On Saturday, July 21st, over 70 people joined members of the Immigration Task Force of the Denver Presbytery for an Experiential Day of Exploration around Immigration issues with the experts from Borderlinks. We had over 17 churches, 4 presbyteries, and 4 non Presbyterian churches represented and participated. Xavi, Cathie, Tania, and Josue led us through many explorations around immigration.
We started by creating safe containers and agreements for our conversations knowing we had divergent points of view. All enjoyed an enlightening exercise reviewing the historical perspectives of immigration since the beginning of our country. Many were surprised to discover the patterns through the centuries, as well as what was happening during their own ancestral immigration to this country. We were led through a process of immigration simulation, that highlighted how complicated, broken, and random the existing system is. For instance, sponsorship into citizenship is now backed up to 1995 requests. There was an engagement of understanding around the border towns and the extreme costs of living imposed in these cities by companies that serve American outsourcing yet exploit the workers into unending debt and servitude. We participated in many other interactions and ended with creating a prickly pear cactus of life sharing publicly what we can do as we move forward to create something new in our world and around these justice issues.
