Grand Rapids Organizations Host Prayer Vigil for Immigrants this Wednesday

(The Christian Reformed Church Office of Social Justice sent out a Media Release for this event and we are re-posting it in full.)

Local organizers of an upcoming prayer vigil on the eve of the enactment of Arizona’s SB 1070 law say that the immigration system in the U.S. is broken and needs to be fixed — but Arizona’s law is not the solution. The event, hosted by three local faith groups fighting for immigration reform, will be held on Wednesday, July 28 at Ah Nab Awen Park: from 5:30pm – 6:30pm, overlooking the Gerald R Ford Museum where immigrants gather for naturalization ceremonies.

“We are speaking out against ‘enforcement only’ laws and praying for a more sensible, humane immigration law — one that creates paths to citizenship that keeps families and communities whole,” said event organizer Laura Rampersad, Regional Coordinator Justice for Our Neighbors-West Michigan, a program of United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) and the United Methodist Church that provides immigration legal assistance to the community. JFON is helping to sponsor the event. “We would like to gather to pray for the millions who have been excluded and cast aside by our country’s current immigration laws, and for whom there simply is no way to become a citizen.”

The prayer vigil is part of a nation-wide series of vigils for immigration reform called Isaiah 58, organized by the Interfaith Immigration Coalition. Isaiah 58 events, which have taken place across regions of the country for weeks, will culminate on July 29 when Arizona’s law is to go into effect.

Wednesday evening’s event, which is also sponsored by the Michigan Organizing Project and the Christian Reformed Church’s Office of Social Justice, will include prayers from many faith groups as well as an interactive prayer path — participants will be invited to create a footprint on a large cloth “path” that will symbolize their prayer for an undocumented immigrants. The path will then be delivered to Michigan lawmakers to show voters’ opposition to an Arizona-style bill that is being considered in the legislature.

“Immigrants, like all people, are made in the image of God,” says Kate Kooyman, a local representative from the Christian Reformed Church. “Michigan is a place that welcomes immigrants.”