- John Fife
John Fife is a
human rights activist and retiredPresbyterian minister who lives inTucson, Arizona . He was a member of theSanctuary Movement and was a co-founder of the immigrant rights groupNo More Deaths .Rev. John Fife served as a minister for 35 years at Southside Presbyterian Church in Tucson, a church with a strong focus on
social justice issues. [ [http://www.southsidepresbyterian.org/info/mission.html Southside Presbyterian Church Mission Statement.] ] In 1992 Fife was electedModerator of the General Assembly of thePresbyterian Church (USA) . [ [http://www.southsidepresbyterian.org/info/mission.html Sanctuary Movement Founder Rev. John Fife.] Vassar College Relations Web site.] He is now apastor emeritus at Southside Presbyterian. [ [http://www.southsidepresbyterian.org/info/staff.html Southside Presbyterian Church Staff.] ]In the 1980s John Fife co-founded the Sanctuary Movement in the United States. Volunteers in the movement provided support to
Central America nrefugees , many of whom were fleeing U.S.-supporteddeath squads in their home countries ofEl Salvador andGuatemala . The movement organized over 500church es to help the refugees cross the border and find sanctuary in the U.S., in defiance offederal law . In 1986 Fife was convicted, along with seven other people, of violating federalimmigration law s and served five yearsprobation . [ [http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/04/23/1350219 Interview with John Fife on Democracy Now!, 23 April 2007] ]In 2004 a group of religious leaders in Tucson formed a coalition called
No More Deaths to attempt to end the deaths of immigrants along theUnited States-Mexico border . [ [http://nomoredeaths.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=27 No More Deaths History] ] John Fife was among the leaders of that effort and continues to work closely with No More Deaths. [ [http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/04/23/1350219 Interview with John Fife on Democracy Now!, 23 April 2007] ]References
External links
* [http://www.trackedinamerica.org/timeline/sanctuary/fife/ Reverend John Fife: A Call for Sanctuary]
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