Church World Service
 Church
World Service, the National Council of
Churches' sister agency for humanitarian
ministries and relief, provides essential
support for the immigration ministries of
communions, councils of churches and
congregations.
Church World Service positions on the issue
include the
CWS Statement on
Comprehensive Immigration Reform
(January 2007); the
Interfaith
Statement in Support of Comprehensive
Immigration Reform (January
2007); and
A Theological
Statement on Immigration.
A growing number of
CWS affiliates provide immigration legal
services along with refugee resettlement
services. Immigration legal services
provided through our affiliates include:
- adjustment of status of asylees and
refugees;
- travel documents for asylees and
refugees;
- applications for employment
authorization documents;
- petitions for family members to join
asylees and refugees in the United
States;
- petitions for family members of U.S.
citizens and lawful permanent residents;
- petitions for fiancés of U.S.
citizens;
- applications for asylum;
- self-petitions for battered
immigrant spouses and children based on
the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA);
- naturalization;
- diversity visa lottery applications;
- replacement of lost green cards,
and;
- applications for temporary protected
status (TPS).
These services are explained in CWS'
Immigration Frequently Asked Questions
(FAQ). Several CWS-IRP affiliates offer other
services for asylees. Through matching
grants, affiliates help asylees with
employment services and up to four months of
maintenance assistance and cash allowance.
Enrolled asylees may also receive assistance
with language training, certain health and
medical services, counseling, and daycare.
To qualify for these services through
matching grants, asylees must enroll in the
matching grant program within 31 days of
being granted asylum. Asylee services through CWS-IRP
affiliates vary from state to state. Please
contact the
affiliate nearest you for more
information. Additional information can be found on
this
list of links.
 Councils of Churches
Arizona Ecumenical Council
Atlanta,
Regional Council of Churches
Colorado
Council of Churches
Ecumenical
Ministries of Oregon
Interchurch
Ministries of Nebraska
Kentucky
Council of Churches
Minnesota
Council of Churches
National Council of Churches
New York State Council of Churches
North
Carolina Council of Churches
Pennsylvania Council
of Churches
Churches United of
the Quad Cities, Iowa
Virginia
Council of Churches
Arizona Ecumenical Council
The
Ecumenical Council of Arizona is promoting passage of
the Federal DREAM Act, a bill introduced in Congress in
2001 to give non-U.S. citizens a temporary legal status
to finish school.
 Under
provisions of the bill, non-citizen students need to
have been in the US five years prior to the passage of
the legislature and under the age of 16 at the time of
entry. Upon completion of an associates degree or two
years of military service, if the applicant demonstrates
good moral character, he or she can apply for permanent
residency. This is the golden opportunity many students
hope for.
Approximately 2.8 million students will graduate from
United States High Schools this year. Some of them will
go on to college, join the military, or take another
path in life, eventually becoming active members of
society, all equally American. However, in this sea of
individuals, a group of approximately 60,000 will not
have this opportunity, not because they lack motivation,
but because of the status passed on to them by their
parents. These often highly achieved individuals cannot
attend college, enlist in the armed forces, or otherwise
live a full life. Children that grew up on American
soil, respect the laws of this country, and want nothing
more than to be recognized for what they are, Americans,
bear an inherited title of an “illegal immigrant”.
The DREAM Act is a bill introduced in the United States
Senate in November of 2005 by Senator Richard Durbin
that will solve this growing problem. Now boasting 20
cosponsors, this legislature is a carefully constructed
document with strict requirements and eligibility
limitations. Under the provisions of this bill, those
who entered the United States five years prior to the
passage of the legislature and were under the age of 16
at the time of entry are eligible for a six year
conditional residency status upon completion of an
associates degree or two years of military service. If
the applicant demonstrates good moral character, at the
end of the six year conditional residency, the applicant
can apply for United States citizenship. This is the
opportunity that eligible students hope for. For more
information on the DREAM Act, including downloadable
brochures on the rights of immigrants, go
here.
Atlanta
 The
Regional Council of Churches of Atlanta encourages
members to get the facts about immigration and to act on
them "in the light of love." The Council's message:
We encourage your congregation/organization to
participate in on-going events and programs to
initiate dialogue and education around
immigration
reform that can occur in respectful ways. Here
are some suggestions:
- Attend a showing of the film, The
Invisible Chapel, that follows the story of
a chapel started by undocumented workers in
California that was forced to be demolished.
See
http://www.invisiblechapel.com
for more information. Contact
worldpilgrims@bellsouth.net,
404-622-3399.
- Invite representatives from any of the
In the Light of Love participating
organizations to your congregation for an
educational forum. Contact
srose@adl.org.
- Speak and pray about the need for
civility and respect around the
immigration
reform discussion at your weekly
services.
- Sign on to the Declaration on
Immigration
Reform. Contact
srose@adl.org.
- Partner with another congregation that
serves the immigrant community and allow
immigrants to share their personal stories.
Colorado Council of Churches
  The
Colorado Council of Churches is connecting congregations
with local elementary and high schools to provide
mentors for immigrant children and to work with their
families. The Council is also developing a four-week DVD
Sunday School curriculum entitled, Who Is My Neighbor? A
Faith Discussion on Immigration, with the goal of
marketing it nationally. It is now being edited and will
be mailed to Colorado congregations.
