UU FA Office

Immigration Reform: Protest, Rally & March – October 9, 2011

by UU FA Office

Redefining Cruel & Unusual
Indefinite Immigration Detention for-Profit Amid Toxic Waste in Essex County

Protest, Rally & March
Sunday, October 9, 2011
1:30 pm

Beginning at Peter Francisco Park
(on the east side of Newark Penn Station)
Newark, NJ

Marching to and from: Essex County Correctional Facility & Delaney Hall
356 Doremus Ave, Newark, NJ

Whether or not you can participate on October 9, events sponsors are asking people to sign a petition demanding that the Essex County Freeholders revoke the ICE contract http://www.change.org/petitions/oppose-expansion-of-immigration-detention-at-a-jail-accused-of-inhumane-conditions

After 14 years the IRATE & First Friends annual protest is moving to Newark along with many of the detainees from the Elizabeth Detention Center.  ICE listened to us year after year complain about conditions at the converted warehouse with no outdoor recreation where people were kept, sometimes for years on end.  They responded by working with Essex County and the private for-profit company Community Education Centers (CEC).

Up to 1250 detainees will now be held in either the Essex County Jail or in the neighboring privately run. Delaney Hall.  These sites allow for outdoor recreation but are located in the middle of numerous TOXIC WASTE sites.  The jail and Delaney Hall are both located on Doremus Avenue, a highly polluted area with active polluters where air quality is a constant issue.

Concerns also persist that the Essex County Jail is restricting visits from family, lawyers, and clergy in addition to concerns about adequate food, and general safety.

UULMNJ’s Immigration Reform Task Force is a co-sponsor of this event.

Olympia’s Daughters & Words of Choice – Sunday October 16, 3:00pm

by UU FA Office

Morristown Unitarian Fellowship
Created by Cindy Cooper this smart, funny, dynamic pro-choice theater presents powerful stories of women (and men) and the right to choose. This program is being sponsored by MUF’s Lifespan RE program. For more information visit www.wordsofchoice.org. Tickets are $15 in advance; and $20 at the door.

Immigration Policy Reform

by UU FA Office

UULMNJ’s Immigration Reform Task Force reports that many congregations are offering a variety of programs around this issue. A few examples:

Ridgewood: The Immigration Task Team is working on a program on the DREAM Act, to be presented on Friday evening, September 16, at the Unitarian Society of Ridgewood.

Cherry Hill: Members of Cherry Hill’s immigration committee is working with an Interfaith group in the area to support the DREAM Act, including participation in a nationwide DREAM Act Sabbath being planned for September 23-25.

Joe Thomasberger of Montclair congregation has been active with the NJ Advocates for Immigrant Detainees in opposing the proposed expansion of the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark, to add hundreds more beds for immigrant detainees. The bidding process for the new facility is mired in suspect bidding practices and other political shenanigans. The New York Times recently published a detailed article on the issue which is being picked up by some local press. For more information contact Joe (jthomasberger@yahoo.com) or Margaret White (marbwhite@aol.com). Senator Lautenberg has publicly opposed the expansion. People are hoping that Senator Menendez will soon speak out as well.

Princeton had a six week series on immigration issues in the spring, and Karen Siracusa reports they will reconvene in the fall to consider issues such as instate tuition, Secure Communities, detention, wage theft, education of immigrant children.

Other congregations are organizing film series and forums for the fall on these important topics.

Contact Margaret White (marbwhite@aol.com) for more info or to become involved with UULMNJ’s Immigration Reform Task Force.

UULMNJ Issues Workshop – October 29

by UU FA Office

UULMNJ Fall Issues Workshop
Saturday, October 29, 2011, 9am – 1pm
at The Unitarian Society in East Brunswick

It is time to register for the UULMNJ Annual Fall Issues Workshop to be held October 29 at the East Brunswick Society in East Brunswick. This workshop is open to anyone who would like to further the work of UULMNJ.

Highlights of the program include a presentation about sharpening our lobbying skills by Diane Guerin, long time activist and Justice Coordinator for the Mid-Atlantic Community of the Sisters of Mercy.

You will have an opportunity to hear first hand current issues being addressed by our Health Care, Immigration, Environment and  Economic Justice Task Forces and most importantly, to participate in strategizing our congregation and state-wide efforts.

To register, click on www.formdesk.com/uuforms/uulmnj  by October 25.  Late registrations will be accepted by contacting director@uulmnj.org.

Help us publicize this event by downloading a flyer to post and/or distribute in your local congregation.

 

Not in Our Town: Light in the Darkness – September 20

by UU FA Office

Please attend a screening of Not in Our Town: Light in the Darkness, which follows actions of the community to build understanding and safety after violence against immigrants in Long Island, New York.  The event will occur at the Robeson Campus Center, Rutgers University-Newark at 6:00pm on Tuesday, September 20, 2011. The Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry (UULM) has joined as a co-sponsor of the event. The PBS special debuts on Wednesday, September 21. Check local listings for specifics.

Help Wanted – We Need You!

by UU FA Office

There are many opportunities for involvement with UULMNJ – with your local congregation, as part of a task force or committee, and/or sharing your skills and talents with us.   Please browse our website and see what is of interest to you, and make sure to check out our volunteer section for a list of tasks – one might be just right for you.

We are especially finding individuals who would be interested in working on newsletters, and someone to help us get a Facebook page up and running.  Send an email to our Executive Director, Rev. Craig Hirshberg, and let her know what you would like to do.  We look forward to hearing from you!

Issues Survey Coming This Fall

by UU FA Office

UULMNJ periodically develops an Issues Survey to elicit input from New Jersey’s 21 UU congregations to help prioritize the issues that will be the focus of our efforts for the next two years or so.  Issues which overlap with the selected issues may also be addressed; there also may be compelling “emerging issues.”

When the issues survey is ready, please help us by completing it.  Your congregational liaison will have more information, or contact us at director@uulmnj.org.

Summit Congregation Unanimously Passes Reproductive Rights Statement

by UU FA Office

Members of the Unitarian Church in Summit voted unanimously at the congregation’s June 12 annual meeting to adopt a statement in support of state and federal funding for reproductive health care services to women, men, and families who otherwise could not afford quality health care.  For further information about the church or the statement, please contact Rev. Southern at
(908) 273-3245 or visit the church’s web site at www.ucsummit.org

Poverty: An Issue of Justice – May 23

by UU FA Office

There will be a public regional forum, orgainzed by the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of New Jersey and presented by our partners in the Anti-Poverty Network, to discuss poverty in Morris and Union Counties.  Conversation will center on statistics reported in the 2011 Poverty Benchmarks Report, the fifth annual report on poverty by the Poverty Research Institute, Legal Services of New Jersey.

This regional forum on poverty is part of an ongoing project to present this report in diverse areas of New Jersey.  If you are interested in helping to organize one in your area, please contact Craig HirshbergThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

This forum is being coordinated by our Economic Justice Task Force Chair, Lorraine Wearley, and our Health Care Task Force Chair, Carolyn Baldacchini.  We hope you can make it. For more information contact Lorraine at lorrainewearley@gmail.com or Carolyn at cal6balda@yahoo.com.

Date: Monday, May 23 at 7:00pm
Location:  Christ Church, 561 Springfield Ave, Summit