Vigil at Varick St
July 8, 2009
Hey, Transmissioners!
This Friday, we’ll be joining a bunch of other emergenty, house-churchish people downtown for a vigil, witnessing for justice for non-documented immigrants and other marginalized people. Afterwards, we’ll probably go out for beer. You should come!
Join with others concerned with the plight of the immigrant as we stand in solidarity with immigrants and native-born during the monthly Vigil on Varick Street, located in front of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Detention Facility in lower Manhattan.
Members of the Catholic Worker, the New Sanctuary Movement, Families for Freedom, Radical Living, Justice For Our Neighbors, Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, and various individuals and congregations throughout the city join together the second Friday of every month to pray, sing, and stand vigilant for our brothers and sisters who are behind bars, across the border, and who suffer under the weight of unjust immigration laws.
More than 400,000 people a year are detained by immigration officials in the United States – including undocumented immigrants, legal immigrants who run afoul of the law and asylum seekers who come fleeing persecution. Immigrants can be detained for months or years without any form of meaningful review of whether their detention is necessary, and 84% of detainees are unable to obtain the assistance necessary to present viable claims in an adversarial and complex court process.
Many members of Congress have called for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, and now is the time to be present and to call for a just immigration policy.
"’When foreigners reside among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigners residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God." Leviticus 19:33-34.