The focus of this popular education based workshop is globalization, migration, and the economic implications of these factors.  Come and learn how people are affected by neoliberal economic policies and how we can respond.  This workshop is filled with hands-on activities and sports a companion zine with resources and more.

Jordan Garcia is the Immigrant Ally Organizing Director for Coloradans for Immigrant Rights, a project of the American Friends Service Committee.  He serves on the board of directors for the Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training and the Chinook Fund.  He believes that community organizing for systemic change can and will lead us to liberation.  Jordan has a BA in International Political Economy with an emphasis on Urban Studies from Colorado College.

Thursday, September 15

7:00-9:00PM

Denver Justice & Peace Committee

at Highlands United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall

3131 Osceola Street, Denver 80212

(corner of 32^nd and Osceola)

Free parking is available in the lot east of the building as well as along the street.

Enter through the door located on Osceola Street.

Website: www.denjustpeace.org | Phone: 303-623-1463 | E-mail:djpc@denjustpeace.org

photo courtesy www.AbusedThePostvilleRaid.com

On May 12, 2008, 389 undocumented workers were arrested and placed in handcuffs and chains by 900 heavily armed ICE agents at Agriprocessors, Inc., the largest kosher slaughterhouse and meat-packing plant in the country.  In just 4 days, nearly 300 of these workers were fast-tracked through the US legal system, convicted of criminal charges, and sentenced to prison.  Individuals were left humiliated, families were torn apart, and a community of great diversity was left in ruin.

“AbUSed: The Postville Raid” is a full-length documentary that tells the story of the most brutal, most expensive, and one of the largest Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in the history of the United States.  By weaving together the personal stories of the individuals, the families, and the town directly affect by the events of May 12, 2008, the film presents the human face of the issue of immigration reform and serves as a cautionary tale against abuses of constitutional human rights.

Directed by Luis Argueta.  For more information or to view the trailer go to www.abusedthepostvilleraid.com .

Thursday, July 21

7:00-9:00PM

Denver Justice & Peace Committee

at Highlands United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall

3131 Osceola Street, Denver 80212

(corner of 32^nd and Osceola)

Free parking is available in the lot east of the building as well as along the street.

Enter through the door located on Osceola Street.

Website: www.denjustpeace.org | Phone: 303-623-1463 | E-mail:djpc@denjustpeace.org

VIGIL AT GEO DETENTION CENTER

“LOVE KNOWS NO BORDERS, NO WALLS”

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2011 at 6:00 PM

DJPC is collaborating with the American Friends Service Committee’s Coloradans for Immigrant Rights (CFIR) to sponsor the February 7 Vigil at the Geo Detention Center in Aurora. Dress for the weather and bring a prayer shawl if you’ve already been given one!

Photo by H.A. Alfaro

The vigil starts at the corner of E. 30^th Avenue and Peoria Street.

Parking is available on side streets and in the visitor’s lot on E. 30^th Avenue (south of the Geo Center).

Website: www.denjustpeace.org | Phone: 303-623-1463 | E-mail:djpc@denjustpeace.org

Jennifer Piper of the American Friends Service Committee will share her perspectives and facts on the immigrant detention system, its impact on Colorado, and what we can do to oppose it.

Free parking for Salons is available in the lot east of the building as well as along the street. Enter through the door located on Osceola Street.

Phone: (303) 623-1463 | E-mail: djpc@denjustpeace.org | Website: http://denjustpeace.org

Jan2011 Salon Flier–IMMIGRATION DETENTION

The main theme evident in all of the interviews with Mexican citizens was that they had families to support, bills to pay, or simply were looking for a better life. They all knew that there were many dangers and much uncertainty associated with attempting to cross the border but they also viewed crossing as their only way to survive. Through discussion following the film, we heard firsthand accounts from those who recently returned from a Migrant Trail Walk in Arizona. They attested to how difficult the multi-day journey is and even mentioned that seasoned hikers found the task difficult after only a few days into the trip. They also reminded us that unlike immigrants that attempt the crossing, they had the comforts of adequate food, water, shelter, and medical assistance when necessary and still found the journey mentally and physically challenging. They walked approximately 10 miles a day for almost a week. I find that for the immigrants able to complete such a journey through unknown desert terrain with what they can bring on their back and only 2 gallons of water if that, and for those that fail yet continue to try again, this attests to their will and determination to achieve their goals for a better life. This determination also proves, for me, that no matter what obstacles are placed in front of them, they will continue to find ways across the border as long as the United States continues to equal hope.

Action Steps: While the film focused on enforcement at the border, we are also seeing an increase in enforcement in the interior. Gabriela Flora of AFSC was our speaker and related 3 proposed actions at this event. The most pressing is calling Governor Bill Ritter (303)866-2471 to tell him not to sign onto Secure Communities. Please call right away, and continue making calls through the month of July. Secure Communities is a program that would “send the fingerprints of anyone arrested and booked for anything to Immigration…[including] the wrongly accused and innocent victims of domestic violence.” This program “will create fear and mistrust in our communities.”