The Council has
also created a
faith pledge on immigration.
Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon
The
Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon (EMO) has been
supporting refugees and immigrants since the 1970's.
Ministries have been established to welcome new
neighbors, give them temporary homes with household
items and food, and offer assistance as they learn a new
language, complete their education and look for a job.
EMO's ministries include:
Portland International Community School,
Russian
Oregon Social Services and
Sponsors
Organized to Assist Refugees. For more information,
see EMO's attractive
Web page. In a special section on Volunteer
Ministries, the site provides information and contacts
for key ministries:
Minister to Refugees
In addition to sharing your wisdom with immigrants and
refugees, EMO’s Refugee and Immigration programs need
volunteers to help newcomers with the challenge of
learning a new way of life in the United States.
 Other
volunteer opportunities at
Sponsors Organized to Assist Refugees (SOAR)
include: helping newly arrived refugees with
transportation to appointments, office assistance,
picking up donations and helping preparing apartments
for a refugee family’s arrival. To learn more about
volunteering at SOAR, contact
Yin Nwe Liu
at
(503) 284-3002.
Russian Oregon Social Services (ROSS) volunteer
opportunities include classroom English instructors,
citizenship class instructors, in-home tutors, mentors,
breast health educators and pro-bono legal providers. To
learn more about volunteering at ROSS, contact
Selena Hickman
at (503) 777-3437.
Volunteer opportunities at
Portland International Community School (PICS)
include positions as teaching assistants, tutors and
mentors for high school students. For more information,
contact
Cecilia
McCoy at (503) 232-5334.
Interchurch Ministries of Nebraska
 Interchurch
Ministries of Nebraska offers many services to
immigrants, including adult forums that connect rural
and urban constituents in the state, free legal services
through a rural response hotline, access to a domestic
violence counselor, and state campus ministries to work
with students. The Ministries also provide training for
employers and employees on how to respond to government
immigration raids on work places. In addition,
judicatory executives will be taking their concerns to
Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman in Lincoln.
Kentucky Council of Churches
In 2006, the Kentucky Council of Churches enacted a
policy statement on immigration reform that included the
following key points:
 T he
Kentucky Council of Churches encourages all our member
communions and congregations to strive for legislative
and other solutions that accomplish:
a) a broad-based legalization of the undocumented;
b) a temporary worker program with appropriate
protections for both U.S. and foreign workers;
c) changes to the immigration system to address the
grounds of admissibility, petition processing, caps on
visas, and admission bars and waivers;
d) restoration of due process for immigrants,
e) wages and benefits in compliance with US labor laws,
f) greater understanding, education about, and actions
that will address the local, national, and international
causes of the conditions that create illegal
immigration,
g) informed, collaborative ministries in our churches
that meet the needs of new immigrants to our
communities, and
h) a comprehensive network of social services and
advocacy for migrant families.
The full text of the policy statement is
here.
Minnesota Council of Churches
 The
Minnesota Council of Churches approved a
policy statement on immigration
that will guide its own work, with immigrants and
refugees, as well as encouraging its member churches to
be more engaged in immigration.
In addition,
Refugee Services became a program of the MCC in 1984 and
is a part of the network for two national
resettlement agencies,
Church World Service
and
Episcopal Migration Ministries.
Refugee Services is supported through contracts and
grants from local, state and federal funders. The
program provides a range of services to refugees and
asylees in Minnesota. For details, see
Case Management;
Employment Services;
Immigration Services;
Education.
The Council is doing
refugee resettlement in conjunction with Church World
Service and EMM. The Council has been working on a green
card project and supporting families who have been the
victims of Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE)
raids.
 National
Council of Churches
National Council of Churches policy
statements on immigration:
United States Immigration and
Naturalization Policy, adopted by the
Governing Board May 21, 1952
The Churches and Immigration,
adopted by the Governing Board February 27, 1962
Immigrants, Refugees and Migrants,
adopted by the Governing Board May 14, 1981
New York State Council of Churches
 Since
2001, the New York State Council of Churches has taken
bishops and judicatory executives on annual trips to
Washington, often to witness to government officials on
the topic of immigration. In addition, state staff and
board are beginning to make contact with the New York
leaders of the
New
Sanctuary Movement, a coalition of interfaith
religious leaders and participating congregations,
called by our faith to respond actively and publicly to
the suffering of immigrant brothers and sisters residing
in the United States.
North Carolina Council of Churches
The North Carolina Religious Coalition
for Justice for Immigrants has issued a statement that
could be used as a model in other states:
 As
people of faith and conscience from across North
Carolina, we believe that our calling is to welcome
immigrants, offering them hospitality and justice. While
we recognize that immigration policy is a complex issue
that divides people of goodwill, our faiths compel us to
stand with immigrants in their struggle for justice. We
confess that, all too often, we have remained silent.
We remember the
words of Moses when he said, “ Do
not mistreat foreigners living in your land, but treat
them just as you treat your own citizens. Love
foreigners as you love yourselves, because you were
foreigners one time in Egypt”
(Leviticus 19:33-34).
