Please join us online

ICUJP Friday Forum
October 2nd 7:30-9:30 am Pacific

Jan Meslin: Abolish Immigration Detention

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Event Description: 

Learn about the history and injustice of immigration detention in the U.S., hear stories of pain and resilience from those inside, and find out what you can do to join in this work.

Join the conversation with our speakers:

A human rights advocate her whole life, Jan Meslin became especially focused on immigration justice when she lived in Orange County. Through interfaith organizing work, she became friends with local immigrants who were being attacked simply for their identities. She has volunteered with Freedom for Immigrants, whose mission is to abolish immigration detention in the U.S., since its inception in 2011. With FFI, she started and coordinated one of the largest detention visitation programs in the country, and also helped to start other visitation programs throughout the U.S. She also volunteered on the FFI Hotline, and wrote medical advocacy and civil rights complaints. In Orange County, she was part of the successful movement to shut down 3 public jails where immigrants were detained.

After retiring to Cayucos, her passion to advocate for people detained in these private for-profit immigration prisons continued. Working with KWESI, the visitation and advocacy program in Kern County, she coordinates monthly visits to Bakersfield, McFarland, and California City. Visitors are eyes and ears for what happens inside. Now about 70,000 folks are detained at these private concentration camps throughout the country, about 4,000 in Kern County. She has been to many actions to shut them down, and also actions to mourn people who have died in detention. She is always transformed in some way by these visits.

Jan is a retired educator, coach, and computer trainer. She helped to start the UURISE Immigrant Justice Portal, a UU San Luis Obispo service that partners with attorneys in San Diego to offer free legal services. And she volunteers with the 805Undocufund Rapid Response Network. She’s also a member of the Cayucos Citizens’ Advisory Council. With the Unitarian Universalist Justice Ministry of California, Jan has facilitated several border immersion justice trips and homebuild trips to Tijuana. She has recently joined UUJMCA’s Board.

She is always working to move people toward taking action.

7:30 - 7:35  Log in and socialize
7:35 - 7:45  Welcome and introductions 
7:45 - 7:50  Reflection (5 min. maximum)
7:50 - 9:15  Program and Q&A
9:15 - 9:20  Announcements
9:20 - 9:30  Closing circle and prayer

Start your morning with us! 

Facilitator: Carolfrances Likins
Reflector: Anthony Manousos

** Meetings begin promptly at 7:30 am Pacific. **

Here's how to join the online meeting:

To join by video conference, you'll need to download the Zoom app on your computer or mobile device. Click on the link to join the meeting and then enter the Meeting ID number and passcode. You'll be able to see slides and video, as well as speakers and other attendees.

If you prefer to join by phone, you'll be prompted to enter the Meeting ID number and passcode. You won't be able to see the visuals or attendees, but you can view them on the meeting video recording afterward. 

If you're new to Zoom and would like to use the video option, we recommend you download the app well ahead of time.

ICUJP Friday Forum 10/02/26
Time: 07:30 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

RSVP AT BOTTOM OF PAGE

*Meeting controls for call-in attendees:
To mute/unmute yourself: *6
To raise hand: *9

(To find a dial-in number closer to you, go here.)

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Please note: Our Friday Forums and other events are open to the public. By attending, you consent to having your voice and likeness recorded, photographed, posted on ICUJP's website and social media, and included in ICUJP materials and publications for noncommercial purposes. If you don't want to be photographed or recorded, please let the facilitator know.

Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace recognizes the Gabrieliño Tongva as the past, present, and future caretakers of the land, water, and cultural resources in the unceded territory of Los Angeles.

We wanted to share some of the sights and sounds from our 2026 Rev. George C. Regas Courageous Peacemaker Awards this past Sunday at All Saints Church in Pasadena.

You can check out Mike Farrell's presentation to honoree Steve Rohde, Steve's acceptance speech, and Rick Steves' wonderful acceptance speech here:


Mike Farrell presenting the 2026 ICUJP 2026 Regas Courageous Peacemaker Award to Stephen Rohde, All Saints Episcopal Church, Pasadena, California, Sept. 27th, 2026.


Steve Rohde acceptance: ICUJP 2026 Regas Courageous Peacemaker Awards/Looking Back, Looking Forward All Saints Episcopal Church, Pasadena, California, Sept. 27th, 2026


Rick Steves acceptance: 2026 Regas Courageous Peacemaker Awards, All Saints, Pasadena, 09/27/26

We wanted to lift up our hosts at All Saints, our partners for 25 years, our technical gurus Robert Corsini, Nicholas Corsini, and Evan Rohde, and photographer Brian Biery, who shared powerful photos of Palestine and Gaza that helped to illuminate the ongoing Nakba and the indomnible will of the Palestinian people.

Russell Ferrante, Jason Luckett, and Kenton Chen gifted us with heartfelt and profound music that was the salve we needed at this time when moments of beauty are becoming harder to come by. 

To our honorees: I hope you all felt like we were able to give respectful recognition to your achievements, lift up your values, and encourage you all to keep growing and impacting the world.

Bert Newton of Pasadena for Palestine, Bishop Taylor, and Steve Rohde, thank you for your heartfelt acceptances. Rick Steves, thank you for your wonderful video acceptance - you'll be glad to know that we were sent off by our MC Mimi Kennedy saying "Bon Voyage"!

