A Victory at the Supreme Court
Yesterday, in a 7-2 decision the Supreme Court told payday lenders to take a hike.
Ok, maybe not exactly, but that’s what it felt like. After working for reform for almost 15 years such clear victories have been few and far between and yesterday, for me, was a day for celebration.
A solid majority of the court ruled that the way Congress chose to fund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is not unconstitutional. That means the CFPB can continue their mission of looking out for American consumers and regulating folks like predatory lenders.
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Meet our new Media Manager!
Fellowship Southwest is proud to welcome Zion Williams to the staff. Zion will be FSW’s Media Manager, a new position for the organization. Zion will be responsible for many communications tasks, like creating and sending email newsletters, social media, videos and graphics. She will be the main point of contact for news media as well, and help us get our messages out to new audiences.
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Behind the scenes at a board meeting, learning about Native history
Fellowship Southwest is committed to compassion and justice around four priorities: immigration, racial justice, hunger and Native American topics. To help us navigate our work with Native compassion and justice, we are currently working with Mariah Humphries, a Mvskoke citizen. She is guiding us in a process of discernment toward our place in this conversation.
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Healing from oppression and racism
The Healing From Oppression and Racism Conference on Friday, April 27, was an event put together in partnership with several ecumenical organizations, such as FSW, Faith Commons, SMU Perkins, Baylor Scott and White Health, and ACPE, to hear the redemptive story of Father Michael Lapsley (see profile below), who fought against South African apartheid. He was persecuted by the apartheid that mailed him a bomb that changed his life completely. While he lost both hands, sight in one eye, and critically burned, it was through the process of healing that led Father Lapsley to a movement of healing and liberation. Father Lapsley focused on the healing value of acknowledging trauma, but it must first come with the knowledge of what happened. In the healing of trauma, one is holistically liberated.
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Dios lo bendiga - a pastor's experience of a border trip
This is a re-publication of the letter that Pastor Ryon Price sent to the congregation of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, during his trip with Fellowship Southwest to the border.
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The situation in Haiti: Will it affect U.S. immigration?
You are probably reading and hearing about the unrest in Haiti over the past couple of weeks. We've wondered how this will impact migration flows and the pending immigration of Haitians who have been waiting to seek asylum in the U.S. for many months already. It looks as if we aren't the only ones wondering. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has decided to act preemptively to shield Floridians from what he sees as a threat: Haitian refugees. We are disappointed that once again, our leaders are choosing to criminalize immigrants rather than respond with humanitarian compassion.
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Chaplain law is just another way to politicize our schools
A commentary by Cameron Vickrey for San Antonio Express-News, Feb. 9, 2024
The deadline looms. Every public school district in Texas has been given until March 1 to choose between what seems to be two options for the role of chaplains in their schools.
But many are finding their way forward with a third way. This third way might at first seem like a people-pleasing, nondecision that avoids conflict and ignores the issue, but there’s wisdom in it.
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The Rally and the Wall
I’ve written before about the wide gulf between what I hear, see, and experience at the border and the tenor of our political debate. Never has the contrast been as stark as what I experienced last week.
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FSW at a conference on migrant ministries - Como Nacido Entre Nosotros
Stephen Reeves and I spent last week in Cd. Juarez, Mexico, for a four-day ecumenical conference on human mobility by “Como Nacido Entre Nosotros ( or CNEN)” (as one born among you). CNEN is a regional network driven by churches and Christian organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean that seeks to join existing efforts to strengthen the capacity of the Christian community to care for, protect, and promote the rights of migrants.
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About that bipartisan Senate border proposal
Earlier this week, a bipartisan Senate border proposal surfaced and then failed, after being negotiated for three months. But we want to tell you about it anyway.
First, the current state of our border is unsustainable. No one thinks that waves of asylum seekers making a dangerous trek to our border is the best scenario for anyone. We need a secure border, but we also need a humane border.
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House Minority Pushes H.R.2: The Hidden Dangers for Migrant Children
As the border deal fails to secure enough votes in Congress, attention has pivoted to push for the passage of H.R.2, the Secure the Border Act. However, a closer examination of the bill reveals alarming provisions that pose significant risks to the well-being and rights of migrant children –those they claim to protect.
Here's a breakdown of what is included in H.R.2:
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Announcing summer internship opportunity with FSW
Announcing! Fellowship Southwest is ready to host interns this summer at the border. Our partners in Brownsville and Piedras Negras practice ministry to migrants every day. Interns will be serving alongside our experienced partners and learning about migrant ministry and immigration policy and advocacy. This opportunity is best suited for college juniors and seniors or graduate students. More details will be shared soon, so stay tuned! If you or someone you know is interested, please contact anyra@fellowshipsouthwest.org.
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Immigrants find no escape from exploitation
Migrants from Latin and South America are frequently the victims of exploitation and extortion in their home countries or along their journeys north. Unfortunately it doesn’t get much better for some once they get here. Instead of cartels, they face unjust corporations. Nowhere is there a better microcosm of multifaceted immigrant exploitation than in Colony Ridge.
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Tomando medidas en Washington
Sojo Action, la división de defensoría de Sojourners, invitó a Anyra Cano a unirse en Washington, D.C. a principios de esta semana, con un grupo de líderes religiosos latinos para compartir sobre y abogar por sus comunidades de inmigrantes. Anyra es directora de programas y alcance de Fellowship Southwest y ha organizado docenas de viajes para iglesias e individuos en la frontera este año, a los que les siguen acciones de defensoría. Una de esas actividades recientes de defensoría fue una postal navideña que los niños de dos iglesias del área de Dallas-Fort Worth colorearon y completaron para ser entregadas al Congreso durante esta semana de defensoría de Sojo.
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Taking action in Washington
Sojo Action, the advocacy division of Sojourners, invited Anyra Cano to join a group of Latino faith leaders for advocacy in Washington, D.C. early this week, to share about their immigrant communities. Anyra is the Fellowship Southwest director of programs and outreach and has organized dozens of trips for churches and individuals at the border this year, which are followed up by advocacy actions. One such recent advocacy activity was a Christmas postcard which children at two DFW churches colored and filled out to be delivered to Congress during this Sojo advocacy week.
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Holy families of today
In nearly every moment of the Christmas story, characters heed promptings from angels. An angel announces to Mary she is chosen to be the mother of God, and she accepts. An angel encourages Joseph to support Mary in this calling, and he does. The magi return home from Bethlehem by another road, and the new family flees to another country in order to protect their child, all thanks to divine messengers.
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A 6-year old's first birthday party
Ministry to migrants looks like many things one would not predict. Most people assume it includes providing meals, clothing and shelter. Emotional and spiritual attention is just as important in FSW migrant ministries, too. But caring for the whole person, the whole family, also involves commemorating special celebrations like birthdays for children.
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An example of neighbor-love
It was a normal Monday night in a middle class neighborhood full of busy families driving kids to and fro activities, cooking dinner and doing homework. A fellow mom, Nancy, texted 22 of our neighbors, including me, with this:
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That Time I Was the Stranger Among the Nations
A few weeks ago, I was honored to meet over 350 remarkable women from 22 Latin American countries in Bolivia. I joined my friend and mentor, Rev. Alicia Zorzoli, at a quinquennia gathering of Baptist Women in All of America (UFBAL--an auxiliary of the Baptist World Alliance).
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Read why I'm giving to FSW today.
I remember when I heard the news that migrants were being pushed into the Rio Grande and getting trapped in razor wire. I’ve never felt such horror and shame, and I know you felt that too.
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