How to Respond to Threats of Immigration Enforcement
Recap: IFCLA's Week of Gratitude
Thank you all so much for the support and community you provided during IFCLA’s Week of Gratitude! The week was successful on many levels; besides the atmosphere of fun and connection achieved, IFCLA gained sixteen new sustainers and multiple one-time donations over the course of the week! These new sustainer commitments will help IFCLA immensely over the course of the next year, and we are more grateful than we can say. Let’s recap our week:
Marissa Ornelas: Walking with the Women and Children of the South Texas Family Residential Center
At IFCLA’s Dinner Dialogo on Friday, Oct. 5th, SLU junior and dedicated friend of IFCLA Marissa Ornelas spoke about her ten-week experience at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, over the summer of 2018. Marissa shared informative facts and figures about the immigration system and the way that the Dilley detention center functions, but she also shared poignant and powerful first-person testimonies of the hardship and injustices she witnessed during her time there.
Mass Incarceration is Not the Solution to Family Separation
We stand firmly in opposition to the latest prevention-through-deterrence tactics used along the U.S.-Mexico border. It is wrong to separate and detain families. It is wrong to put children in cages, jails, tents, or "tender age" shelters. These recent policy changes are shocking, appalling, and morally reprehensible — but if we are surprised, it is only because we have not been paying attention.
National Sanctuary Conference—Austin, TX
In July, with support from the St. Louis Coalition on Sanctuary, IFCLA sent Sara John along with Jose Alfredo Chavez from Latinos en Axión to the National Sanctuary Movement Annual Convening. The conference was held at the Austin Theological Seminary on July 28-29, 2019. This space was organized by Rev. Noel Anderson and Myrna Orozco Gallos, of the Sanctuary Movement (see www.sanctuarynotdeportation.org). About 40 participants from across the country attended the conference, which offered four primary objectives: develop a coordinated messaging framework for the Sanctuary Movement; coordinate our work moving forward and have space for strategy conversations; provide training opportunities for those seeking to engage in this work for the first time; and provide space for networking, fellowship and learning from each other.