May the God that invited Abraham and Sarah to the adventure of exile,
Who left without passport or visa
Who lived in deceit to survive
The God of that Abraham that endangered his wife to protect himself
Who, nonetheless, you promised would be a fount of blessing to the nations
May that God help us have the disposition to bless
To see Him in the little ones and the undocumented
To live the joy of the promise of His accompaniment in our exiles
To recognize that we are strangers and pilgrims on earth
And to serve others in His Name.
In the Name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Amen.

On November 8 an Ecuadorean young man was killed in what police are calling a hate crime. Seven young men have been accused of the crime and there have been protests against some newspapers for covering the homocide. See: NY Hate Crime Suspect Now Charged with Murder.

Up to now President elect Obama hasta not stated when he would begin to deal with the issue of immigration reform. Since the economic situation of the country is so precarious, it is clear that the reform will not be part of his first priorities. But he can take several inmediate actions that will help immigrants:

1. Stop the raids. They do not resolve the problema, but do a lot of damage to families.
2. Authorize immigration workers to quickly process backed up applications of people that are waiting for their legalization so that they can receive it as soon as possible.
3. Stop the process of verifying Social Security numbers, since the system contains many errors y tends to create an anti-Latino attitude among many employers.

In the near future LA RED will be asking you to call the new administration to ask them to implement these changes right away.

Keep praying for a just and comprehensive immigration reform.

Please be praying for Pastor Christian Hernaiz, a member of LA RED. They just received an evacuation order because of the Yorba Linda fire. The fire is two blocks from their house.

There are several interesting new book about undocumented immigrants. One that addresses the faith of the undocumented is: Migration Miracle Faith, Hope, and Meaning on the Undocumented Journey.

If you read Spanish I invite you to read today´s post on the blog Caminando con el pueblo which addresses the usage of words and their impact on the immigration reform debate.

Today´s New York Times has an article about the practice of some US hospitals of deporting people without insurance, even legal residents. This situation is another example of the broken immigration system. But it is also a call for us to do all we can to help immigrants, including those who are here legally. You can read the article at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/us/09deport.html?hp.