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On Friday, September 23, 2016, at the American Legion Hall in Leonia, CoFiA will hold a fund-raising party. We will present three bands, lots of good food, raffles, socializing, dancing and wonderful crafts from Guatemala to purchase.

Why a party called “Fiesta Justicia?” For many years CoFiA and our friends have worked to improve the lives of immigrants in Eastern Bergen County, and have also worked to improve U.S. immigration policy. Yet in 2016 prospects for improvement, both here in and Guatemala–aqui y alla, here and there–are dim. Candidates for the presidency of the U.S. are proposing either vicious anti-immigrant tactics or no strategies for real improvement. In Guatemala conditions are so grim that more than 20,000 indigenous country people marched for up to 159 miles, over 12 days, to plead with their Congress and government for the right to clean water and to land. One response to their efforts was this post on Facebook by the current president, Jimmy Morales: “Yes, there is a president, gentlemen, I work hard every day!”

At Fiesta Justicia we want to relax for an evening, have a good time, and also raise money to continue the efforts members and friends of CoFiA are making to improve the lives of immigrants and to achieve some improvements in immigration policy, at least in New Jersey. Please join us!

At the request of members of CoFiA’s Saturday Group, we now have t-shirts available. They are $20 each, in sizes Medium, Large, and Extra Large. (Ask about special discounts for members of the Saturday Group.) To request a shirt, send an email to marbwhite@aol.
They seem to be going fast so don’t delay!

On Saturday, July 30, 2016, members of the CoFiA Saturday Group joined with people from Make the Road NJ and Faith in New Jersey to help register new voters in Braddock Park in North Bergen. The event provided an opportunity to show off the new CoFiA t-shirts. Watch this space for more information on how to order shirts.

The Community of Friends in Action is happy to announce that our plans for our fall Justice Festival are coming together nicely. The event will be held on Friday, September 23, 2016, at the American Legion Hall, 399 Broad Avenue, Leonia, New Jersey. It is a gala multi-cultural celebration, recognizing both the national Guatemalan holiday and the upcoming U.S. national election. Click here to download a flyer for the event.

Back by general demand is the Still Standing Band, playing a rousing mix of old time rock-n-roll, and the wildly popular Guatemalan marimba group, Marimba Maria Bonita, led by Walter Avila. New to us and new to the area is a group of young musicians, Talento Juvenil, promoted by CoFiA member, singer/songwriter, and scholar of traditional Guatemalan music and dance, Joselino Chocoj.

Traditional Guatemalan woven goods will once again be available for sale, brought to us by MayaMam Weavers collective of Cajola, Guatemala and Morristown, New Jersey.

Watch this page for developing information. We will be offering the opportunity for sponsors to purchase space in the program book–so even if you can’t be with us in person on September 23 you can join us in wishing us well, and supporting this important work with a financial donation.

New to our fall fiesta this year is a raffle, offering a range of exciting goods from bicycles to raffle baskets. Keith Danish, who collected bicycles which were raffled off at one of the Monday lunches last year, has graciously offered to keep his eye out for candidates for this year’s event. Betty DeMarco will be organizing raffle baskets. And of course there will be a 50-50 and other goodies!

And we think we have achieved some kind of unique status–surely we are the only group in New Jersey that actually received an apology from the State Department Office that reviews raffle applications for misreading our app!

Let us know if you have items to add to the raffle or just want to join in one of the groups putting them together for the big night.

In response to requests from some of the newest members of CoFiA, we have ordered a new batch of t-shirts with the CoFiA logo. Similar to the ones we had several years ago, the shirts are navy blue, with white lettering and a v-neck. The cost will be $10 per shirt (but it would help a lot if some of us could make an additional donation) and will be available either through this web site (using pay pal) or at the Saturday meetings. Sorry, we cannot mail them but if you want one let us know the size (medium, large, or extra large) and we can make them available at a Saturday meeting or at a member’s home.

