Interfaith Prayer Day for Immigration Reform

Stand with JCUA as we join religious leaders, families fighting deportations, and people of faith from many walks of life.

We will come together to pray, take action, and invite our elected leaders to support our shared values of dignity and mercy for all.  The Prayer Session and Press Conference will begin at 9:00am on Tuesday, May 28th at the DePaul Club Room, 1 E. Jackson Blvd, 11th Floor.  Following the press conference, delegations will visit the offices of Senators Durbin and Kirk.  We want to thank Senator Durbin for his leadership, ask him to continue being a champion of our principles, and ask that he makes a personal call to President Obama to stop deportations.  We will ask Senator Kirk to vote “YES” on the Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill, support our principles, and ask how we can support him as he makes his decision.

Please email Rabbi Ali Abrams at alison@jcua.org if you can attend.

JCUA’s Director of Organizing Will Speak on Immigration Through a Jewish Lens at Southside Community Gathering

Rabbi Ali Abrams will be talking about immigration from a Jewish perspective at the Hyde Park and Kenwood Interfaith Council 2013 Annual Meeting.

Rabbi Ali Abrams

• When: Tuesday, June 4, 6:00pm
• Where: Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, 5850 S. Woodlawn Ave.  Below is a summary of the event’s schedule.

Event Schedule:

6 p.m. – Registration and dinner (buffet style) will begin.  Those coming for dinner are asked to contribute $10 toward its costs.

6:30 p.m.  While dinning continues, the program will begin.

The program is entitled “Welcoming the Stranger?  Faith Traditions on Immigration Reform.”  A panel of 3 or 4 individuals, from the Jewish, Christian, and eastern religious traditions, will speak on how their faiths inform and guide them in responding to the current Immigration Reform legislation and debate.

7:45 p.m. (to roughly 8:30 p.m.)  Annual Business Meeting

Contact:

If you have further questions please contact Rabbi Ali Abrams at alison@jcua.org.

Jewish and Muslim Cyclists Will Ride Together, Narrowing the Distance Between Faiths

On Sunday, June 30, area Jews and Muslims will share the road and their places of worship via bicycle tour of North shore Chicago-area mosques and synagogues.

 

Photo by The Chicago Tribune

The Jewish-Muslim Ride is the second in what Julie Hochstadter, of The Chainlink hopes will be a series of annual rides that share the faiths’ heritage and houses of worship. The Chainlink: A Chicago Bicycling Online Community, is managed by Hochstadter as a website that connects cyclists to biking news and events in Chicago.

“Last year’s ride in the city was a surprisingly huge success,” says Hochstadter. “I’d love to see two rides a year in different parts of the Chicago-land area.”

Inspiration for the ride came in the mid 2000s after Hochstadter participated in a ride that brought Arab and Jewish students together to raise money for an environmental school in Israel.

“The ride not only got me hooked on biking, but on the power of bringing people of different faiths together for a fun, shared goal,” she says.

This year’s ride is co-sponsored by The Jewish-Muslim Community Building Initiative (JMCBI) (an initiative of JCUA) and the Evanston Bicycle Club. Interfaith and bicycle organizations interested in partnering to bring common ground to Muslims and Jews are welcome to sponsor or ride.

Riders will meet at the The Muslim Community Center at noon and ride to several synagogues and mosques in Morton Grove, Skokie and Evanston for a 15-mile, family-friendly ride. There are plans to tour a LEED-certified synagogue in Evanston and for a kosher ice cream stop at Chocolate Shoppe in Skokie.

“Our hope is to find common ground, quite literally,” Hochstadter says. “And show unity by riding together. The more time we spend with one other, the more we can do to bring together the two faiths and fight stereotypes and, possibly make change.”

North shore synagogue and mosque stops along the way include: The Muslim Community Center in Morton Grove; Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation; Beth Emet The Free Synagogue.

The Jewish-Muslim ride is open to riders of all abilities and all faiths.

