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The video “Why I Am Here,” produced by CoFiA and Grupo Ellatu, will be screened at the Puffin Cultural Forum in Teaneck on Sunday, June 10, 2012, at 4 p.m.  Both the videographer, Juan Pablo Morales Estrada, and the subject of the video, “Mr. Garcia,” will be present to discuss the film with the audience.

The presentation of the video will be followed by a performance by Grupo Folklórico Tikál, a local troupe performing traditional Guatemalan dances.  They will present “The History of Tecún Umán,” the last King of the Quiche Mayan people who is honored as a hero because he defied the Spanish conquistadors, and gave his life for his people.

For more information on

the event, go to www.puffinculturalforum.org

Beginning on Monday, April 9, 2012, CofiA will sponsor “Casa Latina,” a drop-in program to be held at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Palisades Park on Monday evenings from 7 – 9 p.m.  The program will offer “café, formación, e información” (coffee, education/training, and information). It will be open to the public and is free.  Volunteers are welcome to assist with refreshment and programs.  Call 201-833-1737 (English) or 201-362-3928 for more information.

We have just learned that one of our worker friends received a payment from an employer who had failed to pay him.  The worker is a very young man–just 16 years of age–who came to this country to try to support his mother.  He was working in a restaurant.  When he came to the CoFiA wage theft committee he said he was owed a fairly substantial amount of money.  When our committee confronted the employer, a restaurant owner, she not only admitted she owed him that amount–she said she owed more!  And promptly went on to pay him.  A true cause for celebration.

Other people have not been so lucky.  Four workers are owed large amounts of money.  The employer had first paid them with bad checks, which he refused to make good on.  They and the committee met with the employer several times, and he agreed to pay them on an agreed schedule.  He did not pay them, but another person in the same business made the first payment.  When no other payment was forthcoming, members of the committee tracked the second person down and advised him that additional money was still owed.  Although he denied it was his responsibility, he did promptly make the second payment.  The third payment is still outstanding.  Committee members have made many calls to the original owner, have sent him certified letters, and have even gone to his house attempting to collect this money. As of now the issue is unresolved.

Several other cases are pending.

On Thursday, April 26, 2012, at 7:00 p.m., the Community of Friends in Action, Inc., and Grupo Ellatu, present a new video, “Why I Am Here.”  A documentary created by Juan Pablo Morales Estrada, the video features Mr. Garcia, a Guatemalan who lives in Bergen County.  Interviews with Mr. Garcia, interwoven with scenes of his home and family in Guatemala and archival footage of the Guatemalan civil war, document why he had to leave his beloved homeland to try to survive and make a living in the U.S.

The video was funded in part by grants from the Puffin Foundation Ltd., and CoFiA.  It is free and open to the public.  Donations to support the work of the filmmaker will be welcome.

For more information call 201-598-2253.

We are pleased to announce that CoFiA has been awarded a generous $1000 grant from the Community Chest of Leonia.  The grant was announced at the annual Agency Day on March 14, 2012, in Leonia.  This gift will enable us to move forward with our important work, including the Monday lunch program, wage theft collection assistance, ESL programs, and now the promotion of our new video, “Why I Am Here.”

 Thank you, Community Chest!

Several members and friends of the Community of Friends in Action, Inc., are enjoying working with ESL students at the Palisades Park Public Library on Tuesday evenings.  Currently there are classes for beginning students, intermediate, and advanced.  The classes are free, and the library makes the space available without charge.  More volunteer teachers are needed.  Contact us at 201-598-253 or info@communityoffriendsinaction.org for more information.

The Wage Theft committee of the Community of Friends in Action, Inc. (CoFiA) continues to receive ongoing complaints from workers about wages that have been earned but not paid.  In one particularly difficult case, a Leonia-based contractor owes several workers thousands of dollars.  Even though the committee and the workers have met with him repeatedly and he has signed an agreement to pay them on a regular schedule, only one of these payment agreements has been fulfilled.  In addition, an earlier payment was made with bad checks, for which the workers were charged a bank fee when they tried to deposit them.

Another current situation involves a young woman whose employer refused to pay her wages for a particular period, and then fired her.  The committee is seeking a meeting with the employer, an employee of a well-known local firm, to attempt to find a resolution.

Many other cases have been brought to the CoFiA committee, which would welcome volunteers to help with finding resolutions.

On Friday, February 24, 2012, at 7:30 p.m., a video-in-the-making entitled “Why I Am Here,” will be presented at the Unitarian Society of Ridgewood, 113 Cottage Place, Ridgewood, NJ 07450.   The video is supported, in part, with a  grant from the Puffin Foundation, Limited, and with a donation from the Unitarian Society of Ridgewood.

 The presentation of the video is part of an evening program entitled “Unintended Consequences: How U.S. Laws Encourage Migration.”  As an introduction, graduate student Nadir Romo, a son of Mexican immigrants, will provide a PowerPoint and lecture on the impact of Free Trade Treaties such as NAFTA and CAFTA, on the economies of  South and Central American countries.

 The video documents the story of one Guatemalan immigrant, Elìas Garcìa, who tells how trade treaties and the brutal civil war in his country forced him to leave his beloved homeland to find refuge and a source of income in the U.S.  The videographer, Juan Pablo Morales Estrada, provides footage of  Mr. Garcìa’s  family and home in Guatemala, as well as visual documentation of the realities of the civil war.

 The evening will close with a presentation of a dance performance by Grupo Folklórico Tikál, a Guatemalan group that presents historical and cultural information through dance and poetry.

 The evening is free and open to the public, but donations for the dancers and the development of the video are requested.  Checks may be made payable to: CoFiA, P.O. Box 448, 181 Fort Lee Road, Leonia, NJ 07605.

The Community of Friends in Action is asking for donations to assist with the Wage Theft and Workers Link programs.  Helping workers who have been cheated out of wages they have worked hard for takes many hours of both volunteer and staff time, and the Workers Link program also requires steady attention by CoFiA staff.

Donations may be made payable to CoFiA and mailed to us at P.O. Box 448, 181 Fort Lee Road, Leonia, NJ 07605.  For more information about either program call us at 201-598-2253.  Volunteers to assist with the programs are also welcome.

National organizations of immigration advocates are cautioning that members of the immigration community need to be alerted to the widespread practice of notarial fraud in relation to the PROPOSED changes in rules  in immigration policy related to the “family unity waiver.”  The changes, if implemented, would make it possible for undocumented family members of U.S. citizens to remain in the U.S. while applications are being processed, rather than return to countries of origin. The wait for processing can take 3 to 12 years, during which time families are separated.

The problem is that unscrupulous lawyers and other advisors (notarios) are encouraging people to file applications now, which can actually work against the possibility of eventual success, if the applications are denied. People must wait until the rule change is finally approved before taking any action.