VIP & AZ Interfaith Network Fight for Immigrant DREAMers & Children's Access to Healthcare
Valley Interfaith Project (VIP) and the Arizona Interfaith Network are working with a bipartisan block of state legislators to advance proposals that would reopen pathways to college for immigrants and ensure funding for children's healthcare.
Senate Bill 1217 would reopen a pathway for immigrant college students that had previously been closed by Proposition 300. Prop 300 prohibits colleges from charging in-state tuition to immigrants if they cannot prove legal residency. By creating a new tuition category based on graduation from Arizona high schools, SB 1217 would allow immigrants to pay somewhere between current in-state and out-of-state tuition rates.
HB 2514 and SB 1134 would work to eliminate the cap for the Arizona CHIP program (Kids Care), which provides healthcare coverage for children from low-income families not eligible for other state services. At this time, federal funding is scheduled to decrease by 10% in October of 2019 (and by another 10% in 2020), thus triggering a state cap on funding for KidsCare. With over 30,000 Arizona children currently uninsured, leaders are working hard to get these bills out of committee and included in state budget negotiations.
PCI Advances Agenda of Issues with Arizona State Legislator
Following up on a commitment leveraged in a nonpartisan accountability assembly last fall, Pima County Interfaith leaders met with Rep. Kirsten Engel to advance the PCI agenda of issues. Leaders engaged with the legislator around concerns related to education, food security, the environment and health -- and potential opportunities in the upcoming legislative session to advance these concerns.
Rep. Kirsten Engel had attended the Pima County Interfaith Accountability Session in September, along with other candidates, and publicly committed to collaborating with leaders, if elected.
Candidates State Case for Election inside packed Pima County Forum, KOLD News 13
700 PCIC Leaders Engage Federal, State Candidates and GOTV
700 PCIC leaders packed the parish hall of St. Pius X Catholic Church to secure commitments from candidates for federal, state and local office around an agenda that included immigration and food security at the federal level, and workforce development, education and healthcare at the state and local level.
Candidates that attended included Congressional Representative Ann Kirkpatrick (CD 2), Pima County Board of Supervisors’ Chair Richard Elias, and Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild. Religious leaders in attendance included Catholic Monsignors Raul Trevizo and Tom Cahalane, Episcopal Rector Robert Hendrickson (St. Philip’s), Rabbi Tom Louchheim (Or Chadash), Lutheran Dean & JobPath Board Chair Steve Springer (Dove of Peace), and Methodist Pastor Sharon Ragland (St. Mark’s). Bruce Dusenberry, former Chamber of Commerce Chair and Board of JobPath, Flowing Wells School Superintendent David Baker, and Community Food Bank President Michael McDonald also participated.
Hundreds of PCIC leaders helped Get Out The Vote through election day, resulting in a 70.5% voter turnout rate in Pima County -- the highest in recent history.
Candidates who committed to the agenda won their elections, including one State House seat and one US Congressional seat (CD-2). The City Parks & Recreation Bond also passed.
Candidates State Case for Election Inside Packed Pima County Forum, Tucson News [pdf]
'Accountability Session' Sunday a Chance to Evaluate Candidates, Arizona Daily Star
Pima County Interfaith Educates Immigrants on Proposed Changes to 'Public Charge' Rule
Forty members from St. John the Evangelist Church and the neighborhood attended a civic academy yesterday to learn about “public charge.” This new policy by the Trump Administration’s Department of Homeland Security would affect many legal immigrants who are applying for permanent residency (green cards) and penalize applicants if they or their families have received government support such as SNAP (food stamps), subsidized health care, and other support that the government has labeled a “public charge.”
As rumors of this new policy surfaced, immigrant churches and Pima County Interfaith started conducting research. The fear began a few months ago when the press began to talk again about this policy. Rumors and misinformation led many immigrants to renounce their citizen children’s benefits out of fear. Among those immigrants most affected by this proposal are low-income families, single mothers, and children with chronic illnesses.
At Sunday’s session, a single mother asked if she could lose her permanent residency if she continued to receive AHCCCS, Arizona’s version of Medicaid, for her infant baby. Fortunately, she received her visa through the VAWA program that so far is exempt from being a 'public charge.'
After the session, some attendees thanked the St. John team for making this presentation. They said they felt more relaxed now that they knew which programs would be counted as 'public charge.'
A young mother said, "I'm going to register for citizenship classes and I'm going to apply to become a citizen. I'm afraid this administration will find another way to revoke my residency and separate me from my family."
Msgr. Carrillo, PCIC Founder, is Eulogized in Tucson
One of the first Tucson-born, Mexican-American priests to serve in the Diocese of Tucson was eulogized and laid to rest by three dozen priests and deacons, and Bishop Gerald Kicanas, in addition to extended family and friends.
Described as a "giant" and a "Pope Francis priest" long before the Franciscan arrived at the Vatican, Msgr. Carrillo was a founding member of Pima County Interfaith Council.
Read moreVIP & Arizona Interfaith Continue Fight for Public School Funding
In 2016, VIP and Arizona Interfaith leaders led the fight for school and health funding for Arizona children, both for Kidcare (children's health insurance) and school finance in key legislative districts, including District 28 in North Phoenix and Paradise Valley, District 6 in Flagstaff and District 1 in Prescott.
As part of the statewide effort to reverse disinvestment in Arizona public schools, two teachers presented Governor Doug Ducey with a joint statement calling for increases in teachers' salaries. The joint statement was supported and signed by leaders of Arizona Interfaith, nonprofits and state associations of educators, business, administrators and PTAs.
Read moreSouthern Arizona Religious Leaders Sign Joint Statement Opposing Discrimination
More than 60 Southern Arizona religious leaders gathered on short notice to sign a joint statement expressing opposition to presidential executive orders banning the admission of select refugees and calling for the construction of a border wall.
Initially convened by Catholic Bishop Gerald Kicanas, with support from Southern Arizona Interfaith and Pima County Interfaith Civic Education Organization, clergy from Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Sikh backgrounds participated in the preparation of the joint statement. 105 religious leaders from 57 congregations ultimately signed on.
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PCIC Leverages 18% Increase in County Funding for JobPath
After a campaign that included educating County Supervisors about the economic (and life) impact of JobPath workforce development program, leaders of Pima County Interfaith won a 18% increase in funding for the program, from $423 thousand to $500 thousand. Pima County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 for the increase after Pastor Steve Springer of Dove of Peace Lutheran Church and Lindsay Leonard, a JobPath graduate, spoke.
Former students like Patty Popp credit JobPath for helping them bridge the gap between minimum wage work and a living wage career. After training for an associate's degree in radiologic technology, she kept on advancing to her current position as Director of Clinical Operations at Radiology Limited. Her story can be read in the first article below.
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