More Information:

• Event information can be found on The Chainlink website.
• For more information on the Jewish-Muslim Community Building Innitiative, visit:  http://www.jmcbi.org

Contact:

Julie Hochstadter, Director
The Chainlink
773-965-3396
julie@thechainlink.org

 

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About The Chainlink:  With over 8,000 members, The Chainlink is Chicagoland’s premiere social media site for cyclists, from commuters to racers, from local aldermen and City of Chicago officials, to Peter Sagal of National Public Radio’s “Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me.”

[Action Alert] Jewish Community Immigration Reform Call-In Day

Join us in a Jewish Community Immigration Reform Call-In Day on Tuesday, May 21st. Please call Senators Kirk and Durbin letting them know you support a just, humane bill.

For the past few weeks, senators have been hearing and voting on amendments to the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act S. 744- the Senate proposal for Comprehensive Immigration Reform. Senators reconvened today and they are expected to begin considering amendments related to refugees, asylees, and other vulnerable populations. We are also hearing that they might consider amendments related to family and the pathway to citizenship today or tomorrow.

Currently, 11 million people live in fear of separation and arrest because our immigration system is broken and there is no way for them to earn citizenship.  At JCUA, we want to make sure this bill creates a clear path to citizenship without obstacles.  We want our legislators to prioritize keeping families together, and want the bill to include protections for the families of LGBT persons.

American Jews are a community deeply connected to the immigrant story. That history guides us and we will not shut the door on those who came after us. Providing a roadmap to citizenship fundamentally reflects our Jewish values and communal experience in America.

It is critical that our senators hear from us now! Join us in a Jewish Community Immigration Reform Call-In Day tomorrow May 21st. Please call Senators Kirk and Durbin letting them know you support a just, humane bill.

Victory: JCUA Celebrates Passing of Fair Housing Amendment in Cook County!

Today, May 8, 2013 the Cook County Board of Commissioners voted YES to amend the Human Rights Ordinance so that those with Housing Choice Vouchers will no longer be legally discriminated against based on their sources of income.

by Lauren Goldstein
JCUA Intern, Advocacy and Community Organizing

In Photo: Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle urging commissioners to vote in favor of the amendment (photo taken by Open Communities).

Over the last year JCUA has been a partner in the effort to pass the Source of Income Amendment in Cook County, which will effectively outlaw (finally!) discrimination based on source of income in Cook County. This is already the case in the City of Chicago, but the rest of Cook County has been lagging behind. This has allowed landlords to deny Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher holders the right to apply for residence in their units.

Today, May 8, 2013 the Cook County Board of Commissioners voted YES to amend the Human Rights Ordinance so that those with Housing Choice Vouchers will no longer be legally discriminated against based on their sources of income. Today, the Cook County Board of Commissioners voted YES for a county where discrimination of this type will no longer be tolerated.

The discussion prior to the vote was moving and powerful. Among other speakers, Cheryl Johnson, Executive Director of People for Community Recovery and longtime Altgeld Gardens resident and environmental justice activist, silenced the crowd with her moving words that proved impossible to disregard. A young mother of three and previous volunteer coordinator for the Obama campaign, also a Housing Choice Voucher holder, empowered the crowd to recognize that the stereotypical face of voucher holders is truly only a stereotype, and challenged the commissioners to see voucher holders as the strong, hardworking, veterans, mothers, fathers, and PEOPLE that they really are.

Following a separate roll-call of votes from the Commissioners, as well as astounding speeches in support of this amendment from Commissioner Garcia, Commissioner Sims, and Commissioner Suffredin, equal opportunity came to fruition amidst the celebratory applause, hugs, and words of praise from the audience.

While today is a day to celebrate justice won, we urge you to not forget the reality in which this discussion is rooted. It is concerning that in 2013 we must still debate whether to allow discrimination to thrive and to be codified into law.

Today we thank our partners in this campaign, especially Open Communities (who have led the fight and coordinated our collective efforts), Metropolitan Tenants Organization, Access Living and others.

