Comunidade Católica Brasileira em NYC

Over the course of two thousand years, the Catholic Church has developed a special expertise in the area of immigration.  Our universal Church has observed and participated in migrations all across the globe.

We have helped millions of immigrants – Catholic and non-Catholic – to prosper in new lands.  We have done so and will continue to do so because we see the image and likeness of God in every human being. From the Prophets to recent papal teaching, the Church has a consistent message:
welcome the stranger (Mt 25:35).

We recognize that Catholics, all in good conscience, hold differing views about U.S. immigration policy.  We also know that many are dissatisfied with the status quo and are looking for a workable solution.  Our Catholic teaching provides important principles to guide us.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL LETTER

TAKE ACTION - WRITE TO PRESIDENT OBAMA AND YOUR SENATOR DEMANDING IMMIGRATION REFORM NOW > CLICK HERE<

LEARN ABOUT THE RECALLING OF WICONSIN GOVERNOR - SCOTT WALKER - AND TAKE AN ACTION

Just as on the road to Emmaus, Christ's disciples met him in the guise of a stranger, this year's theme helps remind us that Christ makes himself present to each of us in the lonesome traveler, the newcomer, and the migrant.  We are called to open our hearts and provide hospitality to those in need. 

It is our duty to create a space of welcome and acceptance to the migrant who finds himself or herself far away from home and in a vulnerable situation. Throughout the fall we will be providing a number of resources that reflect on this theme.

Please check back regularly to see what new resources are available for your use.Some of these items will be available for download only while others will be available in bulk for a nominal price through the USCCB publishing office.If there are resources that you think would be helpful for your ministry, please let me know at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , and I will do what I can to meet your needs.

 To purchase National Migration Week material, please contact USCCB publishing at 800-235-8722 or visit their website to browse Migration and Refugee Services material. We also encourage you to visit the Justice for Immigrants website, where you can find a wide range of educational resources on immigration and Catholic Social Teaching. 

Click > here< to order 2012 National Migration Week Materials

Homeland Security's inspector general plans a review of the immigration enforcement program that purports to target 'serious convicted felons' but which some accuse of racial profiling.

The Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General plans an investigation of an immigration enforcement program that purports to target "serious convicted felons" for deportation but has ensnared many illegal immigrants who were arrested but not subsequently convicted of crimes or who committed minor offenses, a letter obtained Wednesday shows.

The letter from acting Inspector General Charles K. Edwards to Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose), who requested an investigation late last month, said the watchdog agency had already scheduled a review of the program, known as Secure Communities.

EACH year, 50,000 green cards, which allow immigrants to become permanent residents and eventually qualify for United States citizenship, are randomly given away.

The 10 million or so aspiring Americans who enter this lottery every year do not have to have family members here. Nor do they have to demonstrate special skills. They merely have to come from a country, like my native Germany, that is underrepresented in the immigrant pool, fill out a simple form and hope that, against very long odds, they get to live the American dream.

Imagine my ecstasy, then, when I checked the State Department’s Web site in the early morning on May 1, and saw that I had won the lottery. Like tens of thousands of lucky winners all over the world, I stared at my screen in disbelief. Was my dream of staying in America really to be fulfilled? Could I one day call New York, a city I love like no other in the world, my home? The answer, it turns out, is a crushing no.

I've written before about the differences in tone between Fox News and their latest online venture, Fox News Latino. On the one hand, Fox News Latino is designed to expand Fox's audience to incorporate the rapidly growing Hispanic demographic.

Hard-Working Immigrant Students Retain Path to Achieving the "Texas Dream"

SAN ANTONIO, TX – Because of the intervention of University Leadership Initiative ("ULI"), hard-working undocumented immigrant students no longer face a legal claim from the Immigration Reform Coalition of Texas (IRCOT) to be stripped of their right to pay instate tuition and take part in the "Texas Dream" of achieving a quality higher education.

On April 21, 2011, MALDEF filed a motion on behalf of University Leadership Initiative, defendant-intervenor in the case of IRCOT v. Texas, to dismiss IRCOT's claim. In response, IRCOT dropped its claim seeking to strike down the instate tuition law. Known as Texas House Bill ("HB 1403"), and signed into law by Governor Rick Perry in 2001, the instate tuition law provides educational access to all qualified Texas residents, regardless of immigration status.

Missas todos os Domingos, das 13:30 hs às 14:30 hs, seguida por "cafezinho" no salão paroquial da Igreja.

