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Joan Maruskin named to head Religious Services Program
February 21, 2008Washington, D.C. - Rev. Dr. Joan Maruskin has been named National Administrator of the Church World Service Religious Services Program (RSP), responsible for multi-faith spiritual care at eight U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers. A long-time advocate for refugees and immigrants, she was CWS Associate for Public Policy in Washington, D.C., from 2000-2006.
Maruskin returns to CWS February 1 after serving for the past year as Executive Director of the York, Pennsylvania, County Council of Churches. She dates her passion for detainees' rights to June 6, 1993, when nearly 300 Chinese asylum seekers fleeing forced sterilization and abortion were arrested after their ship ran aground on Long Island.
Most were taken to York County Prison. At that time, Maruskin was pastor of Christ United Methodist Church in Yoe, Pa. She led outreach on the detainees' behalf, then researched conditions at immigration detention centers nationwide, finding that few offered spiritual care appropriate to each detainee's faith. Maruskin's advocacy helped lead to the RSP's creation in 2004. She succeeds Rev. John Shaia, the program's first administrator.
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