“And the walls came tumbling down.”

On the first Tuesday of every month, faith leaders and immigration justice activists walk seven times around the Norris Cotton Federal Building in Manchester where ICE has its NH office. Carleigh joined them in their vigil this past Tuesday.

Carleigh walks with activists around the Norris Cotton Federal Building

As in the story of Joshua and the walls of Jericho from the Hebrew Bible, the people who participated in the Jericho walk on Tuesday know that the aspiring Americans they are speaking out for face long odds, but they are undeterred.

Afterwards, at the immigration support network meeting, one of the people Carleigh met was Grace Kindeke of the American Friends Service Committee. Grace was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and lives in Manchester with her family. Grace is helping educate people across the state about our broken immigration system and the critical need for both immediate action to defend the rights of people victimized by federal immigration policy and long-term systemic reform to create real and fair pathways to legal status for immigrants in the United States.

In her class on Religion, Politics, and Public Policy at the Kennedy School, Carleigh teaches her students about the long and complicated history of immigration in the United States. Students are often shocked and disbelieving when she explains that there is no “line” for most people to wait on if they want to come to live in the United States, and that unless a person meets one of a couple exceptional sets of criteria, then their only option is to become undocumented. She also teaches about the long history of faith leaders and religious communities standing up for immigrants, welcoming them into the United States, and pushing for a more fair and just immigration system. The faith-based community organizing in support of due process and families harmed by the current administration’s policies in the Granite State is one example of this.

As a teacher, a member of the Hampton Select Board, and candidate for Congress, Carleigh is committed to standing up for the people in her community who are targeted by unjust policies and to seeking practical and meaningful solutions to the problems plaguing our broken immigration system. She never has and never will let fear, prejudice, or political expediency guide her approach to policy-making.