Immigration Justice

Immigrant Welcoming Conference / Immigration Working Group

The Wisconsin Conference is an Immigrant Welcoming Conference.  To learn more about what this means and how your congregation and you can get involved in immigration justice work: Immigrant Welcoming Conference page.

Immigration justice news and actions

• Faith leaders, use this online form to sign on to this letter to President Elect Biden, circulated by Noel Anderson of the National UCC.

Links for more information about immigration justice

Wisconsin Information and Advocacy Groups

• Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice, a non-profit, interfaith education and advocacy organization that provides immigration justice information and advocacy opportunities as part of its focus
• Centro Hispano of Dane County, provider of resource assistance, education, referrals and advocacy for Latinx families and immigrants
• Voces de la Frontera, an immigrant rights and low-wage workers center working to create access to safe, dignified work, quality education and healthcare
• National Immigration Legal Services Directory-Wisconsin, an immigration referral resource state-wide
• ESTHER, an interfaith social justice organization in the Fox Valley that offers “Walk in Our Shoes”, a simulation event designed to bring community awareness to the challenges Latinos face

On the US/Mexico border

• Green Valley/Sahuarita Samaritans, the activities of these volunteers in the Arizona borderlands include water drops, desert searches, and regularly providing witness at immigrant-processing court hearings such as Operation Streamline , the mass, fast-track hearings at the Federal Courthouse in Tucson, where unauthorized migrants are prosecuted as criminals.  Calendar, Monday-Friday, click on “Tucson Operation Streamline Calendar” (on left side of page) for pdf copy of that day’s roster.  (Suspended because of COVID)
• No More Deaths, a humanitarian organization based in southern Arizona dedicated to giving direct aid to migrants in the Mexico/US borderlands and stopping their suffering
• Borderlinks, a non-profit offering experiential learning opportunities along the Arizona/Mexico border
• Frontera de Cristo, a Presbyterian border ministry that provides support and educational/medical outreach to migrants in Arizona, and offers border immersion trips
• Derechos Humanos, a non-profit promoting the rights of all migrants, seeking public awareness and changes in governmental policies that result in human suffering
• Humane Borders, a non-profit, volunteer-staffed organization that maintains a system of water stations for migrants in the Arizona Sonoran Desert
• Kino Border Initiative, a Catholic non-profit that operates the Migrant Aid Center (El Comedor) in Nogales, Sonora

National Information and Advocacy groups

• Interfaith Immigration Coalition, a partnership of faith-based organizations committed to enacting fair and humane immigration reform
• Church World Service, an international agency that welcomes refugees and asylum seekers, provides resettlement services and advocates for better policies
• Migration Policy Institute, a leading institution in the field of migration policy, and a source of authoritative research and learning opportunities. See U.S. Immigration Policy current policy details
• National Immigration Law Center, dedicated to defending and advancing the rights of immigrants with low income
• National Day Labor Organizing Network, an alliance of community-based organizations and worker centers dedicated to improving the lives of day laborers in the U.S.
• American Immigration Council, a non-partisan non-profit advocating for a fair and just immigration system
• ACLU Immigrant Rights, the venerable civil liberties watchdog’s immigrants’ rights page
• Immigrant Legal Resource Center, a California-based organization that seeks to improve immigration law and policy
• Informed Immigrant Resources, a clearinghouse of resources and information on being undocumented in the U.S.

Governmental Entities Involved with Immigration

• Department of Homeland Security
• Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), enforcer of immigration laws in the U.S.
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection:
  • Border Security page: https://www.cbp.gov/border-security
  • Statistics page: https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats
• United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), manages the technical steps in the immigration process, grants asylum and processes refugee applications
• Department of Justice Executive Office for Administrative Review, provides current legal interpretations and decisions on the Nation’s immigration laws

Downloadable resources

• Sanctuary Not Deportation: A Faithful Witness to Building Welcoming Communities toolkit
• Materials from 11/15/2016 Interfaith Immigration Coalition and Refugees Welcome webinar:  webinar recording and PowerPoint slides from webinar (PDF)
• Oregon New Sanctuary Movement Faith and Immigration Study Guide
• ACLU’s Sanctuary Congregations and Harboring FAQ’s PDF (2017) 
• Becoming an Immigrant Welcoming Congregation-UCC National (2018)
• The Sanctuary Movement and Legal Risks, from the United Church of Christ Office of General Counsel (2016)
• Becoming an Immigrant Welcoming Congregation-MN UCC (2017)
• Immigration Study Guide-Wis Council of Churches
• Passages-children’s refugee simulation guide (PDF)-UN Refugee Agency
• 1,600 Miles, 85 Hours: A Migrant Family Takes a Greyhound Across America   (2019 New York Times magazine article)