Life Without Injustice.
Because Justice Matters
Discrimination against immigrants
For newly arrived immigrants, there are many unique and specific obstacles in finding their way to the American Dream. Over one third of all employed, foreign-born workers in the US are from Central America. They often face racism and discrimination while being disproportionately likely to experience poverty. Immigrants have high employment rates but are more likely to receive lower wages. Many immigrants describe being stuck in low-level jobs, while struggling to find safe, affordable housing. They face the stress of a new culture, long hours at work, cramped living quarters and language barriers. Many families are exhausted and discouraged.
Immigrant and refugee families live difficult lives as they adjust to life in a new culture. Isolation and loss of community can be detrimental to recent immigrants who have previously depended on their support networks. Learning English is a priority but there is a lack of ESL classes and often schedules and times are not conducive to the working lives of newly arrived immigrants desperate to hold down a job.
In schools, many children fall behind in learning English or in understanding their classes, and a shortage of bilingual teachers and counselors only exasperates the problem. At the same time, parents find it difficult to help their children with homework since they themselves are new learners to culture and language, working excessive hours.
"Made in L.A." documentary 
On the night of June 3rd we hosted an important awareness event for faith leaders, activists and anyone seeking answers to tough issues facing America.
Made in L.A. (http://www.madeinla.com/) is an Emmy award-winning feature documentary (70 min) that follows the remarkable story of three Latina immigrants working in Los Angeles garment sweatshops as they embark on a three-year odyssey to win basic labor protections from trendy clothing retailer Forever 21.
It was a great night of discussion and motivation for us all to become more involved in this issue.
Summer ESL Academy
In the summer of 2009, beginning on July 6th, our staff ran a five-week free ESL course for immigrants in the Tenderloin of San Francisco.
Learning English is a priority for immigrants, but there are limited ESL classes available. The recent budget cuts from ESL programs hav emade this even more of a need.
Our five-week course in conversational Beginner and Intermediate ESL was held from July 6th to August 7th.
