Vigil for Immigrant Rights - Albany, NY

After a seemingly endless and often times sad election, we met as a community, as we always do, on the second Monday of the month for one of our New Sanctuary Open meetings at the Albany Catholic Worker house. We prayed and decided to hold our annual Vigil for Immigrant Rights and calling to Close the School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia. New Sanctuary holds this annual vigil in remembrance of four Catholic sisters murdered in El Salvador in 1980, by graduates of the School of the Americas.These two issues are closely intertwined; U.S. foreign policy has a direct link to migration. We see it here at New Sanctuary with so many of the families we meet and walk the journey with. Immigrants from Central and South America, fleeing threats of violence and economic devastation, must leave their homes and work in often dangerous and grueling jobs here in the US to send what little they make back home to support their children and families.After the election many local immigrants and families were scared and concerned at the prospect of a president who ran a campaign on the platform of scapegoating immigrants and building walls.Our Vigil had a great turnout of many who wanted to stand in solidarity with Immigrants and press our city and county to become a place of Sanctuary, and welcome immigrants no matter their documentation status. We stood publicly to insist that immigrants make America great.Following from the vigil, we’ve begun to organize and gather people together to make the call of Sanctuary a reality in our city and county. Many are eager to make this happen, and within one week nearly a thousand people in the Capital Region joined us in the call by signing our petition. We are eager to secure commitments and legislation from our local officials and then spread the campaign to neighboring cities and counties.