Thu 10/12 @ 7PM
The attacks on and deportations of law-abiding undocumented immigrants, after being told the focus would be on lawbreakers, is appalling and tragic. The same people who sanctimoniously preach “family values” are tearing families apart for no good reason.
Perhaps you’ve read the story of the Akron woman Leonor Garcia who has been in this country for 20 years and has four American-born children ages 3-19. Her husband was deported in 2011 so she’s been a single parent to her kids. This summer, she reported to ICE for what she expected to be a routine meeting and was told she would be deported the following month. She has no criminal record.
Garcia has been given sanctuary at Forest Hills Presbyterian Church in Cleveland Heights, a church known for its social justice activism, which turned its upstairs into an apartment for her. Her children stay with her on weekends. Immigration has not been known to remove people from churches.
Forest Hills’ longtime pastor the Rev. John Lentz will be the guest of the Cleveland Heights Democratic Club, where he’ll talk about the stepped-up enforcement impacting law-abiding immigrants and how churches such as his can step up to obey the command of Jesus to “welcome the stranger.”
It takes place at the Cleveland Heights Community Center. It’s free and all are welcome.
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118