IRATE publishes a newsletter, Yearning to Breathe Free, 3-4 times a year. Important upcoming events and articles from the most recent newsletter are published below. Copies of this and other recent newsletters in pdf format are available through the links to the left. The following articles were published in the November 2007 newsletter (for the November 2007 newsletter in pdf format, click here:
Nine Years of Yearning to Breathe Free
First Friends’ New Director: Gregory Sullivan
News from the Bergen County Sanctuary Committee
Nine Years of Yearning to Breathe Free
By Charlie Mulligan
“An hour in a room with three holes in the ceiling should not count as outdoor activities. Why are we not allowed to have fresh air? The room is dirty and dusty. Why are we not allowed to see the sun?” These excerpts were taken from a letter written by a group of detainees living inside the warehouse that serves as the Elizabeth Detention Center (EDC). It is a grim reminder that we are speaking of a place where breathing free is not possible in a literal sense. No fresh air! No chance to get asylum! No constitutional protections! No! Not ever! Our Columbus Day March tries to say to asylum seekers that we are ashamed and embarrassed by the way our government treats you.
Thank God that there may be hope for a time which will reverence the best of American tradition. To those without documents, critics say, “Obey the law!” But perhaps the true face of US fear and repression is best shown at EDC. We have always provided a refuge for those fleeing religious or political persecution. We welcome friends of democracy fleeing a tyrant. Then why a hidden detention center? Why the 24/7 maximum security prison conditions. Why confine asylum seekers to dorms 22 out of 24 hours? What reason can we offer for this harsh treatment?
So we’ve marched for nine years. At our latest Columbus Day March, Canon Sabune spoke of a British member of Parliament named William Wilberforce who introduced a motion in Parliament every year for 18 years until the slave trade was abolished in 1807. So we must persist because rightness needs to be proclaimed until it prevails.
We live in a time of fear, suspicion and easy answers. Giving asylum seekers a suitable welcome demands change especially in the NY and NJ metro area.
The Columbus Day march is a sign of persistent hope. This year we were joined by representatives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church who have committed themselves to running vigils parish by parish on the third Sunday of the month at 4:00 PM. Our march was led by a banner proclaiming the support of the National Association of Social Workers.
So it has been nine years. Much more advocacy is required. We’ll keep at it and hope to triple our numbers when it comes to the 10th anniversary. Free breathing inside can’t happen. We need to parole asylum seekers into the community after their credible fear has been established. We need them showing up for their hearings and a fair process with good and just judges. We need to change this hidden and repressive system and we’ll keep at it year after year until we do.
Stamp Out Despair
By Stefanie Barnes
It is that time of the year again, and no, I am not talking about the holidays. It is time to start collecting supplies for our annual Stamp Out Despair Campaign. Every year we collect stamps and writing supplies to send to the detainees so that they can write to their friends and family. Our goal this year is to collect 3000 stamped envelopes so that we can send each detainee 10.
As most of us are aware, the detention center charges a lot more for a stamped envelope than the 50 cents it costs to purchase one at the post office. One of the few pleasures these detainees have while inside the detention center, is the ability to communicate with their loved ones. However, many of the detainees are unable to afford what the detention center charges for paper and stamped envelopes. Not only does this deny the detainees the opportunity to communicate with the people they care about, but it also increases their sense of isolation, which could have dangerous consequences on their mental health.
Help us brighten the future of these detainees and make life in the detention center bearable for them. Ask those around you to start collecting supplies. Get your friends and family involved, or inquire as to whether your religious or community organization wants to take on this holiday project. Bring all the supplies to the First Friends office by November 30th, or call us and we will come pick them up. At a time when many of us are going to be with friends and family, remember those who are unable to, for whatever reason. Show the detainees that there are people in this country who care about them and their well-being. Help us stamp out their despair! Please contact me with any questions at:
barnes.stefanie@gmail.com.
Office hours and supplies requested are listed below.
Supplies
Two pocket folders (without a business logo)
Ruled white paper
Unruled colored paper – please no construction paper
Envelopes
Pens (with caps, no springs)
Greeting cards with envelopes
Monetary donations
And most importantly….First class international and national postage stamps
Office Hours
Monday & Wednesday- 9 am to 5 pm
Tuesday, Thursday & Friday – 10 am to 1 pm
Phone: 908-965-0455
Please call before you stop by to ensure there is someone there to receive your package.
First Friends’ New Director: Gregory Sullivan
By Geri Mulligan
First Friends/IRATE is very pleased to introduce the new director of our organization, Gregory Sullivan. The ASC Foundation presented us with a grant to hire a part-time director for the coming year. As our work continues to grow due to our partnership with Monmouth University, we must have someone to oversee and direct the work of the office in supporting detainees at the Elizabeth Detention Center (EDC). A number of candidates came forward and the hiring committee, after a careful examination of credentials, chose Greg.
