Your tax dollars!
It is Sunday morning, is your church taking taxpayer money?
S.744, the so-called “comprehensive immigration reform” bill (Gang of Eight plus Grover bill) that was passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee with cheers of “si,se puede!”, contains a slush-fund for open borders groups and churches.
So, today, if you attend an ‘Evangelical’ church you might ask your pastor, are we involved with World Relief?
In Minnesota, World Relief of Minnesota, one of several refugee contractors in the state, is getting excited about the new flow of federal money (your money!) into their till should S.744 become law. Thanks to Debbie for sending the following action item. But, before reading below, note that according to World Relief Minnesota’s most recent Form 990, they ‘earned’ $1,364,202 and they received 80% from government grants (from you!) $1,094,793.
Without tax dollars they would fold!
Their parent organization, World Relief Corporation of National Association of Evangelicals, one of the top nine federal refugee contractors had an income stream last year of $51,828,435 and $34,109,484 (65%) came from you, here.
Also, note that World Relief (MN) will be joining others on Tuesday evening (May 28th) to hear from Rep. Keith Ellison about what goodies the new immigration law would bring to the refugee program, here.
World Relief: Yippee! more money coming our way! (thanks to help from Keith Ellison!)
On Wednesday, June 5 (9-11am), World Relief Minnesota invites church leaders and immigrant advocates to a preview meeting to learn about specific ways that congregations can provide low-cost legal services and information to these thousands of immigrants in Minnesota.
The preview meeting is being hosted by the Immigrant Hope Coalition, a collaborative effort of Transform Minnesota, Immigrant Hope Network, World Relief Minnesota, CCDA and denominational leaders from Assemblies of God,Christian & Missionary Alliance, Evangelical Free Church of America, and theMinnesota Iowa Baptist Conference.
Across the country, churches and faith-based organizations, have set up accredited, low-cost legal service centers to provide basic services and vital information to help immigrants understand processes and to file their applications with the US Customs & Immigration Services.
Immigrants in your community need these services.
When navigating immigration laws and forms, oftentimes immigrants are taken advantage of, or do not have the money to pay attorney’s fees. These ILSC do not replace the role of attorneys, rather they help give immigrants correct information and assistance to file certain types of applications, from someone who has been accredited to do so.
It is very feasible for a church – or ideally a coalition of churches – to get trained, become accredited and set up an immigrant legal service center. The US Department of Justice has created a process whereby individuals can complete 40 hours of training, gain experience at an existing service center, and then apply to become accredited to provide basic immigration legal services under the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), the US DOJ branch responsible for overseeing immigration law.
What to Expect June 5
The preview meeting on June 5 will explain the steps in this process, including information about formal training being offered in the Twin Cities in November 2013, information about operating an ILSC with proper accreditation and technical support, and a description of the kinds of services typically provided to immigrants by an ILSC.
The meeting is free, and no registration is required – but we would appreciate to know in advance who is coming. If you plan to attend click here to fill in this simple “sign up” list so that we can plan accordingly.
Questions?
Contact either:
Alex Mandes – Immigrant Hope | Alex.Mandes@efca.org
Carl Nelson – Transform Minnesota | Carl@transformmn.org | 612-243-2941