Thousands of people fleeing situations of murder, rape and gang violence in Central America come to this country seeking asylum. They expect and ought to expect that they will receive a fair hearing. But they are greeted with gimmicks meant to circumvent the law in order to discourage them from pursuing their claims of asylum: people’s children are arbitrarily taken from them; people are told that they must wait in Mexico until their cases are heard; border patrol agents were even instructed by the president himself to lie to judges and say that they are unable to process more cases because they are overwhelmed (their supervisors instructed these same agents to ignore the president).

One might be tempted to say that the administration is administering a policy of terrorism to discourage people from seeking asylum. Terrorism is a political tool. Its aim is to achieve a political aim. It entails perpetrating indiscriminate acts of violence against civilians to create a level of terror that leads to capitulation.

Beloved Ferry 11 Service is rescued. Threat posed by bridge construction neutralized by DICO.
 @SOMitUns@DICOGermany@MetroIAF@stark_koeln@WNeukolln@WirsinddaWeMo#BerlinerBürgerplattformen#communityorganizing

By Frank C. Pierson, Jr., Editor and Publisher, www.democraticfaith.com

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Kaz (my wife) and I visited Ambos Nogales - twin cities on the Mexican/US  border - a couple weeks ago.  We support a cross border tennis program for youngsters and wanted to experience its activities first hand.  Of course we both had seen pictures of the towering slatted metal fence dressed out with concertina wire snaking through the Nogales twin cities but were still unprepared for the reality.  

A tiny % of American citizens will ever share our first hand experience because the vast majority will never go there.  Most, for now, will view the attempt at border militarization from a distance through a political lens.  That’s too bad.  First hand they might gain some insight into why US border policy is broken. 

Powerful story about Albuquerque Interfaith and caring people in the Albuquerque Journal.

Most "job training" programs have a bad rap for good reason.  They're a waste of time and money because they don't work.  Project Quest organized by COPS/Metro in San Antonio, Texas is more than just the exception.  It turns the job training world upside down by establishing a proven  ladder into the middle class for low wage workers. .  Read the Houston Chronical story on Project Quest here.
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From Albuquerque Interfaith/IAF: A must read about what's happening in New Mexico

The Bus Is Coming
You see, I had also spent the day waiting to hear from representatives of Albuquerque Interfaith. At some point, they were going to contact me about a busload of Central American asylum seekers who were journeying to The Duke City from a detention center in the mystical southlands.  Read more.
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Featuring VOICE leaders Rev. Dr. Keith Savage, Rev. Kenneth Nixon, and Mr. John Chapman.  Link to TV News  HERE.
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Let's end it so others don't feel like 'caged animals', former inmate says.

Story by IAF Organizer Nafeesah Goldsmith
In 2006, when I was 26 years old, I was placed in solitary confinement at New Jersey State Prison for 60 days.

I was locked in my cell for 23 hours a day, sometimes 24 hours, depending on the mood of the officers or if there was a lockdown at the prison. Our showers -- which we were supposed to receive every day -- were subject to the officers’ whims as well. Sometimes, I didn’t get a shower for days.  More here.
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Months into the New Mexico legislative session, Albuquerque Interfaith (AI) leaders have advanced school accountability, early childhood education, supports for immigrants and increased health security.

Through intense collaboration with state legislators, AI leaders succeeded in crafting legislation to eliminate A-F grading system for public schools and replace it with a diagnostic system of accountability.   AI leaders ran point on legislation that established, for the first time in the state, a department of early childhood education..  AI fought and won more funding for K-12 schooling.

Seeking to reverse the effects of a two-tiered system for (undocumented) immigrant drivers' licenses, AI persuaded state legislators to expand the utility of the bottom-tier of licenses. The second tier is now equivalent to Real IDs, including acceptance by the TSA, state police and financial institutions.
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San Antonio award winning  journalist Rick Casey explains here in the Rivard Report.
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