First and foremost, we extend our condolences to the King family. Continuing in the spirit of Coretta Scott King and Martin Luther King, Jr., those who struggle for justice and human dignity in 2006, face a new challenge – laid bare not by a vicious storm, but by an indifferent federal government. Administration policy in the aftermath of Katrina has evinced a horrific callousness toward black suffering. While opening the floodgates of opportunity to out-of region profiteers, current policy shuts out the poor, primarily African-American, Katrina survivors from returning home and from participating in the future of their own communities.
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By BILL QUIGLEY Published on Tuesday, February 21, 2006 by CommonDreams.org Nearly six months ago, my wife Debbie and I boated out of New Orleans. We left five days after Katrina struck. Debbie worked as an oncology nurse in a New Orleans hospital. She volunteered to come in during the hurricane so that other nurses with children could evacuate. There were about 2000 people huddled in the hospital – patients, staff and families of staff and patients. Plate glass windows exploded in the lobby and on crosswalks and on several floors. Water poured in though broken windows, ceilings, and down the elevator shafts. Eight feet of brown floodwater surrounded us. The entire city...
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We come together as communities of faith and people of conscience to express our indignation and sadness over the continued death of hundreds of migrants attempting to cross the US – Mexico border each year. We believe that such death and suffering diminish us all. We share a faith and a moral imperative that transcends borders, celebrates the contributions immigrant peoples bring, and compels us to build relationships that are grounded in justice and love. As religious leaders from numerous and diverse faith traditions, we set forth the following principles by which immigration policy is to be comprehensively reformed. We believe that using these principles – listed from the most imminent threat to life...
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By ROGER MAHONY Cardinal Archbishop of Los Angeles March 22, 2006, Los Angeles We’ve received a lot of criticism for stating last month that I would instruct the priests of my archdiocese to disobey a proposed law that would subject them, as well as other church and humanitarian workers, to criminal penalties. The proposed Border Protection, Antiterrorism and Illegal Immigration Control bill, which was approved by the House of Representatives in December and is expected to be taken up by the Senate next week, would among other things subject to five years in prison anyone who “assists” an undocumented immigrant “to remain in the United States.” Some supporters of the bill have even...
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By ROBERTO RODRIGUEZ Column of the Americas – Spring 2006 A march and caravan of justice departs from San Diego this week. It’s destination: the nation’s capital. It’s goal: To bring about a humane solution to immigration. Not a moment too soon. In close to 35 years of writing on immigration related issues, it’s difficult to recall a time when the nation’s anti-immigrant hysteria was at a higher peak. The operative word is hysteria. The tough issues resulting from immigration are difficult, but resolvable, yet the nation’s politicians have never had the will to confront their political skinhead colleagues who traffic in fear and hate. It has become fashionable to nowadays link immigration...
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Los Angeles Times March 26, 2006 By TERESA WATANABE AND HECTOR BECERRA A crowd estimated by police at more than 500,000 boisterously marched in Los Angeles on Saturday to protest federal legislation that would crack down on undocumented immigrants, penalize those who help them and build a security wall along the U.S.’ southern border. Spirited but peaceful marchers – ordinary immigrants alongside labor, religious and civil rights groups – stretched more than 20 blocks along Spring Street, Broadway and Main Street to City Hall, tooting kazoos, waving American flags and chanting, “Si- se puede!” (Yes we can!). Attendance at the demonstration far surpassed the number of people who protested against the Vietnam War...
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By Scott Wright 2006 Spring With this issue of Signs of the Times in the Americas, we want to contribute to building a stronger network of Faith and Solidarity in the Americas, and to invite your support for this endeavor. In times like these, marked by the globalization of economic and military violence, we want to bear witness to the globalization of solidarity and hope. Today we are at a crossroads in our nation. The Bush Administration’s response to September 11th has been marked by a reckless disregard of international human rights conventions and the laws of the land. National security is elevated at the cost of individual security, and corporate globalization is pursued...
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Latin America and the Global War on Terror Since 9/11, a seismic shift has occurred in U.S. foreign policy – not so much in its objectives, or even in its practice, but rather what was done secretly and denied is now done openly and justified. In the words of Mexican novelist Carlos Fuentes, “U.S. support for brutal dictatorships in Chile, Argentina and Uruguay in the name of anticommunism caused great suffering: the overthrow of Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala and Salvador Allende in Chile; the Central American wars in the 1980s and their high body counts. These Latin American grievances were balanced by a perception that the U.S. never formally renounced the principles of international...
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