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United Methodists risk arrest in deportation protest

Jul 31, 2014

Bishop Minerva Carcaño led a group of United Methodists as they joined with more than 100 faith leaders and immigration activists in an act of civil disobedience in front of the White House on July 31, 2014 to demand President Barack Obama end “inhumane” immigration enforcement policies. Bill Mefford, director at the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, said United Methodists came from Texas, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, New York, Connecticut, California, Illinois, Ohio, New Jersey, Mississippi, Tennessee and Hawaii in support of immigration reform. United Methodist News Service has more coverage of the demonstration. 

Video streaming of the immigration event began at 12 noon EST/ 11 a.m. CST on July 31, 2014.

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Immigration
People wade or ride rafts made from inner tubes across the Suchiate River, which forms part of the border between Guatemala and Mexico, near Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico. The busy, informal crossing is used by migrants as well as by people hauling commercial cargo in both directions. A ride across on one of the inner tube rafts usually costs between 10 and 20 Guatemalan quetzals, roughly $1.25-$2.50 U.S. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Church leaders explore ways to help migrants in Mexico
A group of leaders from the Methodist Church of Mexico and The United Methodist Church traveled to southern Mexico in April to meet with groups working with immigrants crossing into the country.
Immigration
Migrants at a makeshift camp near the border crossing in Tijuana, Mexico, receive food and other relief supplies from the New Covenant Methodist Church and San Pablo Evangelical Church in Tijuana. Some 1,500 immigrants settled there, many of them hoping to file asylum claims with U.S. immigration authorities. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Mothers on border share stories of desperation, hope
Three immigrant mothers describe the ordeals they have faced fleeing crime and violence in hope of finding a better life in the U.S.
Immigration
Maj. Gerardo Ortiz (left), leader of the Salvation Army in Tijuana, Mexico, and Bishop Felipe Ruiz, episcopal leader of the Northwest Annual Conference of the Methodist Church of Mexico A.R., have been working collaboratively to serve immigrant communities on the border, and they are now serving refugees from Ukraine. Photo courtesy of Bishop Felipe Ruiz, Methodist Church of Mexico A.R.

Methodists help Ukrainian refugees in Tijuana
The Methodist Church of Mexico A.R., together with other churches, civil organizations and the support of the United Methodist Committee on Relief, is providing food and other aid to refugee applicants from Ukraine.