///Rapid Response 06/02/08
Night of 1,000 Conversations -- June 19th

While Rapid Response Action Alerts usually focus on advocacy related to legislation under consideration in Congress, this one focuses on what you can do to affect attitudes of persons in your community that can then impact administrative changes in the Department of Homeland Security.

Church World Service is working with other groups to call for a "Night of 1,000 Conversations" on June 19th. This night is an opportunity for Christians of various political backgrounds to dialogue together to find common ground on immigration reform, especially as it relates to the Department of Homeland Security's actions concerning detention, raids, and naturalization backlogs.

As recently publicized in The Washington Post and other media stories, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been responsible for more than 83 deaths of persons in immigration detention due to denials of medical care. Here is one man's story:

Joseph Dantica, an 81 year-old Baptist minister, fled his native Haiti afraid for his life after his church was set on fire by gangs. He arrived in the United States with a valid visa and, fearing prosecution if he returned home, applied for asylum. Joseph was held at a detention facility where his blood-pressure medication was confiscated. He became violently ill, but was accused of faking his symptoms and was denied medical care. Rev. Dantica died three days after reaching United States soil, shackled to a bed.

DHS has denied any wrongdoing in all such cases of death and progression of disease due to their negligence.

DHS raids have substantially increased across the United States and children (many of whom are American citizens) are being left behind. Many of the persons being picked up in raids are hard working people who are desperately desired by their employers to do this kind of hard work for little pay that most citizens are not willing to do, and citizens do want this work done for little cost so that the amount they pay for goods and services does not increase beyond their means to pay. Additionally persons who have permanent resident status and have applied for naturalization are forced by the DHS backlog to wait years for the processing of their papers. These are some of the issues for discussion in the Night of 1,000 Conversations.

How to organize a conversation:

1. On June 19th, invite family and friends to your house for refreshments. You can even make it a part of your book club or church group meeting.
2. Read the stories of people victimized by raids and detention and provide educational materials to participants, such as the Night of 1,000 Conversations fact sheets.
3. Engage in discussion about everyone's personal experiences and reactions to these issues.
4. Brainstorm ways you can make a difference in advocacy and service regarding these issues.

Thank you for your willingness to take action.