IFCLA Comes to Eliot Chapel

We Have a New Tenant!

The Interfaith Committee on Latin America is moving their business office into Room 005 on April 20. The mission of IFCLA is to support the people of Latin America seeking to rebuild their lives in the United States. IFCLA was evicted from the church that housed them because of their support for LGBTQIA+ rights and reproductive justice. They turned to us for help and we were glad to open our doors as an extension of our commitment to immigration reform and immigrant rights.

IFCLA has been an instrumental partner as Eliot Chapel has developed our involvement in the advancement of justice for immigrants in recent years. In 2017 we and other local churches joined IFCLA's Sanctuary Coalition to support Alex from Honduras who took sanctuary at Maplewood CC and stayed there for over three years. That initiated our own year-long discernment process in 2017-2018 during which IFCLA conducted a four-part Immigration 101 workshop to educate the congregation. This process culminated in EUC voting and executing the Declaration for Sacred Resistance in May 2018.

Ever since that beginning, ICLA has provided many other educational events at Eliot, and inspired and shaped the work of the Immigration Justice Team to support immigrants through advocacy and building connections. Besides joining marches and even a sit-in to support the release of Alex at the Federal Building where ICA resides, we have lobbied with IFCLA in Jefferson City for tuition equity and against criminalization of immigrants.

Many Eliot members are participating in IFCLA's accompaniment program where volunteers join the immigrants at their check-in visits at the ICE or ISAP offices to show our solidarity for their case. We also support IFCLA and MICA's quarterly Pro Se Clinics where volunteer attorneys help the immigrants fill out their asylum and work authorization applications. These opportunities to make a personal connection are deeply spiritual and allow us to show that immigrants are welcome here and that their value and dignity is not determined by their legal status.

IFCLA’S presence at Eliot should only minimally impact our daily operations and the rental income will support Eliot Chapel. Room 005 is not used for RE and was seldom assigned for meetings. We have also worked with ECNS to assure a minimal impact on them. IFCLA staff have gone through background checks as our own staff does.

We are proud to have IFCLA make Eliot Chapel their new home and look forward to deepening our partnership with them.