Watch this space! Photos soon

The Saturday Group of the Community of Friends in Action, with other members, have launched a voter registration drive together with other member-groups of the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice. On Saturday, July 16, 2016, two staff members from Make the Road came to the Saturday Meeting to do initial training on how to encourage people to register to vote.

On Saturday, July 23, CoFiA members will join other groups including members of Make the Road in Secaucus to conduct a voter registration drive in Braddock Park in North Bergen. Participants are invited to meet at the entrance to the park at the corner of Bergenline Ave. and 79th Street at 10 a.m. Saydy Tuanama and Norm Smith will meet people in Palisades Park, at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, around 8:30 and take them to North Bergen.

Immigrant groups are of vital importance in the elections of 2016, and people who are concerned about a fair and just immigration system are eager to let prospective voters know how to register to express their views in the election.

To learn more about the July 23 event contact Saydy Tuanama (Saymary Tuanama@yahoo.com) or Norm Smith (Joemanton@sprynet.org).

Dear CoFiA Members and Friends: Even while things are looking very gloomy for immigration reform on the federal level, immigrants rights groups continue working very hard on legislation that is working its way through the New Jersey legislature that if passed would improve things immeasurably for immigrant detainees and others in the criminal justice system. Here are two separate initiatives–one from NJ Alliance for Immigrant Justice, and one from AFSC. If you have been wishing for something to do to make a difference, please make these calls on Monday morning. Thanks!
From AFSC
Friends,
We are mobilizing calls today and Monday morning for three bills that will be voted on the floor this coming Monday at 2pm: 1) Phone rates bill (in both the Senate and the Assembly), 2) Solitary restriction bill (only Senate), and 3) Racial impact statement bill (only Senate).

Find your legislator: https://salsa4.salsalabs.com/o/51236/getLocal.jsp (scroll down to the middle for “state legislators”)

You will find a Senator and two House members. You will ask the Senator to support:
S1880 prison phone rates bill because lower and affordable phone calls can help incarcerated people stay connected with their loved ones and counties should not profit from low-income family members.
S51 solitary confinement restriction bill because it will reduce the unnecessary use of solitary confinement and because solitary confinement poses negative human and fiscal impacts.
S677 racial and ethnic impact statement for bills and regulations affecting sentencing because sentencing and incarceration has disproportionally impacted minorities in NJ.

Ask the House member to vote yes on:

A1419 prison phone rates bill because lower and affordable phone calls can help incarcerated people stay connected with their loved ones and counties should not profit from low-income family members.

If you have the time and option, please also find a Republican district to target.

Thanks all.

Chia-Chia Wang, American Friends Service Committee Immigrants Rights Program

For several years, CoFiA has been offered the use of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, at the corner of Broad Ave. and Homestead St., for its various programs. During the cold winter months we provide a once-a-week hot lunch to workers who often have few jobs during that time.

From time to time we have received complaints that the corner is being littered by passers-by. While we are unconvinced that our guests are the only ones doing the littering, for several months we have hired someone to clear the trash regularly–actually daily!–and it looks much better. However, the littering continues, especially in and around the bus kiosk. We noticed that there is no town garbage can on that corner so it is to be expected that people taking the bus will get rid of their paper trash however they can.

CoFiA has been in conversation with the Mayor and the Department of Public Works about placing a garbage can on the corner to help in the effort to keep the area clean. We’ll let you know how this initiative works out!

The large group of people who joined CoFiA “officially” at our welcome dinner on Saturday, June 18, 2016, have been meeting for several months every other Saturday evening from 6 to 8 p.m. Under the leadership of organizer Sayda Tuanama they have been learning about current issues and actions on immigration reform, about what it means to be a member of CoFiA, and about how they can help move these actions forward.

Plans for the near future include continuing these meetings, held at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Palisades Park, with a special focus on a voter registration drive. Training for people who want to assist in the drive will be provided by a staff member of the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice on July 2,  and the drives will begin on July 16. Anyone who is interested in helping out is welcome–just come to the Church at Broad and Homestead Street on one of those Saturdays at 6 p.m., and bring any friends or neighbors who might be interested. We are especially looking for people who are fluent in Korean.