We remember the
words of Jesus when he said, “I was a stranger and
you welcomed me” (Matthew 25:35).
We remember the
words of the Qur’an when it says, “ Do
good unto your parents, and near of kin, and unto
orphans, and the needy, and the neighbor from among your
own people, and the neighbor who is a stranger, and the
friend by your side, and the wayfarer…”
(An-Nisa 4:36).
As people of
faith, we stand today in a long tradition of those who
have been faithful in providing hospitality for those in
need and in seeking justice for the oppressed.
It is crucial that
people of faith respond to the immigration crisis by
offering advocacy and welcome in the face of rising
anti-immigrant sentiment. Religious communities find in
our scriptures traditions which call us to welcome the
stranger, promote hospitality, and seek justice. People
of faith should call for legislative reforms which are
fair, humane, and address the root causes of why people
migrate. Since nearly all citizens in the United States
today are descended from people from other nations, we
are called to offer support to newer immigrants who
contribute to our economy and culture but who suffer
discrimination, abuse, and hardship as a result of their
status as immigrants.
We deplore any
governmental action which unduly emphasizes enforcement
as the primary response to immigrants entering this
country or which criminalizes persons providing
humanitarian assistance to migrants. We encourage the
state and local governments of North Carolina to provide
for fair treatment and protection of our state’s
immigrant population, including access to education and
mobility. In addition, we are troubled and grieved by
the separation of families and other forms of suffering
that continue to take place as a result of immigration
raids.
We recognize that
immigration policy is complex and multi-faceted, but we
agree that all immigrants are made in God’s image and
that our religious traditions demand that we care
especially for the stranger. We call on all people of
faith to stand with immigrants as a matter of religious
responsibility, to advocate for their well-being and
protection, and to educate our local communities about
issues affecting immigrant peoples.
The North Carolina Council of Churches
has also developed an
excellent curriculum on
the issue of immigration.
Pennsylvania Council of Churches
 The
Pennsylvania Council of Churches has direct ministries
to guide immigrants through the process of living and
working in the United States. Mushroom workers in
Pennsylvania's Chester County, most of whom are
immigrants, have been directly served by these
ministries. The Council also organizes trips to
Washington and Harrisburg to meet with legislators and
government officials to offer their witness on behalf of
immigrations law reform, but these groups have
encountered resistance from citizens and politicians who
do not favor opening the doors to immigrants.
Quad Cities, Iowa
 In
May 2008, more
than 300 individuals were arrested for administrative
immigration violations at a meat-packing plant in Iowa
in the largest raid of its kind in state history.
Churches United of the Quad City Area, principally Roman
Catholics and Lutherans, called immediately for
comprehensive immigration reform. Archbishop Jerome
Hanus, archbishop of the Archdiocese of Dubuque, said,
“This state of terror for families is evidence that our
political system has not adequately addressed the demand
for labor, the inadequacies of our present immigration
policies and practices, and the broader economic
challenges. Some of the weakest members among us are
bearing the brunt of the suffering, while legislators
and other leaders, as well as many of us in the general
public, have failed to give this issue the priority that
it deserves.”
Archbishop Hanus said leaders in the Roman Catholic
community as well as many other religious leaders have
called for immigration reform that, among other things,
creates legal avenues for workers and their families who
wish to enter the United States and work in a safe,
legal and orderly manner with their rights fully
protected.
Virginia Council of Churches
 The
Mission of Rural Family Development (RFD), an agency of
the Virginia Council of Churches, is to enable children
and adults of farmworker and other rural households to
achieve their potential. RFD will use staff, church and
community partners to establish relationships of trust
with family members as a basis for providing
comprehensive family and child development services. RFD
operates four Migrant Head Start Centers between May and
November, serving the approximately 400 children of
migrant farmworkers from birth to 5 years of age who
travel to the counties of Accomack, Northampton, Clark,
Frederick and the City of Winchester to pick Crops.
Services are also provided to adult family members.
The
VCC Staff Directory
lists contacts for each Head Start Center, showing their
location and dates of operation. Rural Family
Development is a Delegate Agency of the East Coast
Migrant Head Start Project based in Arlington, VA.
The Council is also active in placing refugees in Virginia
Communities, stressing that without sponsors, the work
cannot go forward. Volunteers also help by educating
their congregations about the reality of refugees
worldwide, welcoming new arrivals at the airport,
providing time to help tutor new arrivals in English,
helping them to find housing or providing contacts to
find a job. Donations of furniture to new families, as
well as offering to show them the basics of life in your
community, are also invaluable services. Whether you
feel your church or organization can pledge to sponsor a
family or you wish to volunteer your time for the
above-mentioned roles, please contact us to today. The
Virginia Council of Churches Refugee Resettlement
program provides volunteers with the information and
support you need to welcome a refugee family into your
community and help them achieve self-reliance in their
new home. Caseworkers are in constant contact with
congregations and the family itself, ensuring everything
is taken care of.
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Few
issues have dominated the nation's political or social
agenda more than immigration and the families and
individuals who come to our shores from other lands.