ICPJ Newsletter — Immigration

ICPJ Newsletter – June 2012

LATF Immigration Article

With a large helicopter hovering over the meat-processing factory, teams of immigration agents stormed the plant and began arresting nearly 400 undocumented workers. Children at school were separated from their parents who had been rounded up, and almost immediately court proceedings commenced despite insufficient legal representation, leading to the imprisonment and deportation of approximately 75% of those arrested. This 2008 mass arrest at Agriprocessors in Postville, Iowa, was the largest immigration raid in U.S. history, though it is certainly not the only one of its kind.

This event is analyzed in the documentary abUSed: The Postville Raid, which the Latin America Task Force (LATF) showed in the final event of the Economic Root Causes movie series in April. The four-event series has encouraged participants to consider how systemic economic factors contribute to war, poverty and environmental destruction.

Important topics covered by the abUSed documentary include family separation, underage worker rights, physical abuse of immigrant workers, the travesty of the legal process following the raid, and the supportive role that faith communities and people of conscience can play.

Ministry of Reconciliation

This is the hand-out I used for a short presentation on the Ministry of Reconciliation.

Global Ethics Forum 2012

Seeds for Successful Transformation 2012: The Value of Values in Responsible Business

28 -  30 June, Geneva/Switzerland

“The current crises show that fundamental  transformation in the economy, business, politics, civil society and culture, is happening and is needed. But how can this transformation take place based on credible values? And how can the ‘seeds for successful transformation’ be planted in companies and institutions that could benefit from concrete value-based changes in their culture and practice?”

Conversation: Paul and King–Mission, the Powers and Nonviolence

In the seminary class Pauline Theology and Ethics, 40% of our grade is class participation, which includes both in-class conversation and postings on an online forum. Below is a conversation two of us had about Paul and King, submission and civil disobedience (see references for class reading at the end). The week’s topic was Paul and the powers.

Jeff: How are believers and the collective church to relate to the powers—the prince of the air and worldly governmental authority?

In the first of his “powers” trilogy, Walter Wink looks at the various words the Bible (especially Paul) uses for the powers (Naming the Powers, pp. 13-35). Wink concludes that the language for principalities, rulers, authorities and powers “is imprecise, liquid, interchangeable, and unsystematic” (p. 9). Furthermore the “Powers are both heavenly and earthly, divine and human, spiritual and political, invisible and structural” (p. 11). However, to the degree that we are able, we must consider the two types of powers as discrete in some way in order to make comprehensible Paul’s admonitions about how Christians should relate to each.

Conversation: Welcoming Michigan

All photos are from the Welcoming Michigan Facebook album for the launch — http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.357286440996002.84371.170503516340963.

My wife and I had the pleasure of attending the recent launch of the Welcoming Michigan campaign, which aims to improve Michigan’s immigrant-friendliness (the story, Facebook). Speakers included Rep. Clarke Hansen, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, and Steve Tobocman of Global Detroit, all of whom shared the immigration story of their ancestry as well as the many ways that immigrants make Michigan and the United States stronger. Here is media coverage: CBS, The Detroit News, The Arab American News.

When photos from the event appeared on my wall, a friend struck up a conversation. This is how it went:

Friend: Well thank you Ford Foundation. I certainly hope the money donated by the Ford Foundation was not (1) earned, (2) managed by, (3) invested in or (4) derived from evil Wall Street….maybe next this group can launch an action that investigates the Ford Foundation!!!

Jeff: Do you disagree with the campaign or do you just not like the Ford Foundation?

Peak Oil & New Urbanism

These three documentaries on Peak Oil have interested me:

The Power of Community (2006, trailer, Wiki). This looks at the economic crisis in Cuba following the break-up of the Soviet Union, which significantly reduced Cuba’s access to cheap oil. The way food production, transportation, education and other sectors adapted is telling. Cuba is said to be a test case for global peak oil. I appreciated the focus on local food production/permaculture.

A Crude Awakening (2006, trailer, Wiki). General description of Peak Oil and the potential ramifications of passing the peak.

The End of Suburbia (2004, trailer, Wiki). I like the first two films better, but this one made more obvious the reason people are pushing for fracking today–dwindling natural gas accessible via traditional approaches of extraction. All three films demonstrate why there is pressure to build the XL pipeline. One thing I appreciated about this film was its consideration of new urbanism (Wiki), though they admit it could be too little too late. A documentary I value on new urbanism is A Convenient Truth (Curitiba, Brazil, 2006, trailer, IMDB).

I have not watched the 2007 follow-up, Escape from Suburbia, which received mixed reviews (pro, con, Netflix).

Toms Shoes

I posted this link a few months ago — 7 worst international aid ideas. Today I heard this short follow-up on Toms — PRI’s The World. More can be found here — Tiny Spark.

Ched Myers – Water Webinar (Mar. 21)

Ched Myers will co-present a webinar on eco-justice, March 21 ($9.50).

“Redemption as Rehydration: The Eschatological Vision of Water in the Bible”!

Human Rights: Dr. Micheline Ishay

Dr. Ishay has a lot on her webpage.

 

Human Trafficking

Here are four resources shared with me by a leader at Tiny Hands Intl:

Books

• The Slave across the Street (Flores)
• Beyond the Soiled Curtain (Grant & Grant)
• More

Films

• The Day My God Died
• Very Young Girls
• Plus 10 more movies and a few more.

BONUS: Project Soap