Aurora area churches hold service in solidarity with immigrants
On Saturday, a group of around 60 community members came together for a bilingual church service and show of support for the immigrant community at Village Bible Church and El Camino in Aurora.
The event was a combined effort from several area churches: Village Bible Church's Aurora campus (which includes Village Bible and El Camino), Village Bible in Plano, Nueva Vida United Methodist Church in Aurora, Community Christian Church in Aurora and St. Petrie Lutheran Church in Leland.
The idea for a combined service came from Pastors Nico Ticona of El Camino in Aurora and Village Bible in Plano and Rodrigo Cano of Community Christian Church.
'We don't know all the reasons people need to migrate,' Ticona said through a translator in his sermon at Saturday's service.
He noted the feelings of uncertainty within the local community, and encouraged attendees to pray as well as materially serve those in the area.
After President Trump took office in January, the administration promised a crackdown on immigration, saying Chicago would be ground zero for enforcement. The administration also announced that sensitive locations like schools and churches would not be off limits, sparking fear in local communities.
Since then, a church in Chicago moved its services online out of fear of immigration arrests. A flurry of congregations in the Chicago area said they would continue to offer resources to immigrant communities in spite of the administration's policies.
Just outside Chicago, in Evanston, a local church said it would continue to provide sanctuary to immigrants. Elgin and Waukegan groups have held protests in recent weeks showing support for the immigrant community. In Aurora, area school districts have announced protocols in case U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement tries to make arrests at their schools.
Ticona is originally from Peru, and has been a pastor in the area for the past seven years. He said he enjoys community outreach and wanted to do something for the Hispanic community in Aurora. So he worked with Cano and other church leaders to organize the bilingual service.
On Saturday, Ticona and the other church leaders focused not on the politics of immigration, but on service to the Aurora community during a difficult time.
'If the Lord has blessed us in this country with those things that go beyond our initial needs, the calling is to bless others,' Ticona said at Saturday's service.
Afterward, Administer Justice – an Elgin-based, Christian legal aid organization with clinics across the country – set up a table downstairs with a volunteer providing legal resources.
This is a regular offering at Village Bible and El Camino in Aurora. They've been hosting similar legal aid clinics for about a year now, on the first Saturday of the month from 9 a.m. to noon at their church at 1402 W. Galena Blvd. in Aurora.
Administer Justice provides legal assistance to community members on a number of issues: tenant-landlord disputes, domestic violence, guardianship cases, fraud and more, according to Kevin Drendel, an attorney who oversees the Administer Justice clinic run out of Village Bible in Aurora and sits on the organization's Board of Directors. The clinics operate out of local churches and are staffed by community volunteers.
Village Bible's outpost of Administer Justice has three lawyers who volunteer at the clinic, and some or all of them come to the clinic each month to provide legal help, Drendel said.
While immigration is just one legal issue that arises in the community, many of the people who come to them with legal questions are Spanish-speaking and from immigrant backgrounds, Drendel said. El Camino provides translation services at the clinics for those who need it. And while the lawyers who staff the Village Bible group do not specialize in immigration, they can refer individuals to attorneys who can help.
'We have resources that we've gathered that we hand out to people, and we also can direct them to other places (if) they have something more going on than just their legal issue, which almost always they do,' Drendel told The Beacon-News on Tuesday.
Drendel said he has not yet seen a major uptick in immigration questions – and that many of the issues immigrant community members come to them with are not about immigration at all. Nevertheless, he said he is expecting immigration-related concerns to increase in the near future.
Going forward, Ticona said he and other church leaders want to keep planning bilingual services for the Aurora community, and hope to keep adding more and more churches into the fold.
Ticona hopes these kinds of services can act as a 'safe oasis for everyone,' he told The Beacon-News before the service on Saturday. 'That's the main goal right now.'
And Drendel said Administer Justice is also trying to expand its offerings in the area. Drendel specializes in estate planning, and he hopes to host workshops in the future with immigration lawyers to help families plan their estates and guardianship of their children in case of immigration-related issues or arrests.
People need legal advice for all sorts of reasons, Drendel said, but the cost of legal representation affects the ability of individuals in poverty to access a lawyer. That's where Administer Justice comes in.
'If you don't have money, you don't have access to the legal system, basically,' Drendel said.
And he believes churches are an ideal location for providing legal advice to anyone who needs it, immigrants and non-immigrants alike.
