On Monday, January 6, three Verona residents will offer an information session and eyewitness account of the human crises at the U.S.-Mexico border in a talk at the Verona Public Library.
Verona residents Professor Cinzia Cortese, Dr. Laura Morowitz and Dr. Monica Taylor will share their eyewitness accounts from Matamoros, Mexico and the latest information from groups on the ground. The three are among the founders of Lift Your Lamp, which is dedicated to raising awareness of conditions faced by those seeking asylum at the U.S. border. The group draws its name “Lift Your Lamp” from the sonnet written by Emma Lazarus to raise funds to build the base of the Statue of Liberty. In July, Taylor and Morowitz travelled to Brownsville, Texas, to serve food at a soup kitchen to asylum seekers there.
Asylum seekers at the southern border of the United States are now being turned away in violation of both international human rights law and stated U.S. policy. Beginning last summer, new laws have been enacted that force nearly all asylum seekers–most fleeing death and violence–to return to Mexico or to the very countries from which they escaped.
Come learn about the history of U.S. immigration, why people are fleeing, the obstacles and conditions asylum seekers face and what every individual should do to help.
The talk will be held at 7 p.m. and it is free and open to the public.
