ADVOCACY DAY - 2008

JCU's JUSTICE group organized their 2nd Annual Advocacy Trip to Washington, DC, April 10-12, to speak with the offices of representatives and senators about trade policy toward develop countries, on behalf of those immigrating to the United States without documentation, and to call attention to the use of military training for soldiers from Latin American countries as an inappropriate and ineffective tool in current U.S. foreign policy.

The group was organized by: Ashley Boone ’07 (Resident Minister), Kristine Lee ’08, Katie Russell ’08, Jimmy Rudyk ’10, and Natalie Terry ’10.  Before departing for Washington the participants met with organizers to build skills related to meeting with legislators, learn more about the various issues, and study specific legislation related to the three topic areas.  The group specifically called attention to various bills and resolutions, including advocating for the Latin America Military Training Review Act (HR 1707) and the Dream Act (HR 1275).  A quick success story was the passage of the Jubilee Act (HR 2634) in the House of Representatives, a bill the group asked each representative to vote for after meeting with staff from Jubilee USA on Friday.  In total the group met with eleven different representatives' offices from three different states (Reps. Altmire, Chabot, Doyle, Kaptur, Kucinich, Latta, McNulty, Pryce, Regula, Tiberi, and Tubbs-Jones) and both Ohio Senators' offices (Brown and Voinovich).  The group members will continue to keep in contact with the offices and provide updates on important issues related to the three topics.

The group also had an opportunity to meet with Jill Gerschutz of the Jesuit Conference Social Ministries Office.  Jill works specifically with immigration issues in collaboration with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops “Justice for Immigrants” campaign. She spoke with the student group about the relationship between Catholic Social Teaching and the challegnes and needs facing immigrants without documentation in the U.S.

JUSTICE’s Advocacy trip received financial support from the Cleveland Catholic Diocese Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), John Carroll’s Program in Applied Ethics, and JCU Campus Ministry.  The group was also grateful for the support of Jubilee USA who let the group use their meeting room during the trip. To learn more about JUSTICE's Advocacy Trip contact them via e-mail at: cministry@jcu.edu.