Sexta-feira, 01.07, das 20 às 21hs - Grupo de Oração, na sala de reuniões da Igreja.
Sábado, 02.07 - Ensaio do Coral na sala de reuniões da Igreja
Domingo, 31.07 às 14:30hs - Comemoração dos Aniversariantes do Mês. Se você é aniversariante e gostaria de participar, entre em contato com Fábio ou Eliana.


DIAS SANTOS E DATAS COMEMORATIVAS DO MÊS DE JULHO
em breve

CLICK > HERE < to tell Senators Baucus, Tester, Pryor, Hagan, Nelson and Manchin:

We will not forgot this cowardly betrayal - your vote with Republicans against the dreams of millions of deserving youth will not deter us from passing the DREAM Act. We will remember where you stood in 2012 and beyond.

This battle isn’t over. Not by a long shot. We can’t stop until we make things right for the millions of people who suffer under our broken immigration system. And we’ll make sure that the people who voted against the DREAM Act today don’t forget. Our movement will always stand together, and we’ll never stop fighting.

CLICK HERE  to tell Senators Baucus, Tester, Pryor, Hagan, Nelson and Manchin you are watching their votes, one by one.

CLICK HERE TO SEND A FREE FAX Asking  the new Speaker of the House John Boehner:

Do you stand with the extremists of your party who want to criminalize newborn babies? Or are you ready to work on sensible solutions and approaches to immigration policy that are humane?

The 112th Congress has just begun, and already the GOP has introduced legislation to eliminate birthright citizenship, a right granted by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution and affirmed by the Supreme Court.

CLICK HERE TO SEND A FREE FAX.

Our national failure to fix the broken immigration system has led to record and wasteful government spending on immigration enforcement. Billions of dollars could be saved if Congress terminated wasteful or duplicative programs and refocused our enforcement priorities on real threats. Instead, in the interest of political expediency, some members prefer to spend lavishly – adding to our already out-of-control debt- to enforce outdated rules that haven’t changed in more than twenty years and no longer make sense.

Like shopaholics with a wallet full of credit cards, they buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have. While Congress may have champagne tastes when it comes to enforcement spending, the American people know we’re working with a beer budget. It’s time for Congress to take a serious look at bloated enforcement spending, trim some fat, and fix our broken immigration system.

In just the last four years, spending on border security has ballooned to more than $50 billion—an unprecedented amount billed to the American taxpayers that is neither justified nor properly accounted for. Annual spending by Customs and Border Protection has more than doubled since 2005, from $5.4 billion to more than $11 billion this year. The Border Patrol’s budget alone is now more than $3.5 billion—nearly ten times what it was in the mid-1990s—even though illegal crossings have dipped below 1972 levels due, in large part, to a faltering economy.

 

Take Action NOW: Contact your Senators and Representative by e-mail, phone, FAX or U.S. Mail:

• Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at: 202-224-3121, or call your Members’ local offices.
• View a sample letter that you can print and send to your federal lawmaker.
• Send an e-mail that has the sample letter in it.
• Additional contact info can be found on Members’ web sites at: www.senate.gov and www.house.gov.
• Share this action alert with your social media networks.

Problem: As Congress negotiates a spending bill for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2011, it is imperative that you weigh in with your Senators and urge them to oppose drastic cuts to funding for refugees and other vulnerable populations in the United States and abroad. The House-passed Fiscal Year 2011 budget would make deep cuts in refugee admissions, overseas refugee assistance, and refugee resettlement programs.
 

File this under "atrocious statement of the month": Kansas State Rep. Virgil Peck (R-Tyro) piped up during a debate about feral swine control funding with a suggestion as unrelated as it was offensive to murder undocumented immigrants.

"It looks like to me if shooting these immigrating feral hogs works maybe we have found a [solution] to our illegal immigration problem," Peck declared to gasps from the audience and fellow lawmakers. Rep. Peck is not sorry. He was just making a funny, after all. Because nothing spells humor quite like advocating the murder of hardworking mothers, fathers, and children. Especially when you get to compare them to wild pigs at the same time! Ho ho ho, ha ha ha ... eh. Click to READ MORE.

Click HERE to sign America's Voice petition calling on the US Department of Justice and the FBI to investigate whether Rep. Peck’s call for the mass murder of immigrants violates federal law prohibiting the incitement of domestic terrorism and genocide, and whether his targeting individuals based on their race or national origin violate civil rights laws.

Regardless of your views on immigration reform, we can all agree that hate speech like this from supposedly responsible leaders is reprehensible. The normalization of hate is no laughing matter – and the incitement of mass murder is against the law. SIGN THE PETITION - Click HERE.