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UUA Supports the New Sanctuary Movement

May 8, 2007

The following statement was released today by the Unitarian Universalist Association, in conjunction with the launch of the New Sanctuary Movement scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday, May 9.

This statement will be read at several press conferences in cities across the US (locations listed below statement). For more information, please visit the New Sanctuary Movement website.

Unitarian Universalist Association Supports the New Sanctuary Movement

Statement from UUA President Rev. William G. Sinkford

Grounded in the Unitarian Universalist affirmation of the inherent worth and dignity of every person, the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations endorses the New Sanctuary Movement, a movement of prophetic hospitality and public witness to bring about real change in the immigration policy of the United States. The UUA joins other people of faith and conscience in calling for the passage of just and comprehensive immigration reform and an immediate stop to federal raids that separate parents from their children and create a climate of fear and repression.

In the original Sanctuary movement in the 1980s, Unitarian Universalists joined Catholic, Protestant and Jewish congregations in providing sanctuary to Central American refugees. The Sanctuary movement protected tens of thousands of individuals and families who were largely being denied asylum by the United States government. This movement, initiated by people of faith, ultimately changed policy on the national level.

It is time for a new sanctuary movement that stands with immigrants who are resisting deportation through legal channels. Driven by the prospect of economic opportunity and by American businesses’ voracious need for cheap labor, undocumented immigration is on the rise. America has created an under-class of residents who are refused the dignity and civil protections that come with citizenship. Our current system keeps families apart, both through a huge backlog in family-based immigration, and through the unjust detention and deportation of immigrant mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters. We are also called to acknowledge that racism has blinded many Americans to what takes place in our own kitchens, workshops, and fields. For our nation to be whole, we must acknowledge that our lives of privilege are supported in thousands of ways by people whose labor is invisible and whose suffering is hidden. Led by people of faith from many backgrounds who stand in solidarity with immigrant families, the New Sanctuary Movement seeks to take a united, public, moral stand for immigrant rights; to protect immigrants against hate, workplace discrimination and unjust deportation; and to witness to the suffering of immigrant workers and families. Unitarian Universalists join in this call for solidarity because we know that as people of faith, our concern for family values needs to embrace these families as well. Unitarian Universalists stand on the side of love.

For information on Unitarian Universalism and the UUA: Bernard Smith, UUA Public Witness Specialist, (617) 948-6103, bsmith@uua.org.

For information on UU involvement in the New Sanctuary Movement: Susan Leslie, Director, UUA Office for Congregational Advocacy & Witness, (617) 948-4607, sleslie@uua.org.

Press conferences will be held in the following U.S. cities tomorrow:

New York City

Time: 11 a.m.
Location: St. Paul the Apostle Church
405 W59th St. and Columbus Ave.
Media contacts:
- Aarti Shahani
  (917) 647-1627
  aarti@familiesforfreedom.org
- Jeff Kursonis
  (917) 553-6843
  jkursonis@yahoo.com

Chicago

Time: 11 a.m.
Location: Adalberto Methodist Church
2716 W. Division Ave.
Media Contacts:
- Kim Bobo
  (773) 728-8400
- Allison Conyers
  (202) 833-9771
- Cynthia Brooke
  (773) 728-8400, x40
  cbrooke@iwj.org

Los Angeles

Time: 1 p.m.
Location: Our Lady Queens of Angels Church
535 N. Main St.
Media Contacts:
- Daniel French
  (213) 481-3740, x103
  dfrench@cluela.org

San Diego

Time: 10 a.m.
Location: Plymouth Congregational Church Sanctuary
2717 University Ave., in North Park
Media Contacts:
- Maria Arroyo
  (619) 584-5744, x31
  maria@icwj.org

For more information contact info @ uua.org.

Last updated on Friday, April 18, 2008.