The UUSJ Immigrant Action Team Gets It

I first became involved with the Immigration Action Team as an offshoot of my work with the Migrant Solidarity Team of All Souls Church Unitarian in Washington, DC.  We have been working on direct support for immigrants in our community for years, though I had not been active until I retired in 2018.  When the representative from our Migrant Solidarity Team on the IAT moved on, I volunteered to participate.

I have been deeply impressed by the thoughtfulness and hard work of the IAT. After a 40-year career in human rights and community development in Latin America, with over 17 of those years in residence in five of the countries currently sending many immigrants to our borders, I have come to understand the exigencies that impel migrants to seek a better life in our country.  I have also been appalled by the reception they receive in our country and by the immigration policies that make their arrival and adjustment so difficult.

The IAT gets it, and does a lot of hard thinking and analysis about what issues and imperatives it ought to prioritize, and how it can best inform and mobilize UUSJ and other organizations to weigh in on critical issues.  Although I have a strong background in the sending region and have been involved in many of these issues for decades, I am always learning something new from my peers on the IAT.  They truly add value to the advocacy community.

Stephen Cox,
Member Immigration Action Team