Students from 12 local high schools learn to 'lead with love' at conference sponsored by Strangers No Longer at Detroit Cristo Rey
DETROIT — More than 100 youths from 12 high schools gathered at Cristo Rey High School in southwest Detroit for Youth in Action for Immigration’s fifth annual conference on Friday, March 21. Youth in Action for Immigration is the youth-led council of Strangers No Longer, a statewide organization guided by Catholic faith to fight for immigration justice.
This conference was part of a larger effort to spread awareness and inspire action among Catholic high school students across Michigan. Marian High School teacher Michelle Denton explained that many of her students did not have personal experience with immigration, and events like these were key to developing empathy and inspiring students to take action.
Other Catholic students were fueled by their faith and personal experience with immigration to attend the conference. Sofia Dussan Bronson, a sophomore at Father Gabriel Richard High School in Ann Arbor and the daughter of Colombian immigrants, explained that her faith and background guided her to “lead with love, mercy, and hospitality, especially to the most vulnerable in (her) community, just like Jesus taught.”
Kimberly Redigan, the campus minister at Cristo Rey High School, contributed a reflection, empathizing that Jesus was a refugee and taught that “love has no borders, justice has no borders, and humanity has no borders.”
The Catholic high school students who helped plan and facilitate this event were driven by the same hope of living out their Catholic faith, spreading awareness, and igniting change.
Valentina Sedano from Notre Dame Preparatory High School in Pontiac is the co-chair of Youth in Action for Immigration. She helped plan and facilitate the conference alongside students from different Catholic high schools, some as young as 15 years old. Sedano shared that she wanted to create a safe space where students could come together for awareness, action and spiritual connectedness.
The student planning group invited three guest speakers to share the three pillars of the conference. They invited Sr. Gloria Rivera, IHM, former executive director of Freedom House, to explain the Catholic calling to advocate for immigration. Carmen Elena Luna, an immigrant and asylum seeker from El Salvador, shared her experience as an immigrant in the United States. Lastly, Monica Belej, a Harvard Law graduate and immigration lawyer at Catholic Charities, spoke about the need for immigration reform and advocacy.
Youth in Action for Immigration students also planned engaging activities to foster understanding and enhance advocacy skills. These included a refugee camp simulation, a Know Your Rights Training of the Trainer, a de-escalation non-violence training, and an Art and Advocacy station where students created art pieces and letters to send to their elected officials and religious leaders.
Joseph Davis, a junior at University of Detroit Jesuit High School, explained that the conference allowed him to immerse himself in the experiences of immigrants and learn how he could help.
Some students left with a new perspective. One attendee explained, “I used to think it was much different, that immigration wasn’t all good. The majority of it was bad … but coming here, I learned that not all people are doing it for the wrong reasons; sometimes they just want to help their family.”
Members of all of the 12 high schools in attendance left with comprehensive action plans on how to support immigrants in their city. Some of these plans involved visiting the state capitol and writing to their elected officials about immigration justice, others involved adopting newly arrived families, hosting fundraisers, and facilitating Know Your Rights training.
The students will continue to meet once a month as the school year progresses, and now, with this new momentum, they will return to their communities prepared to make an impact in the lives of immigrants.
For more information about how Michigan students and others can get involved in Strangers No Longer, visit www.strangersnolonger.org.
Kaylee Razo is a high school senior at Detroit Cristo Rey High School and a passionate advocate. She is the co-chair of Strangers No Longer’s Youth Council (Youth in Action for Immigration) and a mentor at the Michigan Youth Civil Rights Academy.
This article first appeared in EL CENTRAL Hispanic News, which is partially funded by Press Forward, the national movement to strengthen communities by reinvigorating local news. It is republished with permission.
