For immediate release young Nuns to Pray For Immigration Reform at the U. S./Mexico Border and around the Nation

3390 Windsor Ave Communications Coordinator

Dubuque, IA 52001 872.215.1948; ryan@giving-voice.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dubuque, Iowa (September 17, 2016) - Members of Giving Voice, a community of Catholic sisters under age 50, and the next generation of women religious, stand in solidarity with the U.S./Mexico Border Convergence witness occurring October 7 to 10 in Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Mexico. Several sisters will journey to the border and encourage compassionate national conversations and effective political action on the topic of immigration and much needed reform that protects human dignity and family unification. Additionally, other members of Giving Voice will host prayer services in solidarity with the Border Convergence in convents found in cities throughout the nation, such as in Fargo, North Dakota and San Antonio, Texas.

1. 
   Lift up compassionate national conversations and effective political action,
   
2. 
   Advocate for compassionate, comprehensive immigration reform, and
   
3. 
   Honor the human dignity of all of our brothers and sisters.
   

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  Pope Francis and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) are advocates for immigration reform, insistent upon the biblical call to welcome immigrants and treat all humanely.
  
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  Thousands of Catholic women religious worldwide (sisters and nuns) serve in ministries on the margins which seek to provide safe spaces and compassionate community to those victimized by violence.
  
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  Catholic Social Teaching makes it clear all Catholics are to stand in solidarity with the most vulnerable and speak out against inhumane treatment, violence, and other atrocities.
  
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  The current immigration system in the U.S., for example, makes it difficult for at-risk people to experience safety and is a violation of one’s basic human dignity.
  
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  More than six thousand migrants died along the Southwestern border of the United States between 1998 and 2014. Deaths occur due to exposure, drowning, and car accidents and began as early as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882¹.
  
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  Over 27,000 unaccompanied children have been sized at the United States-Mexico border between October 2015-March 2016, a figure up by 78% since the previous year².
  
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  Approximately 7% of school-age children in the United States had at least one unauthorized immigrant parent in 2012. Of these children nearly eight-in-ten were born in the US. This puts these children at risk of being separated from their families through the deportation of their parents.³
  

Giving Voice on Twitter: @Young_Nuns

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  Post articles and message on Facebook. Be sure to share others’ updates and stories, too! Use the hashtag #GivingVoice & #ConvergenceAtTheBorder to tag your messages of justice. We’ll be monitoring these tags and sharing!
  
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  Tweet on Twitter using the hashtags above. Retweeting others’ tweets and posting short quotes work great! Again, we’ll be monitoring these tags and retweeting!
  
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  If you use other social media platforms (e.g., Pinterest, LinkedIn, etc.) feel free to post there, too.
  
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  Use email and group listservs to share good articles, reactions, stories, etc.
  
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  When posting messages images such as photos, cartoons, and other visuals get the most attention.
  
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  Like letters to the editor, keep it short. Social media is not conducive to lengthy posts. Keep posts between 100-250 characters for more interaction and visibility.
  
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  Ask folks to share things (it’s ok to be direct!). You might say, “This is a great article I wrote, please read and share.” Or, “I really liked this story, share it for others to enjoy.”
  
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  Some sample messages:
  

1. 
   Click here http://www.soaw.org/border/seven-steps-to-local-media-coverage/ for tips about how to engage media in your area and invite them to do a story about your prayerful solidarity with the Border Convergence.
   
2. 
   Update the press release included in this media kit with contact information and quotes from the local organizers of the prayer service. Add statistics and narrative about the ways that unjust immigration policies have hurt families and the community in your area. Communicate with the local press before and after the Border Convergence and your prayer service.
   
3. 
   Write a Letter to the Editor to your local media expressing your prayerful solidarity with the Border Convergence. Indicate that you are praying in order to lift up compassionate national conversations and effective political action, advocate for compassionate, comprehensive immigration reform, and honor the human dignity of all of our brothers and sisters. Or, update the sample Letter to the Editor included in this Media Kit for your local newspaper. Submit the newspaper the last week of September or the first week of October.
   
4. 
   Hold your Border Convergence solidarity prayer service in a public place such as a church, chapel, park, or outside the local federal offices. Hold up signs and banners with slogans such as “Stop Separating Families,” “No Human Being is Illegal,” “Compassionate Immigration Reform NOW,” “Justice for Immigrants,” “One Nation Under God,” and “We Pray in Solidarity with the Border Convergence.”
   
5. 
   Take pictures while you are getting ready for your prayer service and upload them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and SnapChat. Invite folks to attend your prayer service and label the photos with the hashtags: #ConvergenceAtTheBorder #GivingVoice #Prayer #Solidarity #ImmigrationReformNow
   
6. 
   Any Giving Voice sisters who received Giving Voice T-shirts to wear should take a picture of themselves during the prayer service they are hosting. Please post the pictures on social media and include the following caption:
   

7. 
   Other communities and organizations are also invited to post pictures of their prayer services on social media using the same hashtags.
   
8. 
   Share and re-post photos, videos, articles, etc. from other groups in order to show your connection with others throughout the country who are also praying in solidarity with the Border Convergence.
   
9. 
   Record a video of your prayer service and share it online using Facebook Live or another social media channel.
   

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  How to load your prayer service on Facebook Live:
  
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    Using your smart phone, open your Facebook app.
    
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    Respond to “Allow Facebook to record audio?” by clicking “Allow.”
    
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    Make sure the phone is arranged in place where the audio and video will be recorded clearly.
    
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    Type text to label your video in place of “Describe your live video” using the label: “We pray with GivingVoice Catholic sisters in solidarity with the #ConvergenceAtTheBorder”
    
  • 
    Click “Go Live.”
    
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    After you are done recording click “Finish.”
    
  • 
    Click “Post.”
    

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