Dear Friends of ESTHER,

• We worked on treatment instead of prison. Outagamie County now has a drug court that works with nonviolent drug offenders to rehabilitate their lives, keep families together, and keep persons out of costly incarceration.
• We worked on education. All residents graduating from Wisconsin high schools are now eligible for in-state tuition rates in our state technical colleges and universities.
• We worked to have affordable and accessible health care. This work continues at both the state and national level.
• We worked to diminish predatory payday lending. Together with WISDOM affiliates across the state we have called for a cap on the over 500% interest rates charged by payday and title loan companies in our communities.

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Why this issue is important to communities of faith

Predatory Payday Lending Talking Points

Peter, a member of St. Margaret Mary Parish and long-time leader in ESTHER has dedicated his energies to addressing the fair treatment of immigrants.  Take time to read this important book.

Book Description:

Why have millions of Mexicans and other Latinos fled their homelands and risked their lives to come to the U.S. in search of a job? Why are they living in the shadows, ever fearful of being discovered by the migras and of being deported?

Why is the United States, a nation of immigrants, which often welcomed and recruited millions of Mexicans workers in the past, now spending billions of dollars on walls, border patrols, detention centers and workplace raids to get them out and keep them out?

The issue is as complex as it is divisive. There are root causes, of course, and U.S. politics and trade policies have played a major role in producing today’s immigration crisis.

But the migrants themselves, real people with real experiences related throughout “Illegal,” are the most credible witnesses to the system gone awry as well as the injustices suffered and endured on both sides of the border.

Let them tell you their poignant stories. Rosa lost her husband to the drug wars and Rogelio lost his best friend in the desert. Ernesto lost his farm. Enrique was deported after a workplace raid. And Cresencio and Hector now are living the American dream, thanks to the amnesty program of the 1980s. That's just a sample.
 

Purchase your own copy of this book.  Contact Peter Geniesse (920)725-6702 or buy online by clicking here:

Illegal: NAFTA refugees forced to flee 

ESTHER supports the following principles of quality, affordable, and accessible health care;

1. Health care coverage should be guaranteed to everyone living in the United States with a choice of public or private health insurance plan
2. Health care should be affordable and accessible to all, with special consideration for low income individuals and families
3. Health care should be cost-effective and sustainable for society
4. Health care should be of high quality for everyone with a choice of doctors and hospitals
5. Health care coverage should be continuous, regardless of employment status or pre-existing condition
6. Health care coverage should be comprehensive, meeting needs from chronic to preventative care

Millions of Americans are uninsured, let’s act now to get our legislators to address this growing issue. 

What you can do: Call Senator Feingold, Senator Kohl today and your Representative today!

Call (toll free) now: 1-877-762-8762

With more Americans struggling financially, payday loans are coming under scrutiny for trapping the working poor in a vicious cycle of debt. Armen Keteyian reports. Aired on CBS Evening News July 29, 2008.