Immigration

Here’s an immigrant congregation in Durham that is giving back to the community and making a real difference. It’s a beautiful story about what it means to be the church together. Do you know any immigrant churches in your neighborhood? How are they fostering community?

This video was produced by Uniting NC, a great organization working to make North Carolina a place in which all people, including immigrants, have the opportunity to thrive and to engage in their communities.

One of the most frustrating aspects of the immigration debate is how quickly the talking heads and politicians lose sight of the people whose lives are so deeply affected by our policies. As people of faith, we are called to honor everyone’s story, and the new “Home to Me” project by the NC Justice Center […]

In these waning days of 2013, when the outlook for winning comprehensive immigration reform looks rather bleak in the short term, many of you have been asking me: what can we do?

While the pace of progress on immigration reform has been appallingly slow, we need to keep speaking up and taking action to show elected officials that this movement isn’t going away. I will be participating in the North Carolina Fast for Immigrant Families on December 17.

Here is a detailed invitation by our friends at FaithAction International House.

I witnessed my first naturalization ceremony a few weeks ago at the International Festival in Raleigh. Close to 300 people from dozens of different countries became citizens of the United States of America. Do you know what kind of oath people coming to this country take? I didn’t. I hereby declare, on oath, that I […]

More than 10,000 people of faith committed to the FAST Action, 40 days Prayer and Fasting for Immigration Reform. As we closed the 40 days on October 18th, we recognize the need for action and escalation is only growing as we approach a shrinking timeline for legislation.We must continue to lift up the moral imperative of immigrants’ rights and immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship.

Now many people of faith from all traditions are joining labor, immigrant and community leaders in setting the moral compass and raising our voices. Many faith organizations are joining the Fast for Family Unity beginning November 12th.

We’ve seen our share of drama out of DC lately, with more to come. Immigration is one of the next main policy areas that the House of Representatives is likely to address. The real question mark is whether our elected officials will deal with immigration in a comprehensive fashion or using piecemeal bills focused only […]

It’s been 102 days since the US Senate passed a bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill with overwhelming support. Since then, however, all progress has been stalled by the U.S. House of Representatives. House leadership has said consistently that they don’t want to vote on the Senate bill; they want to do their own thing. Now […]

In celebration of World Day of Migrants and Refugees on September 24, Pope Francis said:

Migrants and refugees are not pawns on the chessboard of humanity. They are children, women and men who leave or who are forced to leave their homes for various reasons, who share a legitimate desire for knowing and having, but above all for being more.

Here in our own political context, we might re-word the Pope’s powerful message to say: Immigrants are not pawns for Congress.

It’s been 90 days since the US Senate overwhelmingly passed a comprehensive immigration reform bill, but the House has done nothing with it. In those 90 days, more than 100,000 immigrants have been needlessly deported.

If you’ve been following immigration reform, you know that this month is crucial to the effort for overhauling our nation’s broken immigration system. While the US Senate passed a reform bill earlier this summer, the fate of millions of immigrant families lies in the House of Representatives. This month there are a number of key events happening across NC. When you participate in a prayer vigil or march, you’re letting our leaders and the media know that North Carolinians are serious about reform. We hope to see you there.

In these fever-pitch days of summer, with the once-in-a-generation chance at real immigration reform in Congress, we’re hearing a lot about how reform is good politics (for both parties) and good for the economy. These are of course important factors, especially in the political context of a major legislative fight on Capitol Hill, but for Christians, should these be the most determinative considerations?

People of faith from across North Carolina are invited to gather at houses of worship on Tuesday night at 7pm to pray for comprehensive immigration reform. Faith leaders will lead prayers for immigrant families and North Carolina’s elected officials – including all NC members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Tuesday’s prayer vigils come at […]

June 28, 2013 — RALEIGH,NC With the U.S. Senate’s passage of S.744 – comprehensive immigration reform – yesterday was a historic day for all North Carolinians. Immigrants are an integral part of the fabric of our communities, our economy, and our state. Passage of this bill at long last moves us toward modernizing our antiquated immigration […]

The questions surrounding immigration policy have sparked an intense debate across the United States and North Carolina. Society remains divided on specific policies, but we also remain divided about some of the even bigger questions. For example, what does it mean to be “American”? Are immigrants generally intruders to be feared or new neighbors to […]

In five or ten years, will we look back to the summer of 2013 as the moment when politicians from both parties stepped up to the plate, demonstrated real bipartisan leadership, and passed the most sweeping comprehensive immigration reform in more than a generation? Or will we look back and shake our heads at what […]

This past week, the Nuns on the Bus national tour made stops in Durham and Charlotte to raise awareness about the need for just and humane immigration reform. In Durham, the Nuns visited the office of Church World Service, an amazing nonprofit that resettles refugees here in America.

I had the wonderful privilege of sitting down with Bishop Michael Curry to discuss this critical moment in the struggle for humane immigration reform. Millions of immigrant families are living in the shadows, afraid to drive to work or drop their children off at school. Here in North Carolina, thousands of children live with the constant fear that today could be the day that their parents don’t make it home. Immigrants are our brothers and sisters, and when one part of the Body of Christ suffers, we all suffer with it. That’s why it’s so crucial for faith communities to publicly support the US Senate’s immigration bill.