Immigration Justice Study Resources
Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Recent Immigration Justice Blog Posts
Defend the Human Rights of Migrants: Root Causes
At a time of deepening crisis for immigrants and asylum seekers, the UU College of Social Justice has organized an immersion experience with Cristosal specifically for religious professionals and lay leaders. This journey will help you deepen your understanding of the...
Migration is a Human Right- A message from Kathleen McTigue
Despite all that we already knew about the profound injustices inflicted on migrants and asylum seekers by current government practices, we have been stunned by the details emerging in news reports during the past few weeks. They document the horrific conditions in...
Immigration Justice: A Four-Session Study Guide
Primary text: Undocumented, by Aviva Chomsky
Secondary source: BBC World Service radio documentary, “The Missing Migrants.”
INTRODUCTION
This four-session course on immigration justice is designed primarily for congregational study groups, with the expectation that participants will gather for four successive weeks. Motivated by the growing numbers of migrants entering the United States via the Mexico border, our intention is to help Unitarian Universalists reflect on historic patterns of migration, the role the United States has played (and still plays) in Latin America, and how we might engage meaningfully with immigration reform.
In addition to new insight and learning from the book and broadcast, we hope this guide assists participants in reflecting together on our own faith:
- Within such core convictions as the inherent worth and dignity of each person, where are we called to take action on this issue, in our own local communities and beyond?
- When we center ourselves in a sense of the sacred, how might our efforts for social change be strengthened and sustained?
- When we consider the interdependent web of all existence, of which we are a part, how might we be led toward people at risk in our own towns and cities, to whom we might become allies?
To fully utilize this discussion guide, you will need access to the internet during your sessions in order to listen to the recommended selections of music, and to hear the BBC broadcast around which Session Three is built. In addition, we recommend that you begin and end your sessions as is commonly done with Small Groups Ministry (also known as Covenant Groups), with an opening time for centering and silence and a closing that serves as a blessing as your participants disperse. We have included short selections for these purposes, but feel free to substitute your own choices.
Finally, please contact us with feedback! We would be very grateful for any and all suggestions for ways we might improve this short course of study.
Kathleen McTigue, Director
Josh Leach, UUCSJ Ministerial Intern 2014
UU College of Social Justice
689 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02139
Additional Study
Additional Resources
Unitarian Universalist College of Social Justice
Created by Josh Leach, Mdiv. student at Harvard Divinity School,
and Rev. Kathleen McTigue, Director, UU College of Social Justice
