidarity against injustice. A voice – joined with voices of other faiths – to say Not One More Deportation!

We know many of you have been working to achieve compassionate immigration reform and stop the deportations. UUs and our partners all over the country have been witnessing, fasting, advocating, and marching together calling for action. We have been leaders within the faith community in standing boldly on the side of human dignity, boldly on the side of love with immigrant families. We know what trouble looks like. Children fleeing violence in their own countries, reaching the United States only to be warehoused and face deportation. Families torn apart every day because of detentions and deportations. Immigration laws and US foreign policy, including trade policies, have created an exploitable workforce of undocumented people and unsettled the stability and economies of countries south of the border. Now is the time to move toward trouble, to bring a light to it and witness for a better way. We have acted. We must act again. We must urge President Obama to act.

On July 31- August 2, faith leaders and human rights activists will gather in Washington to say, “Not one more family separated, not one more deportation”- in demonstrations and in an act of civil disobedience. We will also gather to strategize next steps and further build our communities of resistance and hope. We hope to see many Unitarian Universalists and their partners show up in the face of trouble. Will you be there to stand on the side of love? We hope to see you there.

In faith and solidarity,

Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray
Lead Minister, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Phoenix

Rev. Wendy von Zirpolo
Minister, Unitarian Universalist Church of Marblehead MA

PLEASE CONSIDER MAKING A DONATION (See button on right) TO HELP UUs and DREAMERS MOMS USA ATTEND THIS IMPORTANT EVENT! IT'S A CHARITABLE DONATION TO UUCMarblehead and ALL $ WILL GO FOR THIS PURPOSE! IF YOU HAVE MILES INSTEAD OF $ TO DONATE, PLEASE EMAIL ME AT REVWENDYVON@GMAIL,COM

P.S. Standing on the Side of Love will be raising $ to pay the $50-$100 fines for UUs and our partners who are joining the civil disobedience action. We are working to get the donate link up by Wednesday so please check our page here  for updates.

Tags: Immigration Reform, Pray for Relief, Rev. Susan Frederick Gray, Rev. Wendy von