with intention

By Tina Schrag


NORTH NEWTON, Kan. -- Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Central States is
responding to a May 12 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid at
Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa.

In the raid, 389 workers without documentation of citizenship or other
legal status were captured and detained. ICE had a caravan of buses ready
to cart the people away to the National Cattle Congress in Waterloo, Iowa
for processing. Many children were left without parents, businesses have
shut down and it is unknown what the future holds for this small town in
northeast Iowa. Two churches and the school in Postville have become safe
sanctuaries for people who had a family member taken in the raid.

Saulo Padilla, MCC U.S. Director for the Office on Immigration, said, "The
church has the call to welcome the stranger and proclaim that any division
between immigrant and native is erased; there are no borders or boundaries
for us as followers of Jesus. When institutions and agencies side with the
powers of the world, the church is called to side with the oppressed, the
poor, stranger and the marginalized. If we fail to do this, we fail to be
the church."

MCC Central States is providing $1,000 to help cover housing and food
costs for families affected by the raid through Cedar Falls Mennonite
Church in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Pastor Susan Janzen explained, "Our faith in
Jesus Christ and commitment to following after him compels us to stand in
solidarity with the people of Postville and the other immigrant
populations in our community. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells us
that on judgment day God will ask us how we treated and welcomed the
strangers among us. How we respond to 'the least of these,' which in our
context includes the immigrants detained in this raid and their families,
is a sign of our faithfulness to God."

Krista Zimmerman, the MCC Washington Office legislative associate for
Domestic Affairs, adds, "Immigration raids aren't the way to fix a broken
immigration system. Congress needs to enact comprehensive immigration
reform." MCC Central States encourages individuals and congregations to
write letters to their U.S. congressional representative and senators with
a similar message.

For a sample letter and more information on immigration from MCC please
visit http://mcc.org/centralstates/iceraid. To make a donation to support
the general immigration work of MCC U.S., please visit
mcc.org/donate/donate.html (select "Donate Online," then under
"designation," choose "other," and type "Immigration U.S."). Or send a
check to the nearest MCC center and designate it for "Immigration U.S.
Work."