"The Voice of the New Due Process Army" ————– Musings on Events in U.S. Immigration Court, Immigration Law, Sports, and Other Random Topics by Retired United States Immigration Judge (Arlington, Virginia) and former Chairman of the Board of Immigration Appeals Paul Wickham Schmidt. To see my complete professional bio, just click on the link below.
Category: Congregational Church of Boothbay Harbor
Where else on the peninsula would you see in a church five young foreigners laughing and speaking in Turkish with a 96-year-old parishioner, exchanging contacts and making plans to visit again?
With love, the Congregational Church of Boothbay Harbor welcomed over 186 workers from away who traveled from other countries and around the USA to work in our community on June 27. This long tradition continues to “welcome strangers” and give them community support information to make their stay safer and more enjoyable.
Thirty-seven (37) of those 186 were able to get to the church to enjoy a “lunch and learn.” The remaining received gift bags from the church which were hand delivered to 149 workers by the Mission Committee.
At the “lunch meet” this shy and reticent group of 37 soon turned into an upbeat and hopeful number of workers who got to know each other and make plans to socialize together. We, the Mission Committee, learned a lot, too, about each of their homes of origin, their aspirations and fears.
There were workers from Russia, Serbia, Romania, India, Moldova, Albania, Croatia, Turkey and Montenegro as well as Texas, Maine, Washington, D.C., Silver Spring, Maryland and Kansas.
With a delicious takeaway lunch on site, they heard from our pastor, police department; Rotary and our town’s resources. They appreciated learning how to feel safe here and how to utilize our local services. Included in this event were Rotary bikes for loan with a $100 deposit.
For those who could not attend, we distributed gifts to the participating businesses’ 145 workers with gifts of information and fun food. Nearly every business that hires these folks participated and voiced their appreciation of the event.
The workers were interested in fun together in their free time and agreed to share their contact information with each other. They asked for us to arrange for a second event in September so that they might learn from each others’ experiences. One medical student asked to participate in a local community project and will be a guest at our upcoming Mission Committee meeting.
We offer a special thanks to all of the businesses which chose to participate and especially to Hannaford which donated a great deal of food.
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Workers from abroad have been an essential part of the summer economy here in Boothbay Harbor for the decades we have been coming here. They enrich everyone’s experience while learning and experiencing some “real Americana!”
And, there can be little doubt why the Boothbay Region is an international,drawing card!
S/V Believe Home Port, Bradenton FL Anchored in Linekin Bay Captains Rick & Julie PetersonLewis CoveGo Pack! — Go Badgers!The Isaac H. EvansLinekin BayBoothbay Harbor from East Side — Whales Tale Pub“Dunky Dog”
Let’s Hope That A New Day Is Dawning , Fueled by Immigrants, For Maine & America After 4 Years of Unrelenting Darkness. The Biden Administration Must Help By Re-establishing Our Legal Asylum Program!
Maine Voices: New U.S. intelligence report suggests how Maine can address global trends
We’re in a good position to improve the lives of people without college degrees, to welcome foreigners to a democratic society and to diversify our workforce.
. . . .
The Global Trends report provides analysis but not policy solutions. Maine could assist by demonstrating that democracy can work here by taking steps to bridge the ideological divide and reduce political polarization. Maine can become a welcoming state for immigrants by easing their entry into the workforce to replace our retiring baby boomers.
Maine can also develop public-private partnerships to teach workforce skills that raise incomes and improve the quality of life for those without a college degree. Finally, Maine can exercise soft power by welcoming foreigners as tourists and recruiting students from China to our high schools and universities, offering an opportunity to experience a democratic society with both its flaws and freedoms, and to forge friendships between the two contested countries.
Joseph W. McDonnell is a professor of public policy and management at the Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine
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You can read Professor McDonnell’s article (along with a couple of comments that show exactly why our hope for the future has to be in immigrants — not that the commenters probably weren’t immigrants of some sort at some point in our history).
B/T/W Congresswoman Omar (D-MN) is a naturalized U.S. citizen — an example of someone who not only immigrated, survived racial and religious bigotry and bullying in school, graduated from college, established a successful career as an educator and civic advocate, and further had the courage and commitment (which most native-born Americans, including me, do not) to successfully seek elective office and work through the system to make America a better place for all, regardless of whether or not one agrees with all of her views.
The vast majority of immigrants of any status “learn the language” (many better than some native-born U.S. citizens) and become at least bi-lingual if not tri-lingual, a skill set that few native-born Americans achieve.
Of course, in an intentionally diverse society, important Government documents should be printed in languages that individuals are most comfortable with. You might have become proficient in French in college, but if involved in a legal dispute in France, most of us would need and expect an English translation to be sure we understood and, in turn, were understood.
I knew enough German to study in Germany during college. I was comfortable going down to the local watering spot and ordering “bauernbrat mit kraut und bier.” But, if I had been involved in a legal proceeding, I wouldn’t have dared to proceed in German.
Also, although undoubtedly some students and foreign workers are exploited by the American system, overall they make huge contributions to both education and our workforce. As an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown Law, my classes are continually enriched by the presence of foreign students and scholars, many of whom are willing to share their own immigration stories and to enlighten us on the culture and legal system they experienced.
Also, if we have learned anything during the pandemic, it is how very dependent we are on our immigrant and ethnic communities, regardless of “status,” for essential workers. The “exploitation” is an “American home grown problem,” not one caused by immigrants! As a society, we need to stop “shooting the messenger!”
