Community of Friends in Action
Communidad de Amigos en Acción
Guatemalan Float with MIGUA and CoFiA banners.
The Community of Friends in Action, Inc., was once again honored to have our banner displayed on the Guatemalan float in this year’s Hispanic Day Parade. Our own Elias Garcia was an organizer of the event, and several CoFiA and MIGUA members marched in the parade, including CoFiA Vice-Chair Roni Colona and his daughter Kelly. It was a beautiful day for a joyful event
What are you doing Saturday night, October 18? Come join us at the Legion Hall in Leonia for a gala evening of music, dancing, refreshments, Guatemalan crafts and wonderful conversation.
From 8 – 11 p.m., tickets $10/person, $20/ family. Refreshments are free. Bring your dancing shoes!
For more information call 201-598-2253.
If you cannot join us for the party but want to support the work of CoFiA, just write a check payable to the Community of Friends in Action, Inc., and mail to P.O. Box 313, Leonia, NJ 07605-0313. Donations are tax deductible. And thanks!
La Fiesta, the annual CoFiA Fund Raiser, will be held on October 18, 2014, at 8:00 p.m., at the Legion Hall in Leonia. Tickets–$10/person, $20 for families. Live and recorded music, dancing, refreshments, Guatemalan crafts and more. All proceeds go to support the work of the Community of Friends in Action, a 501(c)3 organization that assists immigrants in the Eastern Bergen and Northern Hudson county area, and works for better immigration policy.
For more information call 201-598-2253.
Please click on the link below to see a chart from Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service about the current border crisis. Some of the myths that are debunked are: “Just children are crossing the border for refuge”(many are families); “This crisis is happening because of weak immigration enforcement and poor border security”(the crisis is happening because of the governments of Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala cannot protect their people); “Önly immigrants who pose a risk to our communities are detained” (many are mothers and children fleeing for their lives); “Children are crossing the border because of U.S. immigration laws (no recent laws provide benefits to any individuals arriving without documentation).
Map of U.S. Immigration Detention Centers courtesy Detention Watch Network (www.detentionwatchnetwork.org) In addition to the Elizabeth Detention Center there are detention units in county jails in Bergen and Essex County and three other jails in New Jersey.
Elias Garcia recently brought to our attention a Guatemalan man (Mr. E.) who is being held at the Elizabeth Detention Center. He lives in Hudson County, has a good job, and is the father of three American children. His wife is just barely scraping by and will lose their home soon if she is unable to pay the rent. Her father, who was detained along with Mr. E., agreed to be deported.
The offenses of which Mr. E. is accused are immigration violations, not crimes (immigration violations are civil offenses, like not stopping for a stop sign). Mr. E. is fearful for his personal safety if he is sent back, and he also needs to support his family here. So he is fighting the deportation order and requesting a stay of removal.
The CoFiA Board agreed to send a letter to ICE on his behalf supporting his request. Letters from individuals are also welcome. For more information call Margaret (201-833-1737; English) or Elias (201-362-3928; Spanish).
THE STILL STANDING BAND
Leonia’s own Still Standing Band will be back by popular demand at the CoFiA fund raising Fiesta on October 18. The Band has agreed to play two sets this year–so bring your dancing shoes! There will also be refreshments, other entertainment, updates on CoFiA’s activities this year, and some surprises as well.
The event will once again be at the American Legion Hall, 399 Broad Avenue in Leonia.
Tickets are $10/person or $20 for couples and families.
An article by Monsy Alvarado in THE RECORD, Monday, September 15, 2014, describes the challenges school districts throughout New Jersey including Bergen County are facing as some of the children who have been arriving in the U.S. throughout the summer get ready to enroll in school. They all must have a physical exam, including tuberculosis tests, and are tested to see where they stand academically and how well they speak English.
Although there is some increase in the numbers, it is not a major surge compared with the numbers who have been coming for years. Most of the children are coming to parents or relatives who are already here. In Palisades Park, the school district has constructed a new kindergarten classroom in the public library, next door to the Early Learning Center; but we don’t know if the increase is primarily from new arrivals or just the natural expansion of the population that is already here.
Alvarado quotes a representative of an anti-immigrant organization as saying educating these children is “a huge financial strain.” She needs to educate herself on the facts. We need the immigrants and their children; they are providing numerous services we all depend on, and they are helping to fill the coffers out of which our Social Security is being drawn. We need to welcome, educate, and nurture these children and families–in our own self-interest as well as theirs.
The October general meeting of CoFiA will feature a presentation of a report on a trip to Guatemala by a number of members and friends of CoFiA, the Presbyterian Church in Leonia, and others. The program will begin at 7:30 p.m. People who participated in the trip, part of a program of the Hug it Forward group, will share their experiences helping to build a “bottle school” as well as learning about the culture and current conditions in Guatemala.
This was the second trip for many of the participants and several brought students and other young people to share the experience.
The program will be held at the Presbyterian Church in Leonia, 181 Fort Lee Road, Leonia. It is free and open to the public.
A coalition for worker and immigrant rights including labor unions, faith-based community and many progressive and social justice activists are organizing a caravan to South Texas in support of migrant refugees. The caravan will take badly needed material to the children on the border as well as to organizations that are supporting immigrants. They will also carry out a National Educational Campaign.
The caravan organizers have a list of demands including refugee status for all Central American children, an end to the deportation of all immigrants, legalization for the over 12 million undocumented immigrants, and an end to the killing and abuse of children and youth from Ferguson to Gaza to the Mexico and Texas borders.
They are asking interested individuals and organizations to assist with financial contributions (payable to IFCO/Solidarity Caravan 2014, 147 W. 24th St., 2nd floor, New York, NY 10011); contributing material aid for the children; or hosting the Caravan in particular cities. The Caravan leaves NYC around October 2.
For more information, call 917-328-6570.
Photo: CoFiA Vice-Chair Roni and Secretary Guillermo at a different occasion!
Please join us for the first CoFiA meeting of the 2014-2015 season this Thursday, September 4, at 7:30 p.m. at the Presbyterian Church in Leonia, 181 Fort Lee Road, Leonia. Catch up on what has been happening over the summer, including a few tidbits on the recent school-building trip to Guatemala.
