Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America

Join Chicago-area people of faith on this

study tour

to learn about the realities of the immigrant experience in Chicago.

June 15-16, 2012

An evening to honor long-time CRLN board member Dick Heidkamp, learn more about the current realities in Honduras, and look with hope to the future with the launch of the Dick Heidkamp Scholarship Fund 

6:00-7:00 p.m. Beverages and substantial appetizers

7:00 - 8:30 Program

St. Scholastica Monastery Back Lawn (Indoors in case of inclement weather)

7416 North Ridge Boulevard in Chicago

On April 14-15, 2012, the heads of State from North, Central and South America came together in Cartagena, Colombia for the 6^th “Summit of the Americas”.  Primarily, a meeting of heads of government with idea of “fostering cooperation and dialog”, this year’s summit offered little opportunities for consensus.  No declarations were announced due to the division concerning Argentina’s claims to the Falklands and Cuba’s exclusion from the Summit by the U.S. and Canada.    Notably, the President of Ecuador Rafael Correa declined to participate in the Summit due to Cuba’s exclusion. Also absent from the Summit, Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega with no explanation provided. 

The 1^st Summit of the Americas in December 1994 was convened by President Clinton to promote his Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) project, a massive NAFTA-like free trade zone giving unprecedented rights to multinational corporations while weakening labor rights and environmental protections.  The FTAA was rejected, in large part due to the recent election Lula de Silva in Brazil who opposed it.  Subsequent summits, which have also by-passed the multi-lateral forum provided by the Organization of American States (OAS), are widely perceived as a venue for the U.S. to push its economic and political agenda in Latin America.  

CALL TO ACTION: Join us on May 1st as we celebrate International Worker’s Day by continuing to march for worker and immigrant rights.  For more information visit: http://chicagospring.org/#

Robert H. Kirschner, M.D., Memorial Human Rights Lecture

"Reconnecting in the Aftermath of El Salvador's Civil War:  The Joys and Challenges of Finding Family"

Margaret Ward, Emerita Professor, Wellesley College, is the author of Missing Mila, Finding Family: An International Adoption in the Shadow of the Salvadoran Civil War, the story of her son's adoption from El Salvador and their later connection with his birth family through Asociación Pro-Búsqueda.  Nelson Ward de Witt, Margaret's son, is now a film-maker. He will present excerpts from Identifying Nelson/Buscando Roberto in which he tells the same story from his perspective. 

TAKE ACTION!

Take Action!  Stop the Proposed Private Immigration Detention Center in Crete, Illinois.

The Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the nation's most notorious builder of private prisons has targeted Crete, Illinois for the building of a new immigrant detention center.  SB1064 is a bill  to stop the madness, and Senator Munoz has stepped up to sponsor the bill.  On March 28 the bill passed out of the Senate Executive Committee, by a vote of 8-2.  It was a mostly party-line vote (Democrats voting in favor, Republicans voting against). The full Senate passed the SB1064-Munoz with a vote of 34-17.  On May 2 the bill passed the House Executive Committee, by a vote of 7-4. The CCA has hired the high-powered lobbying firm Dorgan McPike to lobby in Springfield against SB 1064. We need your to make sure the bill moves forward.

Now we move to the House!

Click here to tell your legislators now!  Vote YES on SB1064 to stop the building of private prisons in Illinois