Stop Secure Communities Now flier

Another action step is a 24-hour fast beginning Sunday, August 1st at 6:00PM until Monday, August 2nd at 6:00PM. Those who wish to will “camp overnight outside the GEO Immigrant Detention Center” and the following 24 hours will have “ongoing educational opportunities, time for deeper reflection on solidarity and…prayer.”  The fast will be broken at AFSC’s monthly interfaith vigil at 30th and Peoria in Aurora.  Please see flyer for the various ways you can participate.

24-hour solidarity vigil and fast flier

The final proposed action is signing a faith-based petition asking Governor Ritter and the Colorado Legislature “to reject any legislation or policies resembling Arizona’s SB 1070, a law that denies due process for immigrants, increases the likelihood of racial profiling, and criminalizes those who offer direct aid for immigrants.” Instead, the petition states that “what is needed to fix our broken immigration system is leadership by the federal government…to enact humane, comprehensive immigration reform that reunites families and provides a pathway to legal status for those who are undocumented.”

Petition Document

When I was in Mexico recently, cab drivers and other service workers would volunteer that they had been in the U.S., often for several years before returning to Mexico.  They would say they had picked corn in Iowa, harvested tobacco in North Carolina, picked blueberries in Maryland, done landscaping in California, worked as a cook in Illinois, etc.  They had happy memories and were glad to share their experiences with an American.  What struck me was that virtually everyone told stories about either their journey to the U.S. to make a living for their family or that by a son or a daughter.

Their stories reminded me that just a year before in Guatemala, every Mayan person with whom I came in contact asked me PLEASE to work for immigration reform in the U.S. because families, even their country’s economy, depended on the remittances sent back to Guatemala from their relations in the U.S.

I cried when I heard that a young Mayan Quiché whose education Bob and Mary Buck and I have been supporting for many years crossed the Sonoran desert in scorching heat to work in the U.S. to pay his mother’s health bills.  Since there are no avenues for him to gain legal status in our broken immigration system, he is now undocumented and working in construction to pay off these family bills.

If you, like me, want to protest the inhumane detention and forced return of migrants to their countries by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), I invite you to join the first Monday inter-faith vigils at the Geo Immigration Detention Center.  The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) organizes these vigils with local area churches or community groups sponsoring each month.  The next vigil is May 3rd at 6:00 p.m. at the northwest corner of 30^th Avenue and Peoria St. in Aurora.  To commemorate one year of resistance to the GEO Detention Center, the Romero Troupe will enact immigration experiences at the center through music, poetry and prayer.

If you have questions or want further information, please contact Jennifer Piper, Interfaith Organizing Director for Immigrant Rights, at AFSC at 303-623-3464 or jpiper@afsc.org.

In light of upcoming legislation for comprehensive Immigration Reform, here is DJPC’s official position on Immigration, written by our Advocacy & Nonviolent  Activism committee, and approved by DJPC’s Board of Directors:

DJPC’s Position on Immigration:

DJPC’s work for human rights, economic justice and lasting peace for Latin America affords a unique position from which to contribute to the current public policy debate on immigration.

DJPC concurs that a humane and just U.S. immigration policy must be adopted in the U.S., one that meets the needs of immigrants, communities and our economy.   It should respect international law and human rights–particularly the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state, provide a legal avenue for citizenship, afford the opportunity to obtain work without legal recrimination, support the lawfully authorized entry of those under duress or fleeing natural disaster, and enable family re-unification. These policy goals should be accomplished without militarization of the border, discrimination against or exploitation of immigrants whose lives have already been adversely affected by U.S. policies in their home countries.

DJPC believes, however, that this conundrum cannot reach successful resolution without first dealing with the root causes of the immigration surge and analyzing those areas in which U.S. policies act as catalysts for it. To this end, DJPC advocates foreign and trade policies that:

• Improve human rights and support civil society members at risk.

• Strengthen political and civil institutions and root out corruption and impunity.

• Create opportunities for people to remain in their home countries where they can be productive citizens and preserve family units and support systems.

• Minimize the gap between the rich and the poor, and achieve just livable wages for workers at home and abroad.

• Make education and health care more universally available.

• Defend against the trafficking of human beings, especially women and children, for the purpose of exploiting them economically or sexually.

• Reduce reliance and dependency on the U.S.

• Conduct negotiations in a transparent, inclusive and accountable manner.

• Prioritize funding for human development over military aid.

• Promote the needs of individual workers and small local businesses over those of transnational corporations.

• End exploitation of human and natural resources by the U.S. and other global powers.

• Provide strong and meaningful labor and environmental standards, and demand compliance.

• Reverse and reduce the concessioning and privatization of essential public services.

Additionally, DJPC extends this scrutiny to policies of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization, and other financial bodies supported by the U.S.

DJPC works to establish equitable public policy through:

• Education: of our members, our communities, our Congressional delegation on the ways in which U.S. foreign and trade policies impact economically-motivated immigration.

• Solidarity: partnering with local and national groups and international movements to advocate for these policies. Reaching out to immigrant communities and bearing witness to the struggle of our immigrant neighbors.

• Nonviolent Activism: calling, writing, visiting and keeping the pressure on members of our Congressional delegation to enact just foreign and trade policies. Participating in rallies, press conferences, public meetings, and nonviolent protests.