CNSC News

CMSA and CRLN Join Together as One Organization

For immediate release

September 1, 2009

 
Longtime partners, the Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America (CRLN) and the Chicago Metropolitan Sanctuary Alliance (CMSA) have agreed to formally come together into one organization, under the CRLN name and banner. This comes after two decades of partnership – including sharing office space and staff.   With this deeper collaboration, the formerly separate organizations will be strengthened and enhanced. 
 
Click Below to Read More
 
Also, click here to check out the new website: http://www.crln.org/Chicago-New-Sanctuary 

 

Court Watch Refelction by Brother Bede Baldry, FSC

Aug. 12, 2009

This was interesting today.  I got to talk to some attorney's before and then went it.  They did not use the tv but actually bought people in.  I was there in the afternoon.  One attorney said Judge Katsivalis tries hard.  This day there where about 18 from Mexico, 2 from Korea, 1 from Columbia, Nigeria and other places. 

They needed a translator for the two from Korea.  The woman was there by herself.  The man had a lawyer.  How do you get a lawyer in jail was my question. 

"Radical Welcome: People of Faith Working for Immigrant Rights"

"Radical Welcome: People of Faith Working for Immigrant Rights"

 Oct 1st 2009, 6-8pm

 St Gertrude’s Catholic Church (1420 W. Granville, Chicago)

6:00 - Food and Fellowship Time
6:30 – Program, Discussion, and Plans for Action! 
 
Join the

Chicago New Sanctuary Coalition:

 
 Hear testimonies from our immigrant sisters and brothers directly affected by our broken immigration policies
 

Hear from Leslie Combs, District Director for Rep. Jan Schakowsky, about immigration legislation and how we can work to get it passed

 

Hear what local faith communities are doing as part of CNSC and learn how you can get involved in the struggle for immigrant rights

Reflections from the Borderlands

  A Reflection by Tracy Hughes, Volunteer Partner with United Church of Christ Volunteer Ministries at BorderLinks in Tucscon, AZ (June 26, 2009)

This morning at 6am I left South Side Presbyterian church for my first Samaritan Patrol. These patrols are held by a group with that exact name with the mission of giving direct care to migrants in the Sonora Desert of Arizona. We have packs of food, bottles of water, Gatorade or other forms of electrolytes, socks, shoes, hats and basic medical supplies.

Today we covered quite a large area. We took a loop out of Tucson and ended up on Arivaca Highway and Interstate 19. Well, those are not all of the roads we took. We did get back to Tucson at 1pm.

We did 3 hikes in the desert to check out if the migrant trials in this area were being used a lot right now. The Arivaca Wash is highly used. There were many footprints from the last few days, some trash and clothes. We came upon what I thought was a backpack from a distance hanging in a tree. However, upon closer inspection it was a girl's jacket hanging nicely in a tree...   
 

 

Join the Friday Morning Vigils

A Reflection by Rev. Denise Griebler, Pastor of St. Michael’s United Church of Christ

 
“The expected flagpole stands before the entrance of the Broadview Detention. A frayed American flag stuck at ¾ mast, is tangled among too-close tree branches. A poignant image that, for an immigration policy mired and frayed by fear, resentment and racism. The current economic crisis adds more anxiety to the mix. We need comprehensive and compassionate immigration reform, and soon. This broken system is tearing us up.
 
It’s also tearing the lives of immigrants and their families...

 

Religious Ministry at Immigration Processing Center

Access to Religious Ministry at Immigration Processing Center

After two and a half years of vigils, religious leaders negotiated access to the Broadview Detention Center and have begun praying on the buses with immigrants on their way to being deported.
 
On this episode of Community, Media & You, we’ll hear more about the victory at Broadview and how to improve our nation’s immigration system. Here on the show is Jenny Dale of the Chicago New Sanctuary Coalition, Flavia Jimenez and Salvador Cervantes of the Illinois Coalition of Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
 

 

Chicago New Sanctuary Coalition in the News!

Secret Courts Exploit Immigrants

Our very own Mary Naftzger, CNSC Court Watch Volunteer Coordinator, was quoted in an article about the immigration court system in The Nation.  Check it out!
 
“Secret Courts Exploit Immigrants”
By Jacqueline Stevens
The Nation (June 16, 2009)
 
You don't need to go to Iran or North Korea to find secret courts. They're alive and well right here in the United States. On March 26, 2009, I was denied access to immigration courts in Eloy and Florence, Arizona, even though a federal regulation states, "All hearings, other than exclusion hearings, shall be open to the public" with a narrow range of exceptions--none of which were cited as a reason for excluding me…
 
To read the full article visit: Secret Courts Exploit Immigrants

 

Immigration Court Watch Meeting

Immigration Court Watch Meeting

Wednesday March 4th

Dinner 6:00pm; Program 6:30-8:30pm

Notre Dame De Chicago (1334 W. Flournoy St.)

Mary Meg McCarthy, Executive Director of the National Immigrant Justice Center, will speak on how the Immigration Detention Court System works and why our presence and observations in the courtroom are so important.

El Pueblo Canta: A Concert Celebrating the Struggle for Immigrant Justice

SAVE THE DATE! Saturday, March 28th 
El Pueblo Canta: A Concert Celebrating the Struggle for Immigrant Justice 

Saturday, March 28th
Wellington Ave UCC (615 W. Wellington )
Doors open at 6:30pm and concert starts at 7pm.
Cost of ticket: $10-$25 – general admission 

For Advance Tickets visit www.waucc.org or contact Jenny Dale at jdale@chicagosanctuary.org or 773-293-3680


Featured Musicians include:

* Jon Fromer and Francisco Herrerra, Californians who are active in  immigration justice work and efforts to close the School of the Americas.

* Jose Flores and Voices, Chicago-based music groups

 
All proceeds withh go to support the immigrant Justice Work of Centro Romero, Chicago New Sanctuary Coalition, and Wellington Avenue UCC  
 
Spread the word and Buy tickets TODAY!

 

Access to Religious Ministry Act Passes in Illinois House and Senate Unanimously!!

A delegation of 8 Chicago New Sanctuary Coalition leaders joined other community advocacy groups from around the state of Illinois in Springfield Illinois on November 19th to lobby our IL Senators and Representatives to pass HB4613, the Access to Reliiogus Ministry Act.  We rushed from office to office expressing the urgency of the bill and the importance of religoius workers to get into the immigration detention center.

If you are a clergy person or lay leader who is interested in volunteering to offer pastoral care to immigrants in detention, please contact Jenny Dale at jdale@chicagosanctuary.org.

Thank you to to everyone who helped make phone calls and write letters to your IL Senators and Representatives, it made all the difference!