Immigration Justice and Reform
Minutes of May 17, 2022 FHC Immigration Task Force Meeting
Attending: Gary and Julie Lustic, Steve Sedam, Sharon Shumaker, Quentin Smith, Nonie Stack, Virginia Weiss
Anne and Jeff Smith were unable to attend this evening. To help keep the task force informed, Jeff sent a couple of emails in advance of the meeting. They are summarized here:
The church continues to receive monthly donations of $100 from a person who lives in Twinsburg. She has faithfully been donating to the Sanctuary Fund in support of Leonor for a few years. Another person donated $500 to the Sanctuary Fund at the end of March. With funds available, Jeff is able to send Leonor Garcia financial support monthly. He believes the balance in the Sanctuary Fund remains at $1,209.
Emmanuel has been working a fair amount so he has money for his personal living expenses. Jeff asked for ideas on how Emmanuel’s iPhone can be inexpensively upgraded to at least an iPhone 7, either through a purchase or donation.
The task force met on Zoom for an hour. Here is a summary of their deliberations.
The Task Force supports the purchase or donation of a new iPhone for Emmanuel.
Sharon spoke to Leonor Garcia recently. Things seem to be going well in general. The application for Jose is proceeding. Eric is graduating from high school soon. Leonor wants to do another party like what was done for her wedding last fall but have this party be for Eric and Aidan; Eric in honor of his high school graduation and in celebration of Aidan’s birthday this summer. Details forthcoming.
Task Force members were asked for their evaluation of Bringing the Border Home. Their reaction was uniformly positive. Steve and Sharon presented a list of possible follow-up activities for the task force to consider as follow-up to Bringing the Border Home. There was consensus for:
- An email from Sharon and Steve to Bringing the Border Home attendees.
- Getting both sessions of Bringing the Border Home on the FHC YouTube channel with links to it from the ITF page on the church’s website.
- A list of educational resources will be posted on the ITF page and circulated to Bringing the Border Home attendees.
- Visual summary with information from John Flores.
- Schedule another series of educational classes on immigration in fall 2022.
- A trip to Texas in January or February 2023 to assist Presbyterian Border Ministries.
Task Force will discuss in more depth later:
- The fall 2022 education series (topics, format, dates, etc.)
- Influencing PCUSA’s efforts on immigration
- Supporting Caly Fernandez’s group, Presbyterian Border Ministries, in Texas
- An Advocacy Committee of ITF to monitor government policy and legislation and recommend actions for the task force to take
The next meeting of the Immigration Task Force is July 23 at 7 p.m.
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