JCUA will continue to work so that one day we may live in a society where basic human rights and equal protection under the law are no longer a point of contention. Until then, we hope you will celebrate this victory with us, and remember, as Dr. King said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

[Urgent Action Alert] Stop Housing Discrimination in Cook County

Call your Cook County Commissioners Today! The County Board is taking an important vote tomorrow morning. Details:

In suburban Cook County, a person can be discriminated against by a property owner or landlord if they happen to pay their rent with a Housing Choice Voucher (formerly known as Section 8).  This is codified discrimination happening in our very backyards.

As a partner in the Source of Income Campaign, JCUA supports an amendment to the Human Rights Ordinance of Cook County which would make such discrimination illegal.  The Source of Income protection amendment to include Housing Choice Vouchers as a protected class under the county’s fair housing ordinance is included in the Human Relations Committee Report from July 24, 2012.  This protection already exists in Chicago and we want to mirror that protection for the suburbs.

The Cook County Board of Commissioners are voting on the report TOMORROW, Wednesday, May 8th at 11:00 AM.  We need your help to stop housing discrimination!  Please call your Commissioner (find your commissioner here, contact info below) and tell them:

In the vote tomorrow, please vote YES in support of The Human Relations Committee Report from July 24, 2012

JCUA will be at the vote and we invite you to join us:

Wednesday, May 8th at 11:00am in the County Board Chambers (118 N. Clark Chicago, IL; 5th Floor).

Please get there early to secure a seat or standing space.

Commissioners Contact Information:

1ST Earlean Collins 312-603-4566

2ND Robert Steele 312-603-0319

3RD Jerry Butler 312-603-6391

4TH Stanley Moore (Formerly Williams Beavers district) 312-603-2065

5th Deborah Sims 312-603-6381(if you can make only one call please call Commissioner Sims Office)

6th Joan Murphy 312-603-4216

7th Jesus Garia 312-603-5443

8th Edwin Reyes 312-603-6386

9th Peter Silvestri 312-603-4393

10th Bridget Gainer 312-603-4210

11th John Daley 312-603-4400

12th John Fritchey 312-603-6380

13th Larry Suffredin 312-603-6383

14th Gregg Goslin 312-603-4932

15th Tim Schneider 312-603-6388

16th Jeff Tobolski 312-603-6384

17th Elizabeth Gorman 312-603-4215

[Video] JCUA Marches for Immigration Reform: May Day 2013

by Lauren Goldstein
JCUA Intern, Advocacy and Community Organizing

On Wednesday, May 1, JCUA joined thousands of families, individuals, activists, advocates, and organizations to march for just and compassionate immigration reform.

In photo: Rabbi Alison Abrams, JCUA’s director of organizing, at the march.

It was a beautiful spring day (finally!) – perfect for coming together for social change. We arrived at Union Park at 2:30 to the sound of drums beating, people chanting, and flags waving. We then joined the march, which was just getting underway. We marched alongside allies from the Erie Neighborhood House, Logan Square Neighborhood Association, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (of which JCUA is a member), Unite Here, Rabbi Joshua Salter from the South West Organizing Project, Community Renewal Society, and many, many more.

The energy was high and the atmosphere was buzzing with excitement as the march converged with another march for immigration reform that started at a different location, so that we could all march together as one large group into the Loop to Federal Plaza.

As we weaved through the afternoon rush amidst businessmen and women, bicycles, taxis, and buses, the group continued to sing and shout chants such as “What do we want? Immigration Reform! When do we want it? NOW!” and we soon closed in on Federal Plaza. The rally continued at the plaza with the goal of sparking excitement and change for the future.

The need for comprehensive immigration reform, the necessity that we stop deportations, that we stop tearing families apart, is growing ever more important with each passing day. The time has long been here to change our current system so that we may be a more humane, compassionate people. On May Day, JCUA marched united with the many people in our city who work tirelessly for change, and we are honored to have had the opportunity to be a part of this vital change.

See footage from JCUA’s march on May Day:

For more on JCUA’s work for immigrant rights, visit:

http://www.jcua.org/immigration