Mission: To secure the rights of all immigrants, documented and non-documented, and to win national comprehensive immigration reform.

Policy position: The clergy and lay leaders of the Immigrant Rights Committee call on our elected officials to enact a just, humane, and moral immigration law for:

• Broad legalization of immigrants
• Right to work, with a living wage and labor protections
• Family unity by reforming the immigration system to allow families to reunite
• End of inhumane detention and deportation for minor crimes that tears apart families
• Civil liberties and Justice for all, regardless of citizenship status, race, or ethnicity
• Right to participate in local communities without fear
• Humane borders that protect the safety and dignity of immigrants

2009

Cuts to our funding this year will decrease our impact and effectiveness with reaching out to local immigrant communities. However, we hope through the support we are receiving from our national affiliates, we will be able to work for an increase in local resources for immigrants in the Bronx and we will continue to fight for real comprehensive immigration reform on the national level!

2008

As we continued in the struggle to pass national comprehensive-humane immigration reform that will put our undocumented brothers and sisters on a path to citizenship we realized that the fight for immigrant rights is also won closer to home. In the first quarter of 2008 we continued our efforts to bring more immigrant services to our area. The immigrant community in the Bronx has grow dramatically in the past few years, with many new residents from Africa, Eastern Europe and the Caribbean.  The demand for services like ESOL classes, legal representation and advice, citizenship classes, has increased – without enough resources to get the job done. Therefore we conducted bilingual legal clinics and worked with organizations like FIRM and Families for Freedom to push for national legislation.

In 2007

On May 1st close to 100 people turned-out for a city-wide mobilization for immigrant rights. At Judson Memorial Church in the Village our clergy leaders ignited the crowd of more than 500 with a powerful homily on the moral imperative for immigrant, civil and human rights.

A few weeks later in the early morning hours of Tuesday June 19, more than 150 clergy and lay leaders traveled all the way to our nation’s capital, Washington D.C to take part in an interfaith ceremony and rally highlighting the consequences of family aspects of the immigration debate. Later that day, along with 2,000 community leaders from across the country, we marched to the White House to deliver our message of a just, humane and moral immigration law directly to the President.  

For more information, please contact:

Laura Vasquez, laura@northwestbronx.org

Wendoly Marte, wendoly@northwestbronx.org

(718) 584-0515

                                                                                   Support Fair Immigration Reform    

                                                                                   Sign The FIRM Pledge