Greg has been an active supporter of First Friends for a number of years. Both he and his wife have been visiting at EDC as well as mentoring new volunteers. His background is in banking and corporate finance, but his community outreach experience goes back well over thirty years when Greg was Director of the United Fund in Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ. Since then, he has been a member of a school board, president of family counseling services, a member of Men’s Cornerstone and a participant in the JustFaith program at St. Elizabeth’s Parish in Wyckoff, NJ.
His experience in organizing comes from the Gamaliel Foundation whose mission is to assist local community leaders to create, maintain and expand independent, grassroots, and empowered faith-based community organizations so that ordinary people can have an impact on the political, social, economic, and environmental decisions that affect their lives. We feel that this is perfect preparation for the work of First Friends whose volunteers know that if change is to come for the non-criminal asylum seekers and immigrants detained at Elizabeth, it will come from the grassroots. Greg seemed to be the perfect candidate.
During his first month on the job he proved us right. He “hit the ground running” by planning his first board meeting, organizing the work of the interns and volunteers and helping with the finances. We look forward to working with him and know that during this year with his help and the help of so many others the organization will be strengthened.
Thank you, Greg, for accepting the position.
The View from an Intern
By Lydia Poe
It seems I never know quite how to start talking about IRATE. How do you explain to others that there a people—innocent people—locked up all over the country? As a social worker, I find the complete trampling of human rights by the practice of detention to be mind-boggling.
My fellow interns and I are all graduate students at Monmouth University. There is more than enough to keep us all busy. A short list of our projects includes visiting and interviewing detainees, contacting and training volunteers, helping to coordinate events such as the Columbus Day March and Stamp Out Despair, applying for tax-exempt status, policy research, delivering educational presentations, and building relationships with others who will join in the work against detention.
We are busy. We have been working hard for a month and it seems there is no end of things that need to be done. However, it is good work. I am excited about the next few weeks when I will be accompanying Geri and Charlie to a presentation at a church in Southern New Jersey. At about the same time, donation drives for Stamp Out Despair will begin.
I am thankful to have an internship that I am passionate about. The hard, never-ending work is actually an encouragement because I feel it is so important. I have found that even though I never quite know how to start talking about IRATE, I cannot stop telling others about it. I am excited to see how IRATE will continue to grow over the next several months that I get to be a part of the organization.
News from the Bergen County Sanctuary Committee
By Dr. Joe Chuman
In the week of October 21, 2007, the Bergen County Sanctuary welcomed a new asylum seeker into its program. He is Dr. E. from the Darfur region of Sudan. Having been swept up in the violence in Sudan, Dr. E. fled to United States via Eritrea. He is currently seeking political asylum. He came to the notice of the Bergen County Sanctuary Committee via the International Institute in Jersey City, which was able to secure an attorney to defend his asylum petition. In the interim, he is staying with a Committee member in Bergen County.
The Sanctuary Committee is currently providing hospitality and humanitarian services for three individuals. These include a young woman from the former French Congo and a young woman from Cameroon. Both these woman have attained political asylum, and the Committee continues to support them as they move toward self-sufficiency in the United States.
In other news, the Bergen County Sanctuary Committee recently received its 501 (C) (3) status from the Internal Revenue Service. As such, the Committee is now a free-standing, non-profit and tax-exempt organization that can receive tax deductible contributions. In the future, the Committee hopes to solicit funds from foundations in order to further its work.
The Bergen County Sanctuary Committee is a coalition of six Bergen County congregations that works with the active support of organizations such as First Friends, IRATE, the International Institute and the Asylum Project of Human Rights First.
News Briefs
1. Julie Meyers is the Assistant Secretary for US ICE. She was appointed in a recess appointment in January, 2006. She told a confirmation hearing on September 12, 2007, that “ICE will soon announce a policy that allows asylum seekers who are not deemed a threat to be paroled, rather than held in detention facilities. She stated that “the intent of this ICE policy directive is to promote consistent and high-quality parole decision-making … while preserving our agency’s need to make these discretionary decisions on a case by case basis.” (September 200 issue of Asylum News from Human Rights First).
So… policy is to be combined with case by case discretion? Sounds like the NY-NJ metro region will stand fast with the lowest parole rate in the US–less than 5 percent.
2. The Bergen County Sanctuary Committee is currently providing housing to three asylees and asylum seekers released from the Elizabeth Detention Center. All services and support is on a voluntary basis. Congratulations to Joe Chuman and the congregations and organizations in Bergen County.
An IRATE Thank You
IRATE is grateful to the United Methodist Committee on Relief for a $5,000 grant that will support the work of the interns and the supervisor from Monmouth University. Currently, these interns are working at First Friends for about 60 hours each week.