To kick off the last trimester of 2022 and amid midterm elections, Circle leaders and board members met in person for the bimonthly Circle Leader Formation meeting on August 27th.

Hosted by the Circle at Our Mother of Perpetual Help parish, about 40 leaders talked, listened, and made plans for advocating for immigrants with state and county officials.

They reflected on words of St. Paul:

Direction at the meeting came from immigrant leaders who spoke about the anti-immigrant feelings and policies they encounter every day.

One of the biggest problems is Michigan’s requirement of proof of permanent residency to obtain a driver’s license. Many immigrants cannot obtain a license because they do not have this proof.

Being able to drive is necessary to work and take care of your family. But what many may not realize is that not having identification creates other problems as well. You don’t have identification to present to schools, medical facilities, and to law enforcement. Lack of identification means you cannot open a bank account which means you cannot pay your rent online or keep your money safe.

The language difference causes another set of problems. Parents may struggle to understand teachers and staff at their child's school if translation is not available. Employers may take advantage of workers who do not understand their rights and have no one to translate for them. Stores and other businesses and government offices do not often have people on hand who can speak their language which makes the simplest transactions very difficult and intimidating.

With this direction offered by our immigrant leaders, Circle leaders and staff were able to create a plan of action for the next three months:

CALL TO ACTION!  

Last week, Notre Dame Preparatory and Marist Academy (NDP) in Pontiac, MI, held an Immigration Awareness week at their school. The week started with an all-school Marist Feast Mass which focused on prayers for immigrants and refugees globally.

After the Mass, Strangers No Longer leader, Daris Bartolon, shared about her flight out of Guatemala, journey through Mexico, and life here in the US with the entire high school student body.

The students also held a simulation of a refugee camp and the camps for migrants seeking asylum at the US border. They held a jeans day and partnered with a local bakery in Pontiac to sell Mexican sweet bread to raise money for Strangers No Longer. The awareness week culminated in a Solidarity Walk through Pontiac.  (See the Solidarity Walk article below for more information.)

The NDP Circle of Support is led by high school students who attended the Strangers No Longer Youth Conferences in 2020 and 2022 and is supported by Campus Minister Della Lawrence. The student leaders also participate on the new region-wide student coordinating committee, called Youth in Action for Immigration.

St. Cyprian in Riverview is hosting an informational meeting for the parish to learn more about the families arriving at the southern border every day, the needs of these immigrants, and how we can all help make them welcome in our communities.

Contact SNL at strangersnolonger11@gmail.com

The good news is immigrants are back on the front burner of the public consciousness. The bad news is that what put them there is a cruel strategy by southern governors to take advantage of desperate people.  This situation highlights the fact that the US still has not established a humane immigration policy and shows no willingness to do so.

Meanwhile we must deal with the situation as it is. The U.S. does allow people fleeing desperate conditions in their home countries to legally remain in the U.S. while seeking asylum—a process that takes an average of four years. But during this time these people need a place to stay, permission to work, legal assistance, and many other things. How can their needs be addressed?

Below are links to stories about this crisis:

We are excited to announce that SNL’s Bianca Astua has been named to a 12-person statewide parent’s council being established by Governor Whitmer. This advisory group will bring Michigan parents into the education budget process for the first time in our state’s history.

The council includes “… appointees who represent various communities and reflect the wide range of experiences and perspectives from across the state. Appointees include parents of children in public, private, and home school learning environments, children in early childhood learning programs, and elementary, middle, and high school students. They also include parents of children with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), children who speak English as a second language (ESL), and children who are in foster or kinship care.”

This October, Strangers No Longer Health Promoters will conclude their second season of statewide outreach to Spanish-speaking farmworkers and essential workers. Over the past 18 months, these Catholic health promoters, based in the Dioceses of Gaylord (Traverse City), Grand Rapids and Saginaw, as well as the N. Macomb AOD Vicariate, have reached out to over 3,000 individuals to ask about COVID and other health issues they face.

Though this project's funder, the Center for Disease Control, has not yet committed to another season of health outreach, our dedicated team has.

On September 9, 2022, members of the team met at St. Mary's Catholic Parish in Big Rapids, MI to discuss the vision for our next steps forward. Present were Sr. Valerie Knoche and Maricela Ortiz (N. Macomb), José and Blanca Astua (Grand Rapids), Jesse Costilla (Bay City/Saginaw), Gladys Muñoz and Angelica Ledesma (Traverse City) and Bill O'Brien, Martha de la Torre, and Amy Ketner (SNL Staff).

Over 80 parishioners and friends gathered on August 13^th to hear a personal story from a Guatemalan immigrant, share a meal together, and help Casa Samaritano, a respite shelter in Mexico.

The shelter provides food, a change of clothes, medical care, and a place to rest for people making their way north from parts of Mexico and Central America.

A taco dinner was provided by the Men’s Organization of the parish. Circle members showed a presentation about the shelter.

Daris, one of SNL’s immigrant leaders, talked about the journey she and her daughters made from Guatemala and how they struggled and still struggle to build a life in freedom and peace. Her story brought some attendees to tears.

The Circle at Our Mother of Perpetual Help parish has been fund raising for Casa Samaritano for two years. Over $2000 was raised at this event to help the shelter continue their work.

On Saturday, September 17, over 45 high school youth, Mujeres Circles, parish circles, and community members gathered on the steps of St Damien Molokai in Pontiac, Michigan to walk through the city together in solidarity with immigrants and refugees.

This walk, hosted by the Notre Dame Prep Circle of Support, was about 1.5 miles long, with stops along the way to raise awareness about immigration and publicly pray for all displaced peoples around the world. The High School students prepared and facilitated these stations, together with Catholic Charities’ La Casa Amiga and Strangers No Longer.

Notre Dame Prep Campus Minister, Della Lawrence; Catholic Charities’ director, Paul Propson; and SNL staffperson Amy Ketner gave opening remarks, encouraging walkers to take action beyond the walk. Those who walked carried hand-made signs with messages of support for immigrants. The walk also served as a fundraiser for La Casa Amiga, which serves immigrants in the Pontiac region.

The NDP Circle of Support is led by high school students who attended the Strangers No Longer Youth Conferences in 2020 and 2022 and is supported by Della Lawrence. The student leaders also participate on the new region-wide student coordinating committee, called Youth in Action for Immigration.

On July 14th and in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that curtails government action on climate change, the Catholic Studies Program of University of Detroit Mercy and Strangers No Longer hosted a dialogue bringing the religious and moral case for addressing climate change.

Other panelists:

(Click here for transcript of the event.)

The next SNL board meeting is scheduled for October 8th from 10am to noon on Zoom. All are welcome!

As we mentioned in our June newsletter, we have reduced the total number of representatives on the Board from over 30 to 15 and expanded the representation from our immigrant Circles of Support.

Farmers are pushing for immigration reform to counter labor shortages and rising food prices - Click Here

Campaign aims to educate migrants on dangers of crossing the border - Click Here

Publisher: ‎ PublicAffairs (May 31, 2022)

Language: ‎ English

Hardcover: ‎ 256 pages

ISBN-10: ‎ 1541797833

ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1541797833

“This wonderful and highly readable book provides the facts and sets the record straight about the hot-button issue of immigration and is a must-read for anyone who cares about this important issue. Immigrants benefit from coming to the US, but so does the country from the diversity, skills, and energy that they bring. Remarkably, most existing evidence suggests that native workers are not harmed by immigrants.”

— Daron Acemoglu, Institute Professor of Economics, MIT, and coauthor of Why Nations Fail and The Narrow Corridor