wfn.org | UCC - Ten arrested demanding release of immigrant rights leader

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

Ten arrested demanding release of immigrant rights leader

> Written by Wire Report and Gregg Brekke
> January 6, 2010

Eight clergy and two community leaders were arrested January 5 after
stopping traffic for a half hour at a rally attended by over one
hundred people outside the New York Varick Street Immigrant Detention  Center.
Four UCC clergy and two lay leaders were among those arrested.

Blocking vans transporting new immigrant detainees to the center, the
participants called for the release of detained immigrant rights
leader, and father of four US-born children, Jean Montrevil. They also
demanded reform of immigration laws that lead to the separation of families.

The Rev. Donna Schaper of New York City's Judson Memorial UCC, where
Montrevil's family worships, said, "I am being arrested because it is
a moral outrage that our government would do this to such a great man
and father. These immigration laws that destroy families contradict
the values we should uphold as a society. They need to change now."

Other UCC clergy arrested include the Rev. Michael Ellick, associate
minister at Judson Memorial UCC, the Rev. Michael Cain, pastor of Old
First Reformed UCC in Philadelphia, and the Rev. Mark Marsh, pastor of
Victoria Congregational UCC in Queens, N.Y. Lulu Fogarty and Susan
Julia, lay members of Judson Memorial UCC, were also arrested.

"Ours is a faith based on forgiveness and second chances," said Caine.
"No one denies that Jean made some mistakes as a young man. But he
served the sentence that the U.S. legal system deigned his due, and
now has served as a national leader for immigration reform and human  rights."

Montrevil entered the U.S. from Haiti in 1986 as a legal permanent
resident. Homeland Security is trying to de-legalize him for a 1989
drug conviction, for which Montrevil already served 11 years. He has
kept a clean record ever since, taking over his family's religious
goods business and providing a transport service to families.

Detained December 30 during a routine check-in, Montrevil has been
held in Pennsylvania's York County Prison where he has begun a hunger
strike. "I am fasting side-by-side with nearly 60 others to take a
stand against this horrific deportation and detention system that is
tearing families apart," he explains.

"Our son keeps calling Jean's cell phone, hoping daddy will pick up.
He asks me, 'Why are they pretending daddy is bad, so he will go back
to Haiti?' " says Jani Montrevil. "Jean made mistakes before we
started building a family together. Homeland Security wants to turn me
into a single mother."

As a community leader, Montrevil became a national spokesperson for
the Child Citizen Protection Act (H.R. 182), a House proposal that
would bring due process into the deportation system by allowing
immigration judges to consider the best interests of American children
before deporting a parent. The proposal is part of Representative Luis
Gutierrez's (D-Ill.) recently introduced bill, the Comprehensive
Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity Act (H.R. 4321).

"Jean Montrevil's case is precisely why we need to see the provisions
of the Child Citizen Protection Act passed into law - ideally as part
of comprehensive immigration reform. We cannot continue to allow
inflexible deportation guidelines to separate families with U.S.
citizen children," said Congressman José E. Serrano (D-N.Y.) "I
commend all those fighting on Jean's behalf, and look forward to a
successful resolution of this sad case, and a day when there is more
humaneness in our nation's immigration laws."

Montrevil has received support from many elected officials along with
Serrano author of H.R. 182, including U.S. Representatives Jerrold
Nadler (D-N.Y.), Nydia Velasquez (D-N.Y.), (all three are cosponsors
of H.R. 4321); NY State Assemblywoman Deborah Glick; and Manhattan
Borough President Scott Stringer.

In a letter supporting Montrevil's request to ICE for deferred action,
Rep. Velazquez writes, "My office believes that his deportation will
be a disproportionate punishment to him, his family and his community."

The General Synod of the UCC has issued pronouncements and passed
resolutions calling for the humane treatment of immigrants, especially
as it relates to the unification of families and the rights of workers.