New Look for J/P Alert More Katrina Impact Death on the Border GuluWalk Immersion Trips

With this issue, J/P Alert begins its new incarnation as a true e-newsletter. Previous editions have been sent in portable document format (PDF), which is essentially a way of providing a print medium in electronic form. The new format has a number of advantages:

1) it will no longer be necessary to download a PDF file and use Adobe Reader to display it;

2) live links to other resources can be easily embedded in the text;

3) the layout is more flexible and can be modified as needed;

4) it will be available as a web page on CMSM's web site at www.cmsm.org;

5) for members with slower internet access, a text-only version will be available.

We hope you will enjoy the "new look" of J/P Alert and will find its new features useful. Please let us know what you think. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome.

According to a story in the Oct. 3 edition of The Wall Street Journal, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a division of the Department of Homeland Security, has been detaining undocumented victims of Hurricane Katrina who have made themselves known in order to receive services in the aftermath of Katrina's devastation. Immigrant rights groups have accused ICE of racial profiling. Unlike the policy after the 9/11 attack, undocumented victims are not assured that they won't be deported.

The result is that many victims are afraid to seek help. The problem is compounded by the fact that there are many victims of the disaster whose documents were lost or destroyed as a result of the storm. As a result, they have no way of proving that they are in the country legally. The status of their eligibility for jobs in the cleanup and rebuilding campaign in the gulf-coast area is likewise in doubt.

According to the Journal:

Immigrant groups say the incident in Long Beach [Miss.] is the latest example of how immigrant laborers are falling through the cracks of disaster recovery in the aftermath of the disastrous hurricanes that have pounded the Gulf Coast. Last year, thousands of immigrants in Florida were overlooked in the relief operation, and many feared asking for aid would lead to their arrest.

"These people have already lost everything they had, and now they have been victimized all over again," said Vicky Cintra, emergency outreach coordinator for the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance, a coalition of civil rights, religious and community groups in Jackson, Miss.

Under government rules, illegal workers aren't eligible for most of the government aid made available to storm victims, such as cash grants and loans for emergency expenses and home repairs. But operations run by the Red Cross, churches and other nonprofit charities don't distinguish among storm victims and will grant them financial aid and other help.

Steve Bayer, the local spokesman for the Red Cross, said the organization doesn't ask about citizenship status when offering shelter or providing money after a disaster, and didn't ask the police and marshals to come to the shelter, where about 175 people were living. "We told them this is not the proper procedure to follow," he said. "The people there have been treated with respect by the Red Cross. . . . We don't profile people."

According to Border Patrol figures, 460 people died trying to cross the border from Mexico to the U.S. in the fiscal year ending September 30. This is much greater than last year, when 383 died. The actual number is likely to be considerably higher, since the Border Patrol can only count bodies that have been found. Increased border enforcement have forced migrants to take more dangerous routes, often through the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, where summer temperatures regularly top 110 degrees.

On July 9, 2005 two volunteers with the humanitarian organization No More Deaths, Shanti Sellz and Daniel Strauss, were arrested by the United States Border Patrol while medically evacuating three people in distress from the desert near Arivaca, Arizona.

According to an organization press release:

The No More Deaths camp encountered three individuals, two of whom were ill and had severe blisters, and the third who was vomiting and had severe diarrhea on Saturday, July 9th at the Arivaca Camp. After consulting with two doctors and one nurse, it was assessed that the individuals were in need of immediate medical attention and evaluation. The volunteers were advised to take the migrants to the nearest medical facility.

While medically evacuating the distressed migrants, the No More Deaths volunteers were stopped and arrested by U.S. Border Patrol. They have each been charged with two felony counts each: one for transportation of an undocumented person and the other of conspiracy of smuggling. They will be arraigned on Monday, July 11th.

A trial date was set for early October, although it might not occur until November or December. More information is available on the No More Deaths web site at www.nomoredeaths.org/.

On October 22, at least 32 cities around the world will host GuluWalks in unison with the "night commuter" children of northern Uganda who trek from camps for the displaced into the relative safety of town centers in the region. Every night and every morning 40,000 of these children walk for their lives.

From Toronto to London to Washington, DC, and even Gulu and Kampala, Uganda, GuluWalk Day has positioned itself to be the largest ever show of solidarity for this all but forgotten 19-year civil war. The original GuluWalk, which lasted for 31 days, saw two Canadians conducting their own "night commute". Every evening in July they walked 12.5 km into downtown Toronto to sleep in front of city hall. After about fours hours sleep they made the trek home at sunrise, all while continuing to work full-time and attempting to maintain their usual daily routine.

GuluWalk Day is a partner of the Act for Stolen Children in Northern Uganda campaign, which is designed to raise public awareness, increase public support and raise funds to aid children affected by the humanitarian crisis and conflicts in northern Uganda. The campaign is also designed to encourage and support governments to play a leadership role in resolving the crisis in northern Uganda.  Africa Faith and Justice Network (afjn.cua.edu), through its Uganda-CAN campaign, is a GuluWalk implementing partner in the United States.

The Walks will have coordinated media strategies, with a news conference in New York featuring celebrities and government leaders to kick off the event three days in advance.  A media strategy is being developed for each city as well. GuluWalk t-shirts and bracelets will be available at the site, as will materials to engage participants in advocacy efforts. The website www.guluwalk.com will enable participants to register a walk in their town or to see information regarding walks nearby. Contact Michael Poffenberger at 202-884-9780, cell 574-229-1301; e-mail michaelpoffenberger@afjn.org for more information.

The Friends Across Borders program is sponsored by Maryknoll Lay Missioners. FAB includes immersion trips, short-term mission experiences and service learning programs with colleges and universities. The webpage at www.friendsacrossborders.org/trips.htm will give more information.

A trip to Cambodia in February is in the planning process, as are trips to Chile and Bolivia during 2006. Trip to Kenya and El Salvador are also likely in the future. Contact Cecilia Espinoza, Maryknoll Lay Missioners, Friends Across Borders Coordinator, P.O. Box 250710, Milwaukee, WI 53225-0710; 414-461-1810; fab-milwaukee@sbcglobal.net

T. Michael McNulty, SJ, editor
mmcnulty@cmsm.org

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