Media Contact:

Diana Pando, The Resurrection Project

(312) 498-4067, [email protected]

Rev. Sara Wohlleb, Interfaith Committee for Detained Immigrants

(773) 680-6311, [email protected]

Diverse Faith Leaders Stand in Solidarity with 700 Immigrants, Pledge to Keep Families Together

Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Sikh Faith leaders say to all immigrants: We will stand, lock arms, struggle and, if need be, suffer to protect the rights of all those in our community and nation.

WHAT:  In the wake of the 2016 Presidential Elections, in the midst of a rising wave of hate crimes and hateful policies targeting communities of color and other marginalized peoples, faith leaders come together to affirm that we are inextricably bound to one another and the common values upon which our diverse faith traditions are founded.

Faith leaders recognize that millions of immigrant families are in very real danger. Mass deportations and Muslim registration and internment may have seemed impossible nightmares before. Now we find ourselves at the very edge of these nightmares becoming reality.

Faith leaders stand in solidarity with these immigrant families and all in our midst who are frightened, feel marginalized or disrespected. We are resolved to stand in mutual solidarity with those groups who may be exposed to undue suffering as we move into a new season in our nation.

WHO:  Father Tony Pizzo, Saint Rita of Cascia Parish/Southwest Organizing Project; Father Chuck Dahm, Saint Pius/The Resurrection Project; Rev. Myron McCoy, First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple, Rabbis Ed Goldberg & Shoshanah Conover, Temple Sholom; Rabbi Fred Reeves, KAM Isaiah Israel; Suzanne Akhras Sahloul, Syrian Community Network Chicago; Father Brendan Curran, Dominican University; Reverend Myron McCoy, Chicago Temple; Mike Rolfes, Renew Chicago; Dr. Iva E. Carruthers, Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference; Rajinder Singh Mago, Sikh Religious Society, Mike Rolfes, Executive Director, Renew Chicago; Pastor Paula Cripps-Vallejo, Humboldt Park United Methodist church; among others.

WHEN:         Thursday December 1, 2016 at 5:00PM CST  

WHERE:      First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple

                           77 W Washington – Chicago, IL (entrance on Clark St.)

VISUALS:    Candles, Hundreds of Chicago Immigrant Families

This vigil is being co-convened by various organizations including: the Southwest Organizing Project, The Resurrection Project, the Interfaith Committee for Detained Immigrants, Korean Resource and Cultural Center, Chicago Equal Voice, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, the Healthy Illinois Coalition, Chicago Religious Leadership Network, the Logan Square Neighborhood Association, the Illinois Business Immigration Coalition, Communities United, Dominican University, among others