06/20/2018

Response to Synod Assembly resolution re separation of families immigration issue

From the ELCA Advocacy Office...

The House of Representatives is voting this week on two bills that increase restrictions on legal immigration to the United States and take away trafficking protections for children. Call today to tell your Representative to vote against the Border Security and Immigration Reform Act and the Securing America's Future Act!

The Border Security and Immigration Reform Act and the Securing America's Future Act (H.R. 4760) would radically change our immigration system to make it harder for families and vulnerable people to seek protection in the U.S. by setting an unreasonably high mark to apply for asylum and allowing the U.S. government to hold children in detention for long periods of time. Provisions in both bills also end legal pathways for U.S. citizens to reunite with family members.

Additionally, both bills include inadequate provisions to protect young people who grew up in the U.S. without legal status, known as Dreamers. H.R. 4760 only gives temporary status for Dreamers that would leave these young people in limbo again if the provisions are taken away and the Border Security and Immigration Reform Act ties a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers to building a border wall. Faith leaders across the country, including Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, have spoken out in support of creating legislation to protect Dreamers. However, changes in policy should not come at the expense of removing protections for vulnerable people fleeing their homes or trafficking screenings for children. Neither bill addresses the Department of Homeland Security’s policy to prosecute 100% of parents at the border, which will lead to continued family separation.

As Lutherans, we follow Christ who calls us to welcome the stranger (Matt. 25:35) and to love immigrants as ourselves (Lev. 19:33-34). Our social teachings on immigration promote protection of the most vulnerable, family reunification and dignified treatment of immigrants and refugees, all of which should be critical pieces of our immigration system. If passed, these bills will deeply harm some of the most vulnerable people in our midst.

Call your legislator TODAY using the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to urge them to vote NO on the Border Security and Immigration Reform Act and the Securing America's Future Act.

CALL:

You can search for your legislator by zipcode at www.house.gov and then call them using the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.

Sample message:

My name is ____ and my zip code is ______. I am calling to urge Rep. ________ to vote NO on the Border Security and Immigration Reform Act and the Securing America's Future Act (H.R. 4760), two immigration bills the House of Representatives will consider later this week.
Both bills provide inadequate protections for Dreamers while also harming migrants and U.S. citizens. Protections for these young people should not come at the expense of removing protections for vulnerable people fleeing their homes or trafficking protections for children.

The bills do not address the Department of Homeland Security’s choice to prosecute 100% of parents. This means that children will still be separated from their parents when parents are arrested and go through the immigration process. This is inhumane and unacceptable.
As a Lutheran, I am called to walk alongside vulnerable people. Both bills would take away protections for asylum seekers, make it legally acceptable to detain children for long periods of time and take away family visas for U.S. citizens. Immigrants are some of the most vulnerable people in the world, and we need to welcome them with compassion and human decency.

Again, please vote NO on the Border Security and Immigration Reform Act and the Securing America's Future Act.

Thank you, and I will pray for you as you continue to perform your important civic duties and stand for the safety and protection of the most vulnerable among us.

Additional ways to share your concerns with Congress:

1. Share with your member the Head of Communion Statement on Family Separation
2. Call your member of congress to ask them to pass legislation to ensure that family separation does not happen at the border. Feinstein just introduced a bill, the Keep Families Together Act that all members should support.
3. ELCA Advocacy issued an alert this week on addressing family unity through the appropriations processby cutting off funding for detention of children. Please share widely!
4. There are also a couple of petitions:

Sign as Women of Faith, Clergy and Lay Persons: Click here to call upon DHS Secretary Nielsen to stop separating children from their parents at the border.

*Sign as ALL Community Members: Click here to sign this petition to ask the administration, through the DHS (Department of Homeland Security), ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and CBP (Customs and Border Patrol) to keep families together.

We will send an alert next week to invite people to oppose the Goodlatte Bill introduced by Chairman Goodlatte, the Securing America's Future Act (H.R. 4760)  includes getting rid of family/diversity visas and make it harder for people to seek asylum in this country. This also includes a different process for unaccompanied children to expedite their deportation and changes to agricultural visas. We are not sure exactly if this vote will happen because of the negotiations on Dream legislation is still ongoing but we need all faith leaders to be on alert the week of June 18^th when we will send an action alert.