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Immigration Issues

General Assembly 2012

Phoenix, Arizona
June 20-24, 2012

General Assembly (GA) 2012 will be a gathering with multiple ways of engaging in justice work for people of all ages. Joining with the people of Arizona, we will worship, witness, learn and work together. We will leave General Assembly grounded in our faith, energized for justice and with resources to bring this work home to our congregations.

National Day of Witness and Service

Those not going to Phoenix for GA are encouraged to initiate and take part in events in their own hometowns on Saturday, June 23, as part of a National Day of Witness and Service.

Blog on Immigration Justice

As a resource for those going to GA in Phoenix and those participating in the National Day of Witness and Service, the UUA staff have created a  blog on Immigration Justice called Cooking Together: Recipes for Immigration Justice Work.  Blog posts will be added on different topics weekly, on Wednesdays. This is intended to be a web page where congregations can contribute stories about their experiences in working on immigration justice.

Doctrine of Discovery

The UUA Board of Trustees voted to place a Responsive Resolution on the GA 2012 Agenda that would put the UUA on record as repudiating the Doctrine of Discovery. (See http://www.uua.org/documents/boardtrustees/rrmc/120109_motion.pdf for the text of the motion). This Doctrine held that European Christians were free to take the lands and possessions, and even enslave, any non-Christian indigenous peoples in the Americas and Africa. The Doctrine became part of US law, and as recently as 2007, was cited in a US Supreme Court decision. Recently, the Prairie Star District Board voted unanimously to support the UUA Trustee’s action. We strongly encourage each of our member congregations to study this issue, and give instructions to their delegates as part of their preparation for Justice GA.

The UUA has prepared this discussion guide: Discussion Guide on Doctrine of Discovery

These videos might be helpful in your preparation:

Information for Youth Attending GA

GA Accessibility Project for Youth and Young Adults

Top Ten Ways to Help Youth Prepare for Justice General Assembly

Information for Children

With Justice and Compassion: Immigration Session for Children’s Religious Education

 

Congregational Study/Action Issue

Delegates at the 2010 General Assembly in Minneapolis, MN, selected “Immigration As A Moral Issue” to be the 2010-2014 Congregational Study/Action Issue (CSAI) of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations (UUA). The Congregational Study/Action Issue is an invitation for congregations and districts to take a topic of concern and confront it, reflect on it, learn about it, respond to it, comment on it take action—each in their own way. A CSAI is NOT a statement—it is a question.

Resources

  • UUA information about Immigration Justice
  • Complete text of the UUA Congregational Study/Action Issue “Immigration as a Moral Issue”
  • The Study Guide for “Immigration as a Moral Issue”. The Guide provides a broad range of resource materials for congregational and individual study. In addition, there is a curriculum on Immigration for a six-week adult education course and a Worship Resource Supplement. Topics include: understanding the causes of migration, the history of immigration in the US, the economics of immigration, security and enforcement, and building a theology of migrant justice.
  • Resources for congregations from Pacific Southwest District.
  • The 2010-11 PSD Reads selection, The Death of Josseline: Immigration Stories from the Arizona Borderlands, by Margaret Regan is still a good resource. In addition, PSD Reads for Children 2010-11 recommended two books and provided study guides for various ages. More information