'A church is uniquely positioned in a community to be able to help people that have needs – vulnerable people,' Drendel said. 'And it's central to the church's mission to love your neighbor. … Some churches have food pantries, some churches have homeless shelters, some churches provide other services. And having a legal clinic located in a church is just another way that the church can help vulnerable people in the community.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
40 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Kilmar Abrego Garcia officially enters not-guilty plea on trafficking charges
June 13 (UPI) -- Kilmar Abrego Garcia on Friday formally pleaded not-guilty to federal human trafficking and conspiracy charges. Abrego Garcia's wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, also said a court appearance this week was the first time she was able to see her husband since he was arrested and detained in March. The Salvadorian migrant was returned to the United States earlier this month after being deported to a prison in El Salvador. "Even though it was through a video screen, I was finally able to see Kilmar," Vasquez Sura, who is a U.S. citizen, told supporters at a rally in Nashville. "I'm grateful for everyone who has been fighting for this milestone, in this fight to bring my husband back home with our children." The couple were living in Maryland with their young children at the time Abrego Garcia was arrested. Lawyers will now argue in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes whether the 29-year-old should be granted bail before trial. Prosecutors have argued he "would have enormous reason to flee" if released. Abrego Garcia was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in March and eventually deported to El Salvador. Supporters argued Abrego Garcia was denied due process in the deportation proceedings A U.S. District Court judge later ordered the federal government to "facilitate" his return, after the Justice Department later acknowledged Abrego Garcia's deportation was made in error. President Donald Trump's administration pushed back against efforts to bring Abrego Garcia back to the United States. In 2019, a federal judge ruled in 2019 that Abrego Garcia could be deported, but not back to his home country of El Salvador. He was indicted on two federal charges last month before his return to the United States. Abrego Garcia is accused of playing a "significant role in an alien smuggling ring," dating back as far as 2016, Attorney General Pam Bondi said at the time of the indictment. Bondi said if Abrego Garcia is found guilty, he will be returned to El Salvador. Police stopped the vehicle he was driving in Tennessee in 2002 and found several Hispanic men with no identification. After he was returned to the United States, Abrego Garcia was immediately sent to Tennessee to face the federal charges. Federal officials also contend Abrego Garcia was a member of the El Salvadoran MS-13 gang, accusations he and his family deny. They argue Abrego Garcia fled El Salvador because of the threat of gang violence.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Israel's overnight strike on Iran in maps and images
Israel has hit Iran with its biggest wave of air strikes in years, targeting the country's nuclear programme, and is promising to continue its attacks. Senior military figures and nuclear scientists were killed in the overnight strikes and there are unconfirmed reports that civilians, including children, were also among the victims. In response, Iran launched about 100 drones towards Israel, most of which were intercepted, according to the Israeli military. Israel said it had launched a another wave of strikes on Friday evening, with reports of more explosions in Iran, but the scale of that attack and the damage caused is not yet clear. Video analysed by the BBC shows multiple strikes overnight in the capital Tehran as well near three reported military sites and Iran's main nuclear facility in Natanz. Israel's military said it had struck "dozens of military targets, including nuclear targets in different areas of Iran". It later released a map of the sites it said it had hit which included nuclear facilities, missile facilities and radar defences, as well as scientists and military commanders. Explosions were first reported in Tehran at about 03:30 local time (01:00 BST), with Iranian state TV saying residential areas were among those hit. Blasts were heard in the north-east of the capital and explosions reported at the airport, according to analysis by the US-based Institute for the Study of War. The BBC has confirmed one of the locations as the site where Iranian media reported that former head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation Fereydoon Abbasi and nuclear scientist Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi were killed. Iran has confirmed that at least six of its nuclear scientists were killed. Iranian state media showed footage of fires burning in buildings and plumes of smoke rising from the city's skyline. Key Iranian commanders have also been killed, including the chief of staff of the armed forces, and the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Among the other sites hit is Iran's main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, in the centre of the country. Iranian state TV said it was struck several times, with pictures showing black smoke billowing from the site. Israel's military said the strikes had caused significant damage. The facility, about 225km (140 miles) south of Tehran, has enrichment plants above and below ground. Uranium can be used to produce fuel for commercial nuclear power plants, research reactors or weapons depending on the level of enrichment. The Institute for Science and International Security said satellite images show damage and destruction to several buildings around the complex, including the pilot fuel enrichment plant, which holds centrifuges and research facilities, as well as the on site electrical substation that provides power to the facility. The global nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said it was informed by Iranian authorities that there has been no increase in radiation levels at the Natanz plant. Iran has long maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes only. It has several facilities around Iran, at least some of which have been targeted in the Israeli strikes. But many countries - as well as the IAEA - are not convinced Iran's programme is for civilian purposes alone. It has nuclear facilities spread across much of the country. The strikes come as US talks over Iran's nuclear programme, which began in April, appear to have stalled in recent days. The next round of talks was scheduled for Sunday. US President Donald Trump has urged Iran to "make a deal" on its nuclear programme, "before there is nothing left". Other world leaders have called for restraint on both sides. IAEA head Rafael Grossi said nuclear facilities "must never be attacked" and such strikes have "serious implications for nuclear safety, security and safeguards, as well as regional and international peace and security". In a statement to board members, he called "on all parties to exercise maximum restraint to avoid further escalation", saying "any military action that jeopardises the safety and security of nuclear facilities risks grave consequences for the people of Iran, the region, and beyond".
