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.
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.
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)
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:
On May 1, 2013, JCUA supporters will participate in the 2013 May Day March for immigration reform and immigrant rights. This movement calls for legislation to stop deportations and keep families together. It calls for legalization for all. The JCUA strongly believes that IMMIGRANT RIGHTS are HUMAN RIGHTS and we hope you will join us in marching for immigration reform.
4:00 PM – Rally at Federal Plaza (Jackson St. and Dearborn St.)
JCUA Meeting Area:
Option 1: Meet us at 2:30 PM (Union Park)
You can arrive at Union Park via Ashland-Lake CTA train (Green and Pink lines)
JCUA members will be at the northeast corner of Ashland and Washington (see photo of meeting area). Look for the JCUA sign!
Option 2: Meet us at 4:00 PM (approximately) at the rally (Federal Plaza):
When the march arrives at Federal Plaza, JCUA members will gather between the Calder sculpture and the federal building. (see photo of the meeting area). Look for the JCUA sign!
RSVP:
Let us know if you plan on coming. It will make coordinating much easier!
by Lauren Goldstein Organizing and Advocacy Intern, JCUA
Early in the morning of April 5 2013, members of the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs stood alongside the Sisters of Mercy and other interfaith partners in prayer and in strength to support those being deported from the Broadview Detention Center.
In the shadow of the barbed wire fencing and the county jail buses, amidst police vehicles and officers, and beneath a waving American flag, words of prayer and songs were shared to illustrate our solidarity with our brothers and sisters currently being detained in this country. Standing with us were a few families waiting to say goodbye to their family members. Vigil participants told the families that we were all there to pray with them, and that they are not, and never will be, alone.
Judy Levey – executive director of the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs – offered an opening prayer for the vigil as we all joined together to sing “The World is Narrow Bridge” (see video below). Prayers were offered, proclaiming we will keep in our hearts those being deported, the families been torn apart, those living in fear and uncertainty, and the leaders of our nation who have the power to make a change. Above all, prayers expressed hope that the spirit of love be more powerful than the spirit of hatred and discrimination.
Participants learned the names of a number of individuals being deported that day to countries around the world, from Albania to Guatemala, for no reason other than administrative paperwork error. Those present were called to contact our elected officials and plead for comprehensive, compassionate immigration reform. We were moved to act now – to create and affect change now – to fight for justice now.
by Rabbi Alison Abrams Director of Organizing, JCUA
On Sunday, March 10, 2013, JCUA participated in the National Coming Out of the Shadows March and Rally to call for a stop to deportations and an end to criminalizing immigrants (scroll down to read how you can take action in March and April).
JCUA volunteers at the march
By the end of the day, hundreds of people were gathered to hear stories of undocumented individuals and the impact of our broken immigration system on families. These men and women stepped out of the shadows to say they lived as both “undocumented and unafraid.”
Through chants, prayers, songs, and stories, we stood in solidarity with our immigrant brothers and sisters to say change must come and it must come now. To this end, we will continue our fight for a just and compassionate immigration system that honors all peoples’ human rights.
TV Coverage:
Watch ABC7′s coverage of the march (including JCUA volunteers raising the Jewish voice for immigrant justice):
Take Action With JCUA:
Wednesday, March 20, 2013: Join us at the National Museum of Mexican Art for our Freedom and Justice Seder on March 20th at 6pm where we will again make our voices heard.
Friday, April 5, 2013: Please join us at the detention center in Broadview, IL, where we will participate in an interfaith vigil, drawing attention to the injustice of current detention and deportation practices.
Please RSVP for these actions so we know to expect you.
Questions? Contact:
Rabbi Alison Abrams
Director of Organizing
alison@jcua.org
by Lauren Goldstein Organizing and Advocacy Intern, JCUA
WBEZ recently reported on the “Source of Income” campaign, of which JCUA is a partner. The campaign seeks protections for low-income residents in Cook County.
Today, in Chicago, we are fortunate enough that our city prohibits housing discrimination on the basis of a person’s source of income.
Regardless of how an individual earns an income, they can use that income for housing. Our neighbors in Cook County outside of Chicago do not enjoy safeguards against discrimination.
That’s right – outside of Chicago in 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. This is codified discrimination happening in our very backyards.
As a partner in the Source of Income Campaign, JCUA has and continues to fight for a just amendment to this ordinance so that no Cook County residents may be denied housing due only to them being Housing Choice Voucher holders.
Listen to WBEZ’s recent coverage of the campaign (or read here):
Join JCUA and our community partners in pushing for effective legislation in Illinois that can greatly reduce gun violence in Chicago. Sign the petition asking that all guns in Illinois be titled like cars. We need 100,000 signatures of concerned citizens, to bring lawmakers to vote on Illinois House Bill 5831.
by Lauren Goldstein Organizing and Advocacy Intern, JCUA
On Wednesday, February 6, Marci Richards – director of the Peace Coalition Against Violence – presented to JCUA staff and lay leaders the important work she is doing to reduce violence in Chicago.
By promoting legislation targeting gun violence, and working with neighborhood clergy members to address root causes of violence, the Peace Coalition Against Violence hopes to see a sharp reduction in the number of lives lost in our city. One life lost is one life too many. Hence, JCUA is standing with the Peace Coalition to bring peace to our streets and to, as Ms. Richards stated, respect the sanctity of human life.
We ask that you join us and please help prevent gun violence in Chicago! By signing this petition, you will help pass Illinois House Bill 5831. This bill will require hand guns in the state of Illinois to be titled like cars, which will, in turn, reduce illegal gun trafficking and hold gun owners responsible for reporting lost and stolen weapons. While this is only a small step in reducing the violence plaguing our city, it is a step in the right direction.
by Rabbi Alison Abrams Director of Organizing, JCUA
There has been much energy, media coverage, excitement, and debate this week about both the Senate’s Blueprint and the President’s articulation of his vision for Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR). At JCUA, we are glad to see Immigration Reform return to the national radar and hope the urgency and momentum we have seen in recent days remains strong over the coming months.
Members of JCUA’s Immigrant Justice Action Team are again organizing and mobilizing a Jewish voice for a just and compassionate response to our broken immigration system through CIR legislation. We will continue to advocate for a plan with a clear, effective path to citizenship that upholds civil rights and honors the humanity of undocumented immigrants (click for interactive timeline of our immigration work in recent years).
In early 2010, JCUA drafted our “JCUA Statement of CIR Principles” which remain relevant in the current conversation about CIR. Committed to human rights, we also want to see legislation which includes protection for LGBTQ people and their families.
Jewish tradition demands that we care for the “stranger” in our midst and our history compels us to fight for immigrant justice. We invite you to join us in making just, compassionate, and comprehensive immigration reform a reality in 2013.
To get involved, contact:
Rabbi Ali Abrams
Director of Organizing, JCUA
alison@jcua.org
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