Posts Tagged ‘Immigration’
Documenting Angels: Why I Fight for DACA
“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” Hebrews 13:2 When I was young, I would often ask my mother stories about why we came to America. I wondered why we didn’t stay in the Philippines with many of our other family members. I…
Read MoreA Response to Rev. Dr. David Gushee’s “Ethical Analysis of the ‘New Sanctuary Movement’”
Hearing Rev. Dr. David P. Gushee speak at The Reformation Project’s 2014 National Conference remains one of the more powerful experiences I have had in my time with our organization. I, a Venezuelan immigrant, sat in the front pew as he spoke a convicting and prophetic word. This word made me weep for my adoptive…
Read MorePainting the Mother of Exiles
Last month, my column focused on the importance of intersectionality within the LGBTQ movement by highlighting the revolutionary work of Sojourner Truth, an escaped slave, abolitionist, and women’s rights activist. I’d like to continue to press the importance of intersectionality, particularly given our current political state. Of late, I’ve received a little criticism that some…
Read MoreFor National Migration Week, Bishops Must Learn Realities of LGBT Immigrants & Refugees
This week is National Migration Week, an annual event convened by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to focus attention on the plight of migrants, refugees, and victims of human trafficking in our world. This year’s theme for National Migration week, drawn from Pope Francis, is “Creating a Culture of Encounter.” And in this…
Read MoreChristians Vote For Immigration Justice
Growing up in the Haitian immigrant community in Philadelphia, PA, I saw so many of my vulnerable neighbors living in fear. They worried, because at any moment their undocumented status might be revealed. For a time, my own family also lived with these anxieties. My mother often worried about her physical safety because she was…
Read MorePeople Of Faith Support HERO In Houston!
The Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, lovingly known as HERO, is a ballot proposition being voted on this Tuesday. People of faith across Houston have joined the campaign to make HERO law and protect 15 classes of people currently without vital non discrimination protections in the city. Stories of some of those advocates of justice and…
Read MorePope Francis’s Warm And Welcoming Mixed Messages
Pope Francis continues to send seismic shock waves across the globe, and the rapturous reception he received from his historic six-day US visit gave us a glimpse as to why. The pontiff, like Jesus, walked among the masses, kissing babies, visiting prisoners and the homeless, speaking out on climate change, poverty, immigrations, church sex abuse,…
Read MoreBringing The Margins To The Center In Our Churches
I have a friend named Felipe who frequently attends worship celebrations at our church. Felipe was raised in the Valley—Brownsville, Texas—in a firmly Christian home. His father was Pastor of a Latino congregation with a vibrant outreach ministry to local youth whose poverty, a circumstantial product of their race and of living in a border…
Read MoreLGBT History Made At The United Nations Security Council
Two gay men who escaped Syria and Iraq with their lives shared their experiences of discrimination and violence against LGBT people at a historic session of the UN Security Council in New York City on August 24. Subhi Nahas, a Syrian refugee living in the United States, addressed the council in person. Out of concern…
Read MoreRaffi Freedman-Gurspan Makes History As First Openly Transgender Official To Work In The White House
President Obama has hand picked one of us. Today, Raffi Freedman-Gurspan makes history by becoming the first openly transgender official to work in the White House. Raffi follows a growing line of transgender appointees in federal government. She will serve as an Outreach and Recruitment Director for Presidential Personnel. It has been a joy to…
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