Since its inception almost 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 the Council in 1935 was opposition to segregation and support for racial justice; the Council has long supported the rights of vulnerable and excluded people.

The council 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.

In 2002, the Council issued a public statement welcoming our Latino neighbors and calling on po9licymakers to increase Latinos' access to higher education, healthcare and housing, and to provide drivers' licenses for Latinos. In 2006, the Council passed a statement in support of comprehensive immigration reform, saying that "Religious communities must look to our scripture and faith traditions which call us to welcome the stranger, promote hospitality, and seek justice." In 2005 we supported a bill that would have allowed undocumented students to pay in-state tuition, and we were surprised at the degree of anti-immigrant rhetoric generated by this policy debate.

Since then, we have hosted a major conference on immigration and people of faith (attended by 300 people), started a newsletter called "Faith & Immigration," and organized the grassroots NC Religious Coalition for Justice for Immigrants. To date, over one thousand North Carolinians, including over 300 clergy, have endorsed the Coalition's statement.

Contact:
Chris Liu-Beers

Recent News:

521 Organizations Send Letter to White House Condemning 287(g) Program for Causing Racial Profiling and Endangering Public Safety

WASHINGTON –521 local and national organizations – including the North Carolina Council of Churches – signed a letter delivered to President Obama on Aug. 25 demanding the administration terminate the 287(g) program granting state and local law enforcement agencies federal immigration enforcement authority. The program, a legacy of the Bush Administration, has caused serious civil and human rights abuses, including racial profiling, and endangers public safety.

“The Obama administration has responded to documented violations within the 287(g) program by expanding it and creating an illusory complaint process,” said Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center. “Ostracizing potential victims of and witnesses to crime and providing them with a disincentive to trust the authorities will make all our communities less safe.”

Local organizations that signed the letter will host vigils, marches, and other activities across the country to voice their discontent with the administration’s decision to expand the 287(g) program despite evidence that it makes immigrant communities and the general public more vulnerable and less safe. Since its inception, the 287(g) program has drawn sharp criticism from federal officials, law enforcement, community groups, and press reports. They charged that the program has caused Latinos and other minority groups to be stopped or arrested because of their appearance or accent, which resulted in the wrongful detention of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents. The program failed to meet the federal government’s own objectives or set priorities in immigration enforcement, and interfered with local law enforcement’s ability to implement sound community policing practices designed to ensure public safety.

“The 287(g) program encourages civil rights abuses and makes it more difficult for police to do their primary job of fighting crime, endangering public safety for everyone,” said Carlos Garcia, a Phoenix community organizer with the Macehualli day labor center. “I hope President Obama, as a former community organizer, will recognize that in defense of their civil rights, immigrant communities have organized around the country in opposition to this failed experiment of the Bush administration.”

You can read a copy of the letter here.

The NC Council of Churches has just published 2 free fact sheets that are available for distribution in your congregation or community group.

	"Faith & Immigration" highlights the religious calling to welcome the stranger.

	"Society & Immigration " evaluates common misconceptions about immigrants.