Where we spend much of our summers, Boothbay Harbor in the “Mid-Coast Region of Maine,” the tourism, hospitality, recreational, and resort industries that power this town are highly dependent on talented foreign workers. Their upbeat attitudes, eagerness to learn and contribute, and fascinating multiculturalism is one of the primary factors that comes bursting out in town and throughout this area, making this one of the best summer tourist locations in America. (Obviously, it’s “world famous,” since these folks seek to come here from literally around the world.)
Our “next-door neighbors,” here on beautiful Linekin Bay, Larry and Janey Anderson, were long time year around residents of Maine before retiring to “warmer climes” near their family (and us) in Northern Virginia. They were very involved with the African refugee community in Southern Maine, calling me several times for advice on how to get legal help on asylum cases. I well remember on occasions hearing the rhythm of a “drum circle” in which Larry participated with his refugee friends coming from the Anderson cabin.
It actually made me feel good about the lives I had been able to save and the positive progressive legal changes, precedents, and attitudes that I was able to help, at least in some modest way, forge over a 40+ year career in immigration and human rights, most of it with the U.S. Government.
Of course, I was fortunate enough to have retired in 2016, before the institutionalized White Nationalist, racist, misogynistic, xenophobia of the Trump regime arrived. Unfortunately, they undid some of the hard work that many of us had done to improve the system, further due process, and insure fairness and humane treatment for foreign nationals under U.S. laws.
The folks we welcomed under the law, their families, and their descendants continue to make America great despite all the destructive actions and false, misleading hate rhetoric promoted by Tump and his party.
Now, it’s up to the “new generation” of the NDPA to seize the baton and lead the fight to assist migrants of all types in creating a new and better day for Maine, America, and the world! I actually just had inspiring conversations this week with “two of the best out there” in the private/NGO sectors who are competing for positions at EOIR to help return due process, efficiency, practicality, and humanity to a disgracefully dysfunctional and unfair system. These are the folks who are “inspiring a new day for America.” They have already got Professor McDonnell’s message and are working to make it a reality!
THE NEW DUE PROCESS ARMY IS ALIVE AND WELL IN BOOTHBAY HARBOR — Singer/Songwriter John Schindler & Friends Inspire & Uplift With Benefit Concert For Maine’s Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (“ILAP”) At Congregational Church Of Boothbay Harbor!
Boothbay Harbor, ME, July 14, 2019.In the face of continuing U.S. Government cruelty, disregard of asylum laws, and dehumanization which has drawn national and international condemnation, an estimated 150 enthusiastic supporters of due process, the humanity of asylum seekers, and the true spirit and teachings of Jesus Christ heard, saw, and participated in “the real America” at the Congregational Church of Boothbay Harbor Sunday night.
Singer/songwriter/guitarist John Schindler and Friends entertained the crowd with an upbeat, beautiful, heartfelt, down home, optimistic, generous, and welcoming view of America presented through their own music and arrangements. Among Schindler’s “friends” were local artist, singer, multi-instrument musician, and composer Kat Logan and songstress, composer, and guitar player Lisa Redfern.
Logan delighted the audience her versatility by playing the guitar, piano, banjo, accordion, and singing a cappella. She and Redfern collaborated seamlessly on several numbers. Schindler closed the performance with a number of his own compositions eliciting love, family, and American values including his award-winning composition The Start of the Freedom Trail, honoring the courage, determination, and sometimes tragedies of American immigrants throughout history.
The event was sponsored by Reverend Sarah Foulger and the Mission Committee of the Congregational Church, which is also sponsoring a mission trip to the southern border in November. All proceeds from the concert will be donated to the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (“ILAP”), Maine’s largest provider of pro bono legal support and representation to asylum seekers and refugees.
In her introduction, Rev. Foulger cogently and movingly pointed out that represented asylum seekers succeed on their claims at a rate of five times those forced to proceed without lawyers. And, although asylum proceedings have been likened by prominent judges to the equivalent of “death penalty trials in traffic court,” our laws currently provide indigent asylum seekers with no right to appointed counsel. Thus, essential efforts like those of ILAP are saving the lives lives of the most vulnerable among us every day.
The deep understanding of the plight of refugees and asylum seekers in today’s intentionally toxic, racially charged, and dehumanizing atmosphere created by our Government was both impressive and inspiring. Lots of folks in this small town in Maine understand our legal and ethical obligations to refugees and asylum seekers, the overwhelming obstacles refugees must overcome, and their essential contributions to the past and future greatness of America.
It’s a unfathomable tragedy that those running our Government (into the ground) are advancing a White Nationalist restrictionist agenda that unfairly demonizes and intentionally dehumanizes those whom we should be welcoming and treating with respect and dignity under our laws.
Anyone interested in contributing to this extraordinary effort by the “Maine Branch of the New Due Process Army” may do so by mailing tax deductible contributions made out to the Congregational Church of Boothbay Harbor (designated for ILAP), P.O. Box 468, Boothbay Harbor, Maine 04538.
Due process forever, malicious incompetence never. Join the New Due Process Army today, and fight for our Constitution and the promise of social justice for everyone in America. The life you save, might turn out to be your own.
Congregational Church Boothbay Harbor, MEJohn Schindler Musical Artist Boothbay Harbor, MEKat Logan Musical and Graphic Artist Boothbay Harbor, MELisa Redfern Musical Artist Boothbay Harbor, MERev. Sarah Foulger Congregational Church Boothbay Harbor, ME