Speaking of Mimi...it's not easy to MC an event like this, but you kept us on course and were the perfect host for this program - our profound thanks.

We also wanted to thank the Ponnet family for sharing so much of Father Chris' life and letting us see him from your eyes as a member of your family. Chris' spirit is still with us, and we got a big dose of it at our celebration of his life and work. His Birkenstocks are still walking the talk when we speak the truth and advocate for those that are disenfranchised and hurting.

Our presenters: Anthony Manousos, Louis Chase, Rev. Russell, Mike Farrell, Dave Clennon, Bonnie Boswell - thank you for framing the achievements of our honorees and your insights into what their work has meant to you.

Finally, we want to thank YOU. In our 25 years of existence, you have not allowed us to become despondent. Our ancestors and mentors in the struggle for Justice and Peace carried on despite terrible odds, and invested us with that sense of optimism, secure in knowing we have beaten long odds before and will do so again. 

In our mission to further justice and peace in this world, we are not counted out, and we are not done yet.

Please support ICUJP and help us keep on going for another 25 years - click here to make a one-time or monthly donation.

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Get tickets here

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Saint Camillus Center for Spiritual Care
1911 Zonal Avenue
Los Angeles, CA  90033

323-225-4461
[email protected]

The screening falls exactly one year after the passing of Fr. Chris Ponnet. The event will serve as a way to honor him & his commitment to death row abolition.

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Become a Card-Carrying Member of Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace!

This year, Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace is commemorating 25 years of advocacy for the disenfranchised and abused at home and around the world. In the aftermath of September 11th 2001, Los Angeles religious and secular leaders and activists came together to seek an alternative to the fear mongering and vengefulness sweeping much of our nation. ICUJP declared that  “Religious Communities Must Stop Blessing War and Violence.”

We have endured and spread our message through very trying times - five Presidents, four California Governors, and numerous crises and challenges that would shake the resolve of even the most devout and dedicated group of activists. But through it all, we have held true to our mission to be the voice for "the least of these."  We are determined to create the change we want to see in the world, no matter how daunting the opposition can seem. 

Like many nonprofits, the economy, the aftereffects of the Covid pandemic, and the constant attacks on progressive organizations by the Trump administration have affected our fundraising.  We depend on the support of people who believe in justice and peace, who attend our weekly Zoom forums, who go to our events, or who receive the information on our website and social media.

We would be honored if you can donate $25, $50, $100 (or more) to help us keep up with the increasing costs of securing live venues, renting audio and video equipment, printing valuable information for live events, bringing our social media tools up to date, and paying our small but mighty part-time staff.We have several ways for you to support our work:

You can go to the ICUJP donation page on our website to make a one-time donation, or spread your donation out monthly.

You can also visit our ICUJP Threadless Store where you can check out our new products with our brand new ICUJP 25th Anniversary logo! Make a purchase and wear your support for our organization, or give the gift of a tote bag, a mug, or a cute little onesie so your grandkids can be fashionable!

If you make a donation using either of these options, we will also send you a personalized ICUJP membership card for yourself or as a gift to print out:

ICUJP operates as a largely volunteer organization with a small part-time paid staff. We have survived for 25 years through the generosity of individuals like yourselves and organizations such as yours.

Thank you for your ongoing support – we are honoured to be standing shoulder to shoulder with you in the struggle for universal Justice and Peace.

RESOURCES FOR PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF A PEOPLE UNDER SIEGE

ICUJP Condemns the actions of the current administration to foment unrest in Southern California and other parts of the US. We hope you will find the following information useful in keeping involved and safe.

“Annihilation” is the first single from NIYAZ’s brand new album and stage production, SEVEN REALMS OF ATTAR.

KCRW Presents: Seven Realms of Attar by Niyaz
Sun, Oct 4, 2026 ⦁ 6:30pm

Tickets available here

Created in collaboration with visual artist Theron Pray and dancer/choreographer Jody Sperling, Seven Realms of Attar is a landmark multidisciplinary production by NIYAZ, the pioneering electro-acoustic music collective founded by Azam Ali and Loga Ramin Torkian, redefining tradition through innovation. Inspired by the sublime poetry of Attar’s 12th-century masterpiece Conference of the Birds, the work brings together live music, poetry, dance, visual art, animation, and 3D projection mapping to transform the stage into a living, evolving cosmos. Each realm embodies a stage of the soul’s passage through longing, surrender, awakening, and transcendence.

Rooted in Iranian cultural heritage yet strikingly contemporary in its vision, the production transforms technology into a poetic medium, carrying audiences through seven realms of spiritual discovery. Created in response to a world increasingly shaped by conflict, displacement, and division, Seven Realms of Attar is an invitation into a shared space of reflection and wonder, a poetic affirmation of our common humanity and our enduring longing for unity, freedom, and spiritual awakening.

Translation from Farsi:
In the very first step, I was lost;
lifeless, I was utterly transformed.
What could being and not being be

once I had passed beyond reason and imagination
Both worlds, woven within one another
are one vast ocean.
Whoever says “it is not,”
is only lost in illusion.

Chorus:
Every hidden truth that was hidden
was revealed to me

I became an eternal tale,
a song poured from the wine cup.
In the realm of annihilation,
I became ecstatically entranced.

No words remained in me;
not even the image of myself remains.
In the rose garden of longing,
the soul flows forth from me.