[antiwar-van] Sun Feb 10th: ELVIRA ARELLANO from Mexico in Vancouver!

[Harsha]

(en espanol abajo)


THE NEW SANCTUARY MOVEMENT AND MIGRANT JUSTICE

Date: Sunday, February 10, 2008

Time: 4:30 - 6:00pm (Doors at 4:15pm, event begins at 4:30 sharp!)

Venue: SFU Harbor Center, 515 West Hastings.
           Wheelchair accesible, childcare provided.

Hosted by: No One is Illegal

Speakers:

* ELVIRA ARELLANO FROM MEXICO! Elvira is a Mexican citizen and
sanctuary-deportee whose situation galvanized immigrant rights activism
across the US. Elvira is being flown in from Mexico by US organizers to
Vancouver to meet the US-caravan Marcha Migrante at the border on Feb
12th.

* Cynthia Oka: Cynthia Oka is an anti colonial no-border activist, member
of No One is Illegal, and a Political Science student at Simon Fraser
University.


Elvira Arellano is a Mexican citizen and sanctuary-deportee whose plight
in the US has galvanized the New Sanctuary Movement and personified the
oppression suffered by undocumented people. Originally entering the US in
1997, she was apprehended then and deported back to Mexico. She returned
and gave birth to a son in 1999, Saul Arellano. From 2000 to 2002,
Arellano worked as a cleaning woman at O’Hare International Airport in
Chicago, but was arrested following a post-September 11 security sweep.

On August 15, 2006 - the day she was supposed to appear before immigration
authorities - Arellano took refuge in the Adalberto United Methodist
Church in Chicago. Over the year, she become a spokesperson for the New
Sanctuary Movement, as well as president of La Familia Latina Unida, and a
symbol of resistance against the systemic violence, exploitation, and
racism in the US immigration system. On August 19, 2007, having traveled
to California on a speaking tour where she advocated the right of
immigrant families to stay united, the single mother was arrested by US
authorities and deported to Mexico, without her son. Arellano’s
deportation was clearly meant as a blow to the resurgent immigrants rights
movement, yet the movement continues as strong as ever.

Join us for a ONE-TIME OPPORTUNITY to hear from Elvira, who has flown in
from Mexico to meet the US-caravan Marcha Migrante at the US-Canada border
on Feb 12th. For more information email noii-van at resist.ca or call
778-862-8895 or 604-710-5480. www.nooneisillegal.org

Articles on Elvira:
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=13606
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=12843


*BACKGROUNDER*

The American sanctuary movement initially took root in the 1980s as
churches rallied to assist Central American refugees fleeing US-sponsored
wars and protect them from deportation. The continuing racist exploitation
at the heart of American imperial ambitions, which has become even more
pronounced in the post 9/11 era with increasing border militarization and
deportations, has resulted in a revival of this movement over the past
several years.

The New Sanctuary Movement (NSM) is a faith-based movement uniting
Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh communities who share the
common hopes of providing sanctuary for undocumented migrants whose
deportation could break up families. This movement is a specific and
powerful response to the phenomenon of “illegal” parents (ie.
hyper-exploited migrant workers) being deported and separated from the
US-born (and therefore American citizen) children.

Critically, the NSM draws connections between the labor demands of a
racist, capitalist political economy and the exclusionary nature of
citizenship. Kim Bobo, executive director of the Interfaith Worker Justice
in Chicago and key NSM organizer, has stated, “The immigration reform
agenda is just inseparable from worker justice at this moment in our
history. The absolute worst abuse of workers that we see around the
country is the abuse of immigrant workers, because they have no path to
citizenship, and there’s no strong protection of workers’ rights for
immigrant workers.”

In harmonizing Canadian immigration policies with the U.S. in the “Smart
Border Declaration” of December 2001 that is part of the Security and
Prosperity Partnership Agreement, with the proposed “national security
perimeter” around North America, and with the changes in the 2002
Immigration and Refugee Protection Act including the lack of
implementation of the Refugee Appeal Division, Canada has opted for an
increasingly racist and imperialist immigration and refugee policy.

Denise Nadeau, an educator with a Doctorate of Ministry in International
Feminist Theology writes, “In this situation of grave injustice,
supporting the claims of asylum seekers and refugees may be one of the
most effective things we, as Christians, can do to challenge the forces of
empire. The spiritual basis for solidarity is the basic fact of our
interconnectedness as human beings. This means we do not see the asylum
seeker and refugee as a “tragic” victim whom we are saving by our good
works. Rather it means we acknowledge we are in a relationship, one shaped
by our location in a country and a religion with more than five hundred
years of a colonial past and present.”



El Nuevo movimento de santuario:


Fecha: Domingo 10 de Febrero
Hora: 430pm a 6pm (puertas a las 415)
Lugar: SFU Harbour Centre 515 West Hastings.
Organiza: No One Is Illegal Vancouver
Hablan: Elvira Arellano y otros.

Elvira Arellano es una ciudadana mexicana quien estuvo en santuario en USA
y despues fue deportada. Su experiencia ha ayudado a marcar y demostrar
las experiencias de miles de personas sin documentos. Arellano entro a los
estados unidos por primera vez en 1997 y fue deportada. Despues, volvio a
entra y en 1999 dio a luz a su hijo Saul Arellano. Entre el 2000 y el 2002
Arellano trabajo en el aeropuerto de International O’hare en Chicago donde
fue arrestada por usar documentos falsos despues del 11 de setiembre.

El 15 de agosto, cuando debio de presentarse frente a las autoridades de
immigracion, Arellano tomo refugio en la iglesia Adalberto en Chicago.
Durante ese ano, Arellano hablo publicamente sobre el movimiento de
santuario y se convirtio en la presidenta del grupo La Familia Latina
Unida, al igual que un simbolo contra la violencia, explotacion y el
racismo del sistema de imigracion en los estados unidos.

El 19 de agosto del 2007, mientras viajaba por California dando charlas
sobre los derechos de la familias migrantes a mantenerse unidas, Arellano
fue arrestada y deportadad a mexico sin su hijo. El arresto y la
deportacion de Arellano es claramente un ataque contra el movimiento en
favor de los derechos de los immigrants, pero el movimiento sigue
adelante.

Reunase con nosotros para oir de Elvira quien ha venido a Vancouver para
reunirse con la March Migrante III en la frontera con estados unidos el 12
de febrero.

Para mas informacion: email noii-van at resist.ca o llame al 778-862-8895
o 604-710-5480. www.nooneisillegal.org