Blog Posts

Day after day we hear nightmarish stories of gangland slayings in Mexico, as drug-related violence expands, affecting the lives of countless families and communities across Mexico, as well as the U.S-Mexico border region. Mexico’s Attorney General estimates that rival drug cartels killed 6,262 people in 2008.

I remember arriving to Ambos Nogales (Nogales, Sonora & Nogales, Arizona) in 1994. Dairy Queen Blizzard in hand, I walked by the crumbling mix of chain-link fencing and rusted metal sheets that bisected the downtown, with families from both sides of the border streaming through the ports of entry to go grocery shopping, celebrate a cousin’s birthday party, or attend church services.

In the coming week, over 100 prayer vigils will be taking place in towns across the country – all calling for the new Administration and members of Congress to show moral courage and leadership in enacting humane immigration reform.

Anti-immigrant legislation and sentiment have sparked the return of the 1980's Sanctuary Movement.  The New Sanctuary Movement continues the tradition of standing up for human and immigrant rights in opposition to unjust policies.