Five Hipanic youth from ESTHER traveled to Washington DC in June to attend a mock graduation and participate in legislative visits in support of the DREAM Act. The DREAM Act will allow undocumented students that graduate from Wisconsin high schools to pay in-state rather than international rates for college tuition. This Act will also provide a path toward citizenship for the graduates.
Join ESTHER in a Discussion on Immigration Reform
With Gabriel Gonzlalez
Saturday, November 21st 4:00-5:30pm
At St. Therese, Appleton (213 E Wisconsin Ave)
Gabriel González, is the Director of the National Immigratin Campaign at the Center for Community Change in Washington DC. He will discuss with us the up-coming immigration reform campaign. Bring your questions and your ideas for action.
Peter, a member of St. Margaret Mary Parish and long-time leader in ESTHER has dedicated his energies to addressing the fair treatment of immigrants. Take time to read this important book.
Book Description:
Why have millions of Mexicans and other Latinos fled their homelands and risked their lives to come to the U.S. in search of a job? Why are they living in the shadows, ever fearful of being discovered by the migras and of being deported?
Why is the United States, a nation of immigrants, which often welcomed and recruited millions of Mexicans workers in the past, now spending billions of dollars on walls, border patrols, detention centers and workplace raids to get them out and keep them out?
The issue is as complex as it is divisive. There are root causes, of course, and U.S. politics and trade policies have played a major role in producing today’s immigration crisis.
But the migrants themselves, real people with real experiences related throughout “Illegal,” are the most credible witnesses to the system gone awry as well as the injustices suffered and endured on both sides of the border.
Let them tell you their poignant stories. Rosa lost her husband to the drug wars and Rogelio lost his best friend in the desert. Ernesto lost his farm. Enrique was deported after a workplace raid. And Cresencio and Hector now are living the American dream, thanks to the amnesty program of the 1980s. That's just a sample.
Purchase your own copy of this book. Contact Peter Geniesse (920)725-6702 or buy online by clicking here:
The youth in LUNA, organized by ESTHER, created a video at their back-to-school kick-off. Listen to their stories and most importantly take action to support the DREAM Act!
Faith communities support comprehensive immigration reform to; keep families united, support those that are oppressed, advocate for human dignity, and promote safe and smart border enforcement. Resources are listed below to learn what your faith denomination says about immigrant rights.
Join Pastor David Vasquez and leaders of ESTHER in an informative presentation outlining the need for faith communities to share the message of compassion and justice while moving toward needed immigration reform.
Pastor David Vásquez from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa served as part of the Postville Relief Effort core team, working in areas of coordination, advocacy and legal support after the devastating Postville Raid in 2008.
This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own. - Isaiah 58: 6-7
JOIN US!
ESTHER, Faith Communities to Hold Prayer Vigils for Immigrant
Brothers and Sisters in Arizona, Wisconsin and Across the Country
Tuesday, July 13th
Saturday, July 17th(Culminating Service)
6:00 PM
6:00 PM
Emmanuel United Methodist Church
Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish
(Spanish interpretation available)
(Spanish interpretation available)
Inspired by Isaiah 58, which teaches us that a “true fast” is undertaken in service of “loosening the chains of injustice.
Take time to pray and fast for 30 minutes during the week of July 11-17. This movement is part of a national effort that includes 8 weeks of prayer rolling from one group of states to the next to engage people of faith in the assigned states in constant prayer and public prayer events and advocacy for immigration reform.
The recent anti-immigration law in Arizona has galvanized faith communities across the nation to take a stand with immigrants against the divisiveness and injustice that have characterized the U.S. immigration debate. Wisconsin’s vigil week is from July 11 through July 17.
ESTHER is participating in this event in conjunction with the Interfaith Immigration Coalition.
Two prayer services will be held to stand in solidarity with our immigrant brothers and sisters and to pray for the passage of comprehensive immigration reform. In addition, individuals will commit themselves to 30 minutes of prayer or meditation and fasting throughout the week.
For more information, contact Ana Wilson at (920) 209-0498.
If you could paint just one message to your community, what would it say?
We are inviting high school and college students to participate in a mural project that will work to build bridges between immigrant and non-immigrant youth. There will be two relationship building gatherings for students to get to know each other (lunch included). Students will meet to design the mural in September and will paint the mural design in September through October. Students can paint as their schedule allows. This will be a large traveling mural, all painting will be done indoors.
LOCATION: Emmanuel United Methodist Church, 740 East College Avenue, Appleton. Bridging Gatherings and painting will be done at this location. (See Mural Timeline)
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Stephanie Gyldenvand, (920) 216-0891, esther.foxvalley@gmail.com. There is no cost to participate. Adult advisors will be present for all meetings and painting sessions.
Mural Timeline:
August 6th – 10:00-1:00, Bridging Gathering I
August 20th – 10:00-1:00, Bridging Gathering II
September & October – Plan design, and paint mural
November – Unveiling event and display of mural at community events
This mural project is sponsored by LUNA, a youth group that works to strengthen leadership skills, build positive relationships, and addresses issues that impact Latino youth. LUNA is a project of ESTHER, an interfaith nonprofit that works to impact issues of poverty and injustice in the greater Fox Valley area.
Sometimes a work of art presents a moral question so starkly that we cannot avoid confronting it, and ESTHER’s “Voices of Hope: Life Stories of Latinos” is such a work. It throws the moral and legal issues associated with immigration into high relief, and it forces us to take a stand. This reader’s theater presentation, directed by Kris Clouthier, is based on interviews from Peter Geniesse’s book Illegal: NAFTA Refugees Forced to Flee.
“Voices of Hope” tells the stories of several Latino immigrants. Among them are two young women who are high school seniors in Appleton, Wisconsin. Both of the women are good students. Both are leaders in their graduating classes. Both hope to attend the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh, but one will be able pay in-state tuition and receive scholarship help, while the other must pay out-of-state tuition and is ineligible for scholarships. One is able to get a driver’s license that enables her to drive to Oshkosh. The other is not. They are different because one of them was born here of an undocumented mother who was pregnant when she arrived, while the other was brought here as an infant. Thus, one is a legal citizen, while the other is an illegal alien because her parents came here after she was born. Is this just?
“Voices of Hope” skewers us on the point of this question. From one point of view, we can say that this is a country of laws and the law must take precedence. The student who is here illegally cannot claim the rights of a legal resident of Wisconsin. If this causes her pain, that is unfortunate, but her parents should have thought of that before they brought her here.
On the other hand, we also believe that the law should be just. The girl who is here illegally has the same human rights as anyone else, and we should not punish her for a crime she did not commit merely because her status – which she did not choose – is illegal. We can go further. We can say that the girl’s parents came here to work in response to our economy’s clear demand for workers. Through the parents’ work, the economy grew, and we all benefited. How can we accept such benefits from a system that causes this girl’s suffering? Do we not have a responsibility to change the system to alleviate the suffering?
“Voices of Hope” brings these questions alive for us and forces us to take a stand.
The final performance of "Voices of Hope" will take place on Tuesday April 24, 2012 at 7 PM at the Appleton Public Library.
Sometimes a work of art presents a moral question so starkly that we cannot avoid confronting it, and ESTHER’s “Voices of Hope: Life Stories of Latinos” is such a work. It throws the moral and legal issues associated with immigration into high relief, and it forces us to take a stand. This reader’s theater presentation, directed by Kris Clouthier, is based on interviews from Peter Geniesse’s book Illegal: NAFTA Refugees Forced to Flee.