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
House GOP launches probe of China-based billionaire linked to protest groups, including anti-ICE agitators in LA
WASHINGTON — House Republicans launched an investigation Friday into a China-based billionaire purportedly backing left-wing protest groups in the US — including one linked to the anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) riots in Los Angeles — and asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to determine whether he was part of a larger Chinese Communist Party influence operation. The reclusive Neville Singham, who was born in Chicago but lives with his activist wife Jodie Evans in Shanghai, 'may have acted as an agent for the CCP' through his support of the demonstrations, GOP members of the House Oversight Committee alleged in letters to the billionaire himself as well as Bondi that have been obtained by The Post. Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Declassification Taskforce Chairwoman Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who has threatened to subpoena Singham if he refuses to cooperate with their investigation, drew attention to the CCP's self-described 'Strategy of Sowing Discord' in the letters. 4 The reclusive Neville Singham was born in Chicago but lives with his activist wife Jodie Evans in Shanghai. Getty Images for V-Day 'Under General Secretary Xi [Jinping], the CCP is known for its 'Strategy of Sowing Discord,' which 'refers to efforts to make internal disputes amongst the enemy so deep that they become distracted from conflict,'' Comer and Luna wrote in the letters, which were signed by 19 other Oversight GOPers. 'If you are, in fact, carrying out this strategy on behalf of the CCP, you may have a [Foreign Agents Registration Act] registration obligation. In addition, your funding and relationship with the PSL, which has been implicated in the violence and riots in Los Angeles, may violate other federal laws.' The letters focus in particular on Singham's ties to the Party for Liberation and Socialism (PSL), as well as the People's Forum and the ANSWER Coalition, but request information about 16 other groups. 4 PSL has been involved in the Los Angeles-based demonstrations as well as other protests nationwide against federal immigration actions, according to public social media posts. Toby Canham for NY Post Public social media posts indicate PSL has been involved in the Los Angeles demonstrations as well as other protests nationwide against federal immigration actions, some of which have devolved into riots and property destruction. The People's Forum and ANSWER Coalition have also helped organize large anti-Israel demonstrations in the US since the outbreak of Jewish state's war against Hamas in Gaza following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack. 'Reportedly, you have supported these groups with the aim of causing destruction and division in our country — including most recently through ongoing riots and violence in Los Angles, California,' the Oversight Republicans said in the letter to Singham. 4 The Oversight lawmakers asked Attorney General Pam Bondi if he was part of a larger Chinese Communist Party influence operation. AP 'You have created an elaborate dark money network which allows you to send funds to a series of non-profits,' they added, 'that have almost no real footprints.' Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), now secretary of state, and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) had asked Biden's DOJ last year to look into any activities Singham may have been supporting 'on behalf of the CCP' to promote civil unrest in the US, the Oversight panel noted. Both Singham, the founder of the software firm Thoughtworks and a purported admirer of Maoism, and Evans have denied working for the Chinese government, but have shared office space with the Maku Group — a CCP-promoting propaganda network. 4 'You have created an elaborate dark money network which allows you to send funds to a series of non-profits,' the GOP lawmakers added, 'that have almost no real footprints.' Toby Canham for NY Post Dark money nonprofits connected to Singham — including the United Community Fund and the Justice Education Fund — have also bankrolled Maku's operations, according to an extensive New York Times report cited by the Oversight panel. 'Maku's website shows young people gathering in Mr. Singham's office, facing a banner that reads, 'Always Follow the Party,' with an image of General Secretary Xi Jinping in the background,' the Republicans wrote. 'Moreover, it appears that Mr. Singham supports BreakThrough Media, a platform known for promoting pro-CCP talking points and geopolitical interests.' Singham, 71, sold the tech company to a private equity firm for $785 million in 2017. Evans, 70, co-founded the anti-war group Code Pink, which Republicans have also accused of ties to the Chinese government, and currently sits on the board of the People's Forum. Alex Goldenberg, senior advisor to the National Contagion Research Institute, which tracks disinformation on social media platforms, previously told The Post: 'The Singham network operates as a coordinated movement incubator.' The Post reached out to reps for Singham and the Justice Department for comment.
