Immigrant Rights

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Immigrant rights is one of the defining civil rights struggles of our time. Will our state and nation welcome our new neighbors in a spirit of hospitality or will we turn to succumb to fear? And will the Church learn to see immigrants as a gift from God?

Our work for immigrant rights focuses on providing faith-based resources for congregations to think and speak theologically about our encounters with our new neighbors. At the same time, we are helping to mobilize people of faith, connecting them with grassroots movements and legislative efforts to empower immigrants here in North Carolina.

Background

Since its inception more than 75 years ago, the Council has been actively pursuing a platform of peace and social justice across the state. One of the founding issues for us in 1935 was opposition to segregation and support for racial justice; the Council has long supported the rights of vulnerable and excluded people. We worked for labor and housing protection for migrant farmworkers when many of them were African Americans traveling up and down the East Coast.

Our commitment to farmworkers has continued even as their demographics have changed to a primarily immigrant Latino population. This commitment is now growing to include the broader issues of immigration policy – a position that remains consistent with our founding principles since current immigrants (especially those who are not documented) are a significant population of vulnerable and excluded people. Jennie Belle is our primary staff person working on immigrant rights.

Recently, we helped to organize the NC Religious Coalition for Justice for Immigrants – a statewide, interfaith coalition of people of faith affirming hospitality over hostility when it comes our immigrant neighbors.

Visit the website: www.welcometheimmigrant.org

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