Two Bay Area PICO California affiliates fight to create a model fee that will fund local trust funds in two counties. Peninsula Interfaith Action (PIA) and Contra Costa Interfaith Supporting Community Organizing (CCISCO) have begun an effort to change state law so that San Mateo and Contra Costa County, can create a $25 document transfer fee to fund local affordable housing projects. This pilot project if succesfully ratified is projected to raise over $6 million for affordable housing. Several PICO California affiliates have offered their support as they look forward to possibly using this idea to raise funds for their communities.

LA Voice has recently teamed up with Univisión and other immigrant rights’ advocates from across the region for the ¡Ya Es Hora! (Now is the Time) citizenship campaign. The goal of this campaign is simple: urge the 1,000,000 eligible legal permanent residents in the Southern California region to become citizens and vote.

Just last week, the LA Voice organizing committee at San Francisco Catholic Church held a registration event for parishioners looking to start the process. Over 100 people attended. They are eager to become citizens and active, engaged members of their community. Click here to learn more about the ¡Ya Es Hora! campaign.

[youtube 6Krxaeo80Vc Univision’s video in Spanish]

Four PICO affiliates, UIA, CBC, CCISCO, and PIA launched a joint clergy statement asking the Department of Homeland Security to halt controversial immigration raids that have been taking place in communities across the country. These PICO affiliates have invited concerned clergy throughout the nation to join their call for a moratorium on I.C.E. raids. On May 17th representatives of this campaign will travel to Washington, DC to deliver this letter. Clergy can sign on by visiting http://ga3.org/campaign/stoptheraids

Text of the clergy letter:

As clergy in cities impacted by I.C.E. raids, we object to federal government action that has broken up families, left children abandoned, and traumatized whole communities. Our congregations are committed to protecting those in need, but we should not need to shelter young children asking “Where is my mother? Where is my father?”

While there are different perspectives on how to fix our immigration system, we can all agree that the recent mass raids harmed the stability of our communities and families. This is the wrong way to enforce immigration rules. Those who have been detained and those left behind are mothers, fathers, children, wives, husbands, and others responsible for holding families together. Nearly two-thirds of all undocumented families have children who are U.S. citizens by birth, including many of the children left behind after the recent raids. Our shared respect for humanity and our faith in the promise of a better future calls us to do better.

Faith leaders call for:
1) President Bush to direct the Department Homeland Security to halt the raids immediately and to reunite families; & 2) Congress to hold hearings to investigate I.C.E. behavior.

Let’s honor God’s call to protect children and not make them victims in the fight over immigration policy. If we work together as faith communities we can help find common ground that honors our nation’s commitment to fairness and family.

Clergy, click here to sign on to this letter
Click here to read more about how the I.C.E. raids have affected our communities.

Media Coverage
Religious Leaders Oppose Raids
A Wrenching Choice
California Report - I.C.E. Raid Audio

A delegation of 40 San Francisco clergy and families along with leaders from across the PICO network met with staff in Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office in Washinton, DC. Following up on a February 22 press conference with Archbishop Niederauer, the San Francisco Organizing Project and PICO California pressed Speaker Pelosi to speak out publicly in favor of funding in the budget to cover all children. Shortly after the meeting, Speaker Pelosi issued a statement saying that the “budget resolution…debated later this month in the House will contain…sufficient funding to insure all eligible children.” PICO continues to urge Congressional leaders to include adequate funding in the budget to reach all eligible children and support the growing number of states that are moving to expand eligibility.

Media Coverage
Raise healthiest generation, challenges Archbishop

Despite chilly, wet, and windy weather, nearly 600 people met at St. Joseph’s Church to discuss the health and safety of east Bakersfield. Organized by the East Bakersfield Faith Community Alliance- a network of east Bakersfield congregations and residents- the huge crowd met with newly-elected Sheriff Donny Youngblood to confirm a new partnership between the Sheriff’s department and EBFCA.

After EBFCA delivered their comprehensive, holistic plan to foster health and safety in “Our Neighborhood,” they gained a commitment from Sheriff Youngblood to do the following:

- Commission a Citizens Advisory Task force to address the health and safety issues in “Our Neighborhood.”
- Authorize a Sargent to be a Point of Contact for EBFCA and neighborhood residents to foster mutual information sharing, and build trust.
- Meet with EBFCA in 6 months to measure outcomes.

Media Coverage
Sheriff, residents open dialogue on violence

The San Bernardino city council found $114,000 for a Police Activities League and other after-school programs when they were confronted by a throng of over 150 people attending their February 20 meeting. Organized by the Youth Organizing Project of Inland Congregations United for Change (ICUC), more than 50 teenagers, parents, and clergy testified about widespread community fears over violence and racial tensions. The chambers were packed to capacity and dozens of ICUC leaders had to watch the event on television feeds in the lobby. It was the largest attendance at a city council meeting in over a decade.

Media Coverage:
Students Weigh In on Crime
Council Bends to Crowd
Council Tags Tax Money for Police
Dim Reality Bright Hope
Can’t Agree on Measure Z

An over-capacity crowd exceeding 500 gathered at a Los Gatos synagogue to press county supervisors and state and local legislators to support of legislation that would guarantee health coverage for everyone in the county. Peninsula Interfaith Action and People Acting in Community Together organized the event and have been working together for months to advance the innovative initiative that would cover the estimated 200,000 Santa Clara County residents who have no health insurance. Read More>>

Concerned residents, clergy, and officials of Santa Monica, Venice, and LA were all in attendance Tuesday night as the brand new Police Chief of Santa Monica pledged to work regionally to eliminate gang violence. Four members of Santa Monica’s city council, including the mayor, agreed to organize a neighborhood watch program. In addition, the Chamber of Commerce committed to create a job program for youth, including training teens how to interview for employment opportunities.

Media coverage:
New Players Tackle Old Problem
Action Against Gang Violence in Santa Monica

In front of a gathering of 500 frightened and angry immigrant families on Sunday, the mayor of Richmond, California agreed to formally protest recent raids by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). DHS’ enforcement wing, Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE, has arrested 119 people in Contra Costa County over the past few weeks in an operation purportedly targeting undocumented immigrants with criminal records. However, only 18 of those arrested were criminals. Contra Costa Interfaith Supporting Community Organization (CCISCO) hastily organized the public meeting to call on officials from the effected areas to take a stand.

Media Coverage:

Officials Meet with Public to Soothe Fears
Immigration Agents Posed as Cops
Uniforms, Methods of ICE Agents at Issue
Fight Over Rights
Residents Say Raids Unlawful
Richmond Pledges to Keep Immigrants Feeling Safe
Richmond Calls for End to Raids

Cathedral City, CA is building a new sanitary central sewer, making septic systems unnecessary for the first time. Inland Congregations United for Change (ICUC) worked closely with the city to establish an assesment district, Dream Homes, that will receive more than $9 million for the improvements, including funds to cover the rebuilding of streets, curbs, and gutters. A remarkable 89.9% of voters approved the district due to strong neighborhod organzing by ICUC leaders.

Media Coverage
Much Needed Water Improvements Won in Cathedral City
Drenajes, Ciudad, Ciudadanos y Cinegético
Cathedral City Groundbreaking