Send a message of love to Rosa and her family.
Rosa has spent 1 year in Sanctuary fighting her deportation order to stay with her family.
Click here to Tweet a message of support using #LetRosaStay.
OR
Click here to post a love note on our Facebook.
This Friday marks one year since our neighbor Rosa Robles entered into Sanctuary at Southside Presbyterian Church.
On August 7th of 2014, Rosa, her husband Gerardo, and her two sons, Gerardo, Jr. and Jose Emiliano walked into the church followed by a procession of local clergy. We promised to keep their family together. One year later, we are still fighting.
As a mother, my heart breaks for Rosa. Over the past 12 months, she has missed Thanksgiving, Christmas, anniversaries and 4 family birthdays; she has missed the beginning and the end of a school year with her children, Geraldo Jr. and Jose Emiliano, and has been absent from the stands of countless baseball games, cheering on her boys.
All for the chance to keep her family together.
On Friday we are gathering as a community of faith to celebrate Rosa’s courage and commitment and recommit ourselves to fight for her family and all families facing separation through detention and deportation. We will call upon ICE and DHS officials once again to follow the President’s executive order and close Rosa’s deportation case.
We would also love to include hundreds of messages of support and encouragement for Rosa and her family from people like you who have been inspired by her story.
Click here to post a love note to Rosa on our Facebook page — we’ll compile and give them to her on Friday.
Click here to Tweet using #LetRosaStay. Tag @DHSgov and @ICEgov to let them know you stand with Rosa. Here's my Tweet for inspiration:Rosa, thank you for your courageous leadership in the movement to keep families together: @DHSgov @ICEgov #LetRosaStay @WeStandWithRosa
Over the past 12 months, our offering of Sanctuary has grown into a powerful, faith-based movement calling to end deportations for all. Together, we have accomplished so much:
-365 prayer vigils
-1,095 community volunteer shifts to keep Rosa company in the “solidarity suite”
-2 resolutions passed at the city and county level calling for Rosa’s case to be closed
-Over 4,000 signatures (including yours) to our original Groundswell petition
-2 trips to Washington, DC to plead Rosa’s case to high-level officials
-Almost 10,000 “We Stand With Rosa” yard signs blanketing Tucson
-Thousands of #LetRosaStay tweets
-Countless letters of love and support from people of faith and congregations across the country
It brings me joy that Rosa’s family has become part of our church family, and I have witnessed powerful moments of inspiration as we follow her courageous leadership — but there have been moments of great heartbreak and frustration as Congress has been completely unwilling to put aside partisan politics for the higher moral obligations that leaders are called to.
Through it all, we have been reminded that God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love. (2 Timothy 1:7) And we have been upheld and encouraged by each of you and your support for Rosa. For that — Rosa, her family, and our community are ever grateful. Thank you.
With gratitude and renewed commitment,
Rev. Alison Harrington
Southside Presbyterian Church
GROUNDSWELL: Inspiring faithful action to heal and repair the world. We offer tools and resources for organizing online, and we find and share the best faithful content on the Web daily. Powered by Auburn Seminary.
475 Riverside Drive, Suite 1800
New York, New York 10115 United States
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