Immigrant Justice Day 2012: One California

Update June 8th: The Trust Act will be heard in the Senate Public Safety committee on Tuesday, June 12th.

On May 21^st, Unitarian Universalists joined immigrants, advocates, community members, and policy makers in raising our voices on behalf of all of California’s immigrant families at the State Capitol in Sacramento. The UU Legislative Ministry of CA (UULM CA) collaborated with the CA Immigrant Policy Center and many other immigrant justice groups for this day of education, witness and advocacy.

We were there to support  AB1801 (Ammiano), the TRUST Act—a bill to restore trust and accountability to California’s participation in the Secure Communities (S-Comm) program, respecting the wish of local communities to opt-out of the program and implement safeguards to guard against racial profiling. [See Restoring Trust: Congregational Grassroots Resources for Breaking ICE’s Hold on our Communities to learn about the local opt-out movement.]

While UUs across CA are organizing to come to Justice GA in Arizona, we also know there is very important work to be done in California.  The UU Legislative Ministry has formed a statewide Immigrant Justice Team with UU lawyers, immigration advocates, clergy and lay leaders who are working to build a network for long term, effective engagement of California UUs in immigrant justice with the first priority being the protection immigrant families and restoring trust in law enforcement by resisting the S-Comm (Secure Communities) program.

People came in vans and buses and drove in from across the state, including from Los Angeles, San Diego, Visalia, Fresno, San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco.  Two dozen UU clergy and lay leaders participated, wearing our  ‘Love’ and UULM CA shirts, and carrying our Standing on the Side of Love banner, ,joining a group of 400 allies.

Attorney Daniel Stracka, Executive Director of UURISE (UU Refugee and Immigrant Services & Education) and the UULMCA Immigrant Justice Team Co-Convener, was among those who traveled all the way from San Diego County.  A team from Mt. Diablo UU Church in Walnut Creek rode up on the train, and UUs from conservative Merced to progressive Berkeley joined immigrants from across the state.

UULM CA helped to lead and anchor the interfaith prayer and procession that began the day, joining the Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights, and Franciscan, and Jewish leaders.  Following the prayer for the people, we marched from the steps of the Cathedral to the steps of the Capitol, accompanied by the drums of Rev. Wendy Bartel, co-minister at the Sierra Foothills UU Church, and lifting our voices in song –  “Soon and very soon.. we are going to change the world… For all families, we are going to change the world…”  (See words to the entire song  below.)

We rallied at the Capitol where Assembly member Tom Ammiano, author of the TRUST Act,  said, “We  have many people in California who contribute to the economy, to family life, to religion. Deported, incarcerated, denied income and split from their families, this is not democracy.”

UUs were assigned to teams to visit their legislators with members of the other immigrant justice groups from their area. We were particularly proud to join in the visit to Assembly member Bill Monning, a UU from Monterey County, and co-author of AB1081, who, as a long time advocate for farm worker justice, was able to dialogue fluently in both Spanish and English with the constituents visiting his office.

Amy Moses-Lagos, Immigrant Justice Steering Committee member for UULM CA (and former immigration legal aid) and ministerial intern at Mt. Diablo UU Church said, “We were very impressed that Assembly member Joan Buchanan met with us herself . She really took the time to listen to our concerns and seemed supportive of the goals of the TRUST Act.  The meeting helped us see what a difference we can really make on this issue. One of our members had a conversation with Victor from Street Level and was touched by a comment he made.  He said (paraphrasing), ‘In El Salvador, I never would never have considered doing something like this.  Now I have realized that we can come together, speak up and improve things for ourselves.’  We were very impressed that the lobbying group was so diverse and included many immigrants.”

To help participants prepare for advocacy visits on Immigrant Justice Day, UULM CA held a webinar led by Angela Chan from the Asian Law Caucus.

In addition to Immigrant Justice Day, UULM CA is starting to organize at the county level.  We had our first meeting on May 19th of UUs interested in helping LA County follow the lead of Santa Clara County to stop collaboration with S-Comm.  We also had folks out in the strawberry fields in Watsonville that same weekend learning from farm workers and experts on globalization and the broken immigration system.

Through our advocacy we are creating new partnerships and relationships and helping to build The Beloved Community.

Lyrics to the song we sang at the Interfaith Prayer and Procession

1.  Soon and very soon, we are going to change the world (x 3)
Together, together, we will change the world.

2.  No more crying here, we are going to change the world (x 3)
Together, together, we will change the world.

3. For all families, we are going to change the world (x 3)
Together, together, we will change the world.

4.  Come and walk with me, we are going to change the world (x 3)
Together, together, we will change the world.

5.  Prayer and advocacy, we are going to change the world (x 3)
Together, together, we will change the world.

Rev. Lindi Ramsden is Executive Director of the UU Legislative Ministry of California.

Tags: California, Mt. Diablo UU Church, Rev. Lindi Ramsden, Rev. Wendy Bartel, S-COMM, Sacramento, Secure Communities, Sierra Foothills UU Church, TRUST Act, UU Legislative Ministry of California, UURISE