SAVE THE DATE: Strangers No Longer's Annual Banquet on Sunday, April 14th at 1:00 at the Ukrainian Cultural Center on Ryan Road in Warren. Please plan to join us for an afternoon of great company, food, and entertainment! More info to follow.

Dear SNL Community,

In the fall of 2023, we found ourselves at a critical crossroad. Our ability to continue our work into the future was in jeopardy. We found that funding we had hoped to secure through secular foundations was not available. So we turned to all of you to help us balance our budget for the remainder of the year.

We set a goal of $55,000 to be collected in the last two months of 2023 and sent requests to our entire mailing list of over 1600.

We are very proud of the work we have done over the past 6 years to give voice to our immigrant brothers and sisters--and to build our own voice as people who value human dignity. Thanks to you, we can now confidently stride into the future knowing we have your support.

Thank you.

SNL made great strides on the Advocacy front in 2023. With the focus on the Drive Safe bills, over 160 of us travelled to Lansing in February, attended countless coffee hours of our legislators, and collected letters of support from both clergy and law enforcement around the state.

First, we will continue reaffirm the importance of the Drive Safe bills with our legislators and push to get the bills out of committee. Throughout February and March, we will be meeting with county sheriffs to gain their support.

Secondly, we will expand our advocacy efforts to a new area - that of wage theft. Wage theft happens when workers aren’t paid all or part of the wages they earned--no matter their immigration status.

There are many reasons workers may become vulnerable to wage theft. For instance, they may not receive a pay stub that would show proof of hours worked or they may be improperly categorized as independent contractors, which limits or eliminates overtime pay and other benefits. Often, wage theft is accompanied by tax and insurance fraud and other crimes. Our immigrant SNL members testified to personal experiences regarding wage theft at our December Assembly for Human Dignity. There is a package of bills being written to address this injustice. We are partnering with the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights and the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC) in this effort.

Over 100 SNL members and friends gathered at the Union Carpenters and Millwrights Skilled Training Center in Detroit on December 15th for the second annual Assembly for Human Dignity. We were honored to host Fr. Cornelius Okeke, pastor of St. Andre Bessette in Ecorse, Michigan State Senator Stephanie Chang, and Michigan State Representative Tyrone Carter.  

The event was an opportunity to reflect on the year of 2023 and look ahead to 2024. We contemplated Advent and remembered members of SNL who passed away this year.

In 2023, in addition to participating in our organization-wide events, our Circles have been supporting immigrants in many other ways as well. Click here for more.

Our immigrant Circles presented an updated Platform for Human Dignity that now includes the problem of wage theft. (Click here for the updated platform.) Wage theft includes issues like refusing to pay for all the hours worked, refusing to provide check stubs that would validate the hours worked, or calling the workers contractors so employers can avoid paying overtime or providing other benefits. Steve Purchase, Communications Director of the Carpenters union, explained how the union is working to write bills that will protect all workers in Michigan from unfair labor practices like these.

Immigrant members gave moving testimony about the impact on their daily lives of unjust laws regarding driving and employment in Michigan.

Sen. Chang and Rep. Carter spoke about the Drive Safe bills and how they continue to work with their colleagues to get them passed, but that they probably will not come up for a vote until the fall.

The lawmakers reassured us that they will continue to support the bills and encouraged us to keep up our efforts.

After lunch, SNL Chaplain Fr. David Buersmeyer, closed our event with a blessing and a prayer.

Recently SNL regions chose their representative leaders to the Board and we welcomed Daris Bartolon, a former alternate, and Tom Tomala. We also thanked outgoing representatives Kathleen Rogers, Judy Brooks, and Amy Prociuk. In February the Board will vote for Officers.

Having served since 2020, I have decided to step down as president and will continue as a region representative. I am grateful for the connections and hope that I have found in SNL. It has been a joy to meet so many of you and see the small and large ways that you have contributed your time, energy, and resources.

I also feel proud of our leadership development as an organization since 2017 from a strategy team into a group of Circle leaders to having an oversight board with shared leadership between the immigrant and parish-based circles. We have a new outstate region, a mailing list of 1600, a hired staff, and a wide pool of active participants. That is amazing growth! And we will need growth to meet the challenges we face as we build a power rooted in love and justice.

Sincerely,

Rosemary Insley

The next Board meeting is scheduled for Saturday, February 17th at 10:00 a.m. on Zoom. If you would like the link, please email strangersnolonger11@gmail.com.

The ideal candidate would have experience as a community organizer, preferably working with institutional leaders at some level (e.g., pastors, principals, civic leaders); skilled in social media and other forms of digital organizing; facility with English and Spanish preferred.

Click here for complete job posting.

"Ardent Love for our Neighbors: Following in the Footsteps of Immigrant Women."

Hosted by Cabrini High School at St. Frances Cabrini Parish in Allen Park.

Cost is $15/person and includes lunch.

Click here for more information, or contact Amy Ketner at amyketner.snl@gmail.com or 810-252-2664.

We all realized at our latest Assembly for Human Dignity in December, as our fellow SNL members let us know about all the exciting work they are doing in their parishes, that we need a better way to share ideas and learn from each other.

We held monthly meetings in the past for leadership training and sharing and we would like to start them up again. All are welcome -- invite other parishioners and friends!

What will happen at these gatherings?  You will get updates on other circles and upcoming events. But this will also be an opportunity to deepen our leadership capacity -- in the parish, in the region, in the state. For instance, on February 17th, we will discuss the concept of community organizing--Why Do We Organize?

Sisters, Home Visitors of Mary will host Kevin Piecuch, Executive Director at Southwest Detroit Immigrant and Refugee Center. RSVP appreciated - 313 869-2160 or homevisitors@att.net. Click here for more.

Bills recently put forth in Congress, such as the Secure the Border Act (H.R. 2), which targets organizations serving newcomers, underscore both the partisan nature of the immigration debate and the potential for religious groups to be scapegoated for the consequences of public officials failing to achieve just, bipartisan solutions on immigration.

Click here to send a message to your legislator encouraging a just reform to our immigration system.

"Archbishop Dermot Farrell of Dublin has expressed concern over the "significant numbers" of people in Ireland "seeking to foment disinformation, suspicion and hatred" towards refugees and migrants....Archbishop Farrell said that "there is room in our inn, room for those driven from their homes by wars and economic deprivation. We may not forget our history!"

Click here for the complete article.

"This year will bring more polarization within the U.S. church, writes NCR columnist Michael Sean Winters. but maybe we'll see a shift among the hierarchy from those who oppose the pope to those who embrace him."

Click here for the complete opinion piece.

"MCC will continue working with lawmakers and grassroots advocates to pass legislation to promote the dignity of undocumented immigrants by allowing the opportunity to acquire a driver’s license or state identification card."

Click here for the complete article.