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In progress: CWS Interethnic Dialogues on Immigration
A diversity of participants and views mark the dialogues.
Photo: Jamie Pitts/CWS
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NEW YORK -- Global humanitarian agency Church World Service is inviting people from a wide variety of ethnic and religious backgrounds and with diverse opinions about U.S. immigration policy to a new series of Interethnic Dialogues on Immigration.
Set to launch on April 28 in Grand Rapids, Mich., the dialogues will encourage participants to speak out -- and to listen to each other -- on this crucial topic.
New York-based Church World Service (CWS) is sponsoring 10 such events, aimed at helping participants from different backgrounds move toward unity and community action.
Nine local dialogues are scheduled through July: Grand Rapids, Mich. (April 28); Miami, Fla. (May 7); Boston, Mass. (May 12); Omaha, Neb. (May 16); Syracuse, N.Y. (May 24); Atlanta, Ga. (June 1); Columbus, Ohio (June 13); Chicago, Ill. (June 15), and New Haven, Ct. (July 12). A final, national dialogue, at which findings from the local gatherings will be presented, is scheduled for later in 2007 in Washington, D.C.
"Too often, different ethnic groups are pitted against each other as potential winners and losers in the immigration debate," says Jamie Pitts, dialogue coordinator, who works in CWS’s Washington, D.C., offices. "And too often, the debate seems to forget that immigration affects people of all nationalities.
"Yes, Latinos are at the forefront of our current debates, but it is time to recognize that the immigration issue is far broader," he said. "For instance, few of our debates take into account the impact of immigration policies on our Asian and African populations. And few of our discussions on undocumented immigration talk about the thousands of Irish and other European undocumented people."
That is why dialogue organizers are inviting a cross-section of each host community -- between 40 and 100 organizations and individuals, including people from immigrant and refugee communities, community advocates, businesspeople, government officials, and media -- to each dialogue.
Participants are asked to come with the one immigration-related issue that is most important to them and/or their organization. An agenda for each meeting is created out of those issues, and participants break up into small groups to discuss each issue.
At a January 18 pilot dialogue in Washington, D.C., participants' concerns clustered around issues that included the impact of immigration on low-income, U.S.-born workers; detention of immigrants and immigrant families, and the unintended impact of the "material support to terrorism bar" on legitimate refugees and asylum seekers.
"In other communities, the priorities that emerge might be totally different," Pitts said. "At the end of the day, time is set aside for strategic planning to ensure the implementation of action steps that arise from the discussions. As relationships form through the dialogue process, action steps are identified and implemented."
Why "dialogue?" Haven’t we talked enough?
"Yes and no," Pitts said. "Though we have been talking about immigration for a long time, we have made little progress. There are a number of reasons why we have not progressed, but among them are our tendencies to only talk with people who agree with us and not to listen to those who disagree.
"Interethnic Dialogues on Immigration create space for people with a wide array of opinions to share those opinions and respectfully listen to others. We believe the give and take of sharing and listening -- dialogue -- is central to our democratic process and will help our national discussion on immigration.
"We do plan for action to come out of the dialogues and these dialogues will facilitate new alliances and help identify common ground where action can take place. Finally, the dialogues are a great way to connect with organizations that are active on immigration in your community."
For more information in both English and Spanish: www.immigrationdialogues.org
Media contacts: Lesley Crosson; lcrosson@churchworldservice.org; 212-870-2676, and Jan Dragin (781) 925-1526, jdragin@gis.net
For other questions, contact Jamie Pitts; jpitts@churchworldservice.org; office (202) 544-6775; cellphone (626) 823-1371
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