From Church World Service (http://www.churchworldservice.org):
As the COVID-19 crisis tests our strength as a society, the administration has systematically eviscerated asylum protections, and continues to target, detain, and deport and expel immigrants and asylum seekers. This threatens the safety and health of our communities, exacerbates the outbreaks in facilities that impacts those detained and staff, and turns away asylum seekers, in violation of our moral and legal obligations. The administration has sought to create insurmountable barriers for all asylum seekers and destroy the U.S. asylum system.
This is unconscionable. Now is the time to make your voice heard to ensure we are living out the best of who we are as a nation, welcoming asylum seekers.
Go to https://greateras1.org/action-alert-urge-congress-to-welcome-asylum-seekers-and-restore-asylum-now/ to Contact our 2 Senators and 1 Representative Today!
If you choose to email your Members of Congress, please ensure you insert the name of your city or town in the email template.
Sample Email/Script: “I’m your constituent from [CITY/TOWN], and as a person of faith, I urge you to hold the administration accountable to restore asylum protections and stop the administration’s evisceration of the U.S. asylum system. The administration has already created insurmountable barriers for asylum seekers and returning them to the violence and persecution they fled. I urge you to:
- Defund unlawful anti-asylum policies including unlawful CDC expulsions and enact safeguards to the U.S. asylum system.
- Ensure robust oversight of any USCIS appropriation given the enforcement-based policies that increase costs and require the agency to overspend by conditioning funding on the agency’s promise to fulfill its welcoming mandate.
- End immigrant detention, deportations, and 1325/1326 prosecutions at minimum during the COVID-19 pandemic – and fight for the health and freedom of all immigrants by releasing all individuals held in immigrant detention.
- Support & co-sponsor pro-asylum legislation, including the Refugee Protection Act (RPA) (S.2936 / H.R.5210); the Immigration Enforcement Moratorium Act (S.4011 / H.R.7569); the Federal Immigrant Release for Safety and Security Together Act (FIRST Act) (H.R.6537 / S.3645); and the Asylum Seeker Protection Act (H.R. 2662).
My community welcomes asylum seekers and immigrants, and I urge you to do the same.”
Amplify on Social Media: Share this message with your Senators and Representatives on social media! Here are sample posts:
- As a person of faith, I’m grieved that the U.S. asylum system is being eviscerated. @Senator @Representative, I urge you to defund anti-asylum policies, restore asylum protections, and end immigrant detention and deportations now. #Faith4Asylum #SaveAsylum
- My faith calls me to welcome those in need and I am horrified that the U.S. is turning its back on asylum seekers. @Senator @Representative please defund anti-asylum policies, restore asylum protections, and end immigrant detention and deportations now. #Faith4Asylum #SaveAsylum
- .@Senator @Representative please co-sponsor pro-asylum legislation, such as the Refugee Protection Act (S 2936 / HR 5210) and the Asylum Seeker Protection Act (HR 2662). #Faith4Asylum #SaveAsylum
For additional resources including the Save Asylum toolkit, talking points, and how to submit a personal comment opposing the administration’s anti-asylum proposed rule, visit our CWS alert here.
Leave a Reply