Pax Christi Long Beach Island Chapter NY

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Immigration

Nothing in the world is more dangerous than a sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." ~Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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Investment Banker's Little Bond Fund Goes Nationwide for Immigrants
Catholic News Service
Massachusetts investment banker and philanthropist Robert Hildreth's success in business means Luis Delgado, a Mexican immigrant arrested in an immigration crackdown on a Maryland roofing company June 30, will get to be with his wife and children for the months it will take his legal case to be adjudicated. Hildreth's offer to help pay a few immigrants' bonds after a raid in 2001 has now led to the creation of a national fund to help other people facing detention far from their homes and families. His concern for families separated after a major immigration raid in New Bedford, Mass., last year led Hildreth to start writing checks so some of those factory workers wouldn't have to wait in detention centers thousands of miles away while their cases were heard.

Farm Workers Take Action!!!

Pope Benedict XVI urged the nation's Roman Catholic bishops and cardinals ......to support new immigrants to the United States. "I want to encourage you and your communities to continue to welcome the immigrants who join your ranks today, to share their joys and hopes, to support them in their sorrows and trials and to help them flourish in their new home," the pope said during a prayer service at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

From the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Immigration raid fuels labor inquiries

Teens worked in meat plant

The New York Times
July 27, 2008

POSTVILLE, Iowa - When federal immigration agents raided the kosher meatpacking plant here in May and rounded up 389 illegal immigrants, they found more than 20 under-age workers, some as young as 13.

Now those young immigrants have begun to tell investigators about their jobs. Some said they worked shifts of 12 hours or more, wielding razor-edged knives and saws to slice freshly killed beef. Some worked through the night, sometimes six nights a week.

One, a Guatemalan named Elmer L. who said he was 16 when he started working on the plant's killing floors, said he worked 17-hour shifts, six days a week. In an affidavit, he said he was constantly tired and did not have time to do anything but work and sleep. "I was very sad," he said, "and I felt like I was a slave."

Because of the dangers of the work, it is illegal in Iowa for a company to employ anyone under 18 on the floor of a meatpacking plant.

The raid has drawn criticism for what some see as harsh tactics against the immigrants, with little action taken against their employers.

But in the aftermath of the arrests, labor investigators have reaped a bounty of evidence from the testimony of illegal immigrants — teenagers and adults — who were caught in the raid at Agriprocessors Inc., the nation's largest kosher plant. Immigrants have described pervasive labor violations at the plant, testimony that could result in criminal charges for Agriprocessors executives, labor law experts said.

They have told investigators that they were forced to work long shifts without overtime or rest time.

Under-age workers said their bosses knew how young they were.

A spokesman for Agriprocessors, Menachem Lubinsky, said the company could not comment on an active investigation.

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Pastors for Peace Caravan stopped at U.S.-Mexico border
Computers destined for Cuba seized by Border Patrol
Take Action Now!

We have just received word that the Pastors for Peace Caravan, which challenges the U.S. blockade of Cuba on an annual basis, has been stopped at the U.S.-Mexico border. As always, the Pastors for Peace buses are carrying medicines and other materials to show their solidarity with the people of Cuba. Rev. Thomas Smith, President of the Board of Directors for the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization/Pastors for Peace, told ANSWER, "We've had 31 computers seized by the Customs and Border Patrol at the U.S.-Mexico border. These computers were destined for classrooms, clinic and hospitals in Cuba. These are 31 classrooms, clinics and hospitals that now will not have the opportunity to have computers." Smith vowed to "maintain a demonstration until we get the computers back" and called upon all opponents of the U.S. blockade to take a moment to protest this outrageous and cruel confiscation of humanitarian materials by contacting the following:

1) The Border Patrol, which under the Department of Homeland Security, which can be reached at 877-227-5511
2) The Office of Foreign Assets Control, which regulates the U.S. blockade of Cuba, which can be reached at 1-800-540-6322 or ofac_feedback@do.treas.gov
3) Your House representative, who can be reached at the Congressional switchboard at 202-225-3121.

In your phone calls and emails demand the immediate release of all items belonging to the Pastors for Peace Caravan, which have been seized at the U.S.-Mexico border. Let them know that you stand with the Caravan members who are currently protesting at the border, that you oppose the blockade of Cuba. Take action right now!

A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
http://www.answercoalition.org/
info@internationalanswer.org
National Office in Washington DC: 202-544-3389
New York City: 212-694-8720
Los Angeles: 213-251-1025
San Francisco: 415-821-6545
Chicago: 773-463-0311
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Meditation

PAX CHRISTI

…..REFLECTING PEACE & JUSTICE

…when there are just reasons in favor of it, a person must be permitted to emigrate to other countries and take up residence there. The fact that he is a citizen of a particular state does not deprive him of membership in the human family…Pacem in Terris, Pope JohnXXIII

…the illegal immigrant comes before us as a stranger within whom Jesus asks to be recognized. To welcome him and to show him solidarity is a duty of hospitality and fidelity to Christian identity itself. ~ Pope John Paul II ************************************************************************