Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CCIR at http://www.faithandimmigration.org/) offers the following resources and updates, particularly appropriate as new immigration reform legislation is scheduled to be introduced the week of December 14.

December is a time to look back and reflect. At the same time, for those of us who have been waiting and watching for immigration reform to make its way to the halls of Congress, we are eagerly looking forward to the year ahead. We’re compiling stories from the field, creating educational videos, monitoring policy, and working with grassroots activists to make sure immigration reform is at the top of the to-do list in 2010.

Take Action

Sharing Our Stories. In the weeks to come, we’re launching a campaign to share immigrant stories with the broader Christian community. Our goal is to share personal stories of those who are often demonized in the political discourse of the immigration debate. If you can help us gather stories from one to three immigrants or immigrant families in your community, e-mail us at immigration@sojo.net and we’ll send you more details. 

Resources

New video series on immigration reform produced by CCIR. What exactly is “comprehensive immigration reform,” anyway? What do the scriptures tell us about how we should treat the immigrant and how does that translate to our society today? How will immigration reform affect our country and our lives? Find out the answers to these questions here by viewing a three-part video series (at http://www.youtube.com/faithandimmigration) produced by CCIR in collaboration with the Interfaith Immigration Coalition. These videos are perfect for small group studies or adult education forums in your church community.

Policy Update

A comprehensive bill on immigration reform, the first of this Congress, is slated to be introduced the week of December 14 by Representative Luis Gutierrez. Be sure to check out our http://www.faithandimmigration.org/blog) for a statement on the bill when it is released.

We can fix this. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano gave her first public remarks on immigration reform on behalf of the Obama administration last month at the Center for American Progress. You can view a full video of the event at http://www.americanprogress.org/events/2009/11/Napolitano.html.

Building a Movement

Postcard Campaign Update. We have sent an unbelievable 16,000 holiday postcards to CCIR advocates over the past month. Combined with nearly 30 other denominations and faith-based organizations, we have distributed more than 110,000 postcards all over the country. Thank you to those who have returned your postcards to us already. Contact us at immigration@sojo.net if you’re interested in delivering the postcards directly to your representatives and we can walk you through the process. Together, we will be sending a strong message to Congress that we want family unity to be a top priority in immigration reform.

Rep. Gutierrez Conference Call was a success! More than 100 of you listened in to the call with Rep. Luis Gutierrez, which rallied over 60,000 people to listen in on the conversation about fixing our immigration system in 2010. If you missed the call, you can listen to a full recording at http://actions.reformimmigrationforamerica.org/t/5354/signUp.jsp?key=2864.