Seattle, Washington USA

An employee who works at the immigrant detention center in Seattle confirmed that individuals serving in immigration control enforcement bring to the task their own personalities, ethics, and attitudes. Some use their job as a thinly veiled opportunity to exercise racial prejudice. Others deal compassionately with the people they take into custody.

By law, a detainee is allowed forty pounds of luggage to accompany them in the event of deportation. Some detainees arrive with nothing but the pajamas they were wearing when the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) team knocked on their door. Compassionate ICE officials, however, allow immigrants to collect their belongings and cash, make arrangements for their families, and say goodbye before transporting them to the detention centers. They treat them with dignity and avoid intimidation with guns and bogus “POLICE” uniforms. The compassionate officials are carrying out their tasks under the law with a recognition of the worth of all persons.
 

Novato, California USA

For several years, Novato Community of Christ has provided ESL classes (English as a Second Language) for Latino neighbors around the church. When immigration raids caused fear and confusion among the students, Janet Irby and Andy Shelton organized a support group to assist them. Through networking with other denominations, they were able to bring legal experts to the church to talk to the students about their rights and responsibilities under the law. They began exploring avenues for providing protective custody and guardianship for minor children in the event parents are detained from home for a period of time. They established a phone tree to assist in communication and support. Ecumenical connections and social services strengthen possibilities for providing food, shelter, medical attention, and legal services in a neighborhood previously unaware of these resources.

San Diego, California USA

Seventy Gina Norton works with Latino children in the neighborhood around Chula Vista Community of Christ. Immigration issues have caused fear and stress among the children in the program, and Community of Christ members struggle to provide a place of hope and safety where the children find security. Learning about a loving God helps them face the difficulties in their families and neighborhoods with the assurance that no matter what happens, they have a Friend named Jesus who is with them.
 

Visalia, California USA

—Reported by elder Melinda Gunnerud
After being widowed with three children, my grandmother died from complications of child birth, around 1935. My grandfather swam the Rio Grande river from Mexico to the United States seeking a better home for his three children. After his third deportation and consequently last swim to the US, he was allowed to stay with his brother-in-law and bring his children over. He spent the next 30 years learning English and finally gaining citizenship through schooling. He bought and owned his own home at the time he died and fathered 10 more children with his second wife—the only grandmother I knew. Of those 13 children he brought to the US, half went on to college. All have become upstanding citizens of the US with two being school teachers, two working in law enforcement, four owning their own businesses and one being the Executive Director of the United Way for Tulare County in California.

As the product of illegal immigration I have gone on to college, become a piano instructor, am an elder and the pastor of a vibrant Community of Christ congregation in Visalia, California. I am very active in the Sierra Pacific Mission Center and sit on the board of the Happy Valley Conference Center.

I support and applaud the church for standing by the name that they proclaim as the "Community" of Christ that embraces all as a world church. If we are to be a peaceable and just community we must stand up for the rights of all visitors and welcome them as equals. I have been on the receiving side of discrimination from all sides coming from a mixed marriage but have never felt that discrimination in this church that has always loved and upheld me as a valued member. I would expect nothing less than the stance that the Community of Christ has taken.