CAUSA to join with Faith, Civil Rights and Immigrant Leaders to Introduce Way Forward for Immigration Reform

MEDIA ADVISORY
September 14, 2010

Contact:
Francisco Lopez, Executive Director: (503) 269-5694
Erik Sorensen, Communications Director: (503) 488-0263

CAUSA to join with Faith, Civil Rights and Immigrant Leaders to Introduce Way Forward for Immigration Reform

Salem, Ore.—Tomorrow, a delegation from Oregon will be in Washington D.C. to participate in the Relief, Reform, Respect for our Families: An Immigration Forum. They will join with more than 500 faith, civil rights and immigrant leaders from 23 states across the nation to discuss a moving forward on immigration reform. Following the forum, participants will visit the offices of legislators.

WHAT: Relief, Reform, Respect for our Families: An Immigration Forum

WHEN: Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Forum: 10:30 a.m.
Lobby visits: 1:30 p.m.

WHERE: Lutheran Church of the Reformation, 212 East Capitol St. NE, Washington, D.C.

WHO: More than 500 faith and civic leaders from at least 23 states including:

Reverend Gail McDougle, Senior Pastor of First Congregational Church United Church of Christ in Salem, Oregon
Ramon Ramirez, President of PCUN, Oregon's Farmworker Union in Woodburn, Oregon
Paul Krissel, Former Board President of the Northwest Health Foundation in Oregon and Salem, Oregon resident
Francisco Lopez, Executive Director of CAUSA Oregon, Salem, Oregon
Rev. Jim Wallis, CEO of Sojourners
Deepak Bhargava, executive director, Center for Community Change
Pastor Warren Stewart, First Institutional Baptist Church, Phoenix
Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill.
Gideon Aronoff, president and CEO, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society
Arturo Rodriguez, second president, United Farm Workers of America
Pastor David Bigsby, In The Upper Room Ministries Missionary Baptist Church (Chicago), vice president of the African American Leadership Commission and president of Gamaliel National Clergy Caucus
Imam Konate Souleimane, Masjid AQSA Mosque (Harlem, NY)
Angelica Salas, executive director, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles
Muhammad Zahid Chaudhry, United States veteran (Seattle)
Ives Gomes, student (Maryland)

WHY: Politics has thus far trumped moral and practical solutions, but on September 15, people of faith and immigrant advocates will make the call for a way forward for comprehensive immigration reform. Advocates will appeal to Republicans and Democrats to create space for legislative and/or administrative changes in 2010.

Without comprehensive immigration reform, an average of 1,100 people are deported every day, tearing families apart. This national day of action will lift up the stories of families who have been devastated by deportations, and call attention to the social cost and the moral deficit of our government's immigration policies.

The day of action will begin with a faith forum at 10:30 a.m., followed by lobby visits at about 1:30 p.m.

The public is frustrated with the lack of action on immigration reform in Washington and the inhumane treatment of immigrants that does not reflect our values as a country. There's a right way and wrong way to address this problem - and only one real solution.

The wrong way is the scapegoating of immigrants, which leads to misguided policies and division in our communities - from Arizona's racial profiling law to some senators' radical plan to amend the Constitution and deny citizenship to children born in the United States.

The right way is for Congress and the President to adopt immigration reform that is practical and humane. The right way is to ensure that policy RESPECTS the human dignity of all people, provides RELIEF for families being torn apart, and embraces REFORM that provides a long term solution for immigration in America. At the Relief, Respect, Reform Forum we will push for the right way.

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CAUSA, Oregon's Immigrant Rights Coalition, is a member of the Reform Immigration FOR America coalition and is the largest Latino and Latina civil and human rights and advocacy organization in the Pacific Northwest. We work to defend and advance immigrant rights through coordination with local, state, and national coalitions and allies. For more information, visit www.causaoregon.org

Posted in: CAUSA,Comprehensive Immigration Reform,Forum,Media Advisory,Washington D.C.