August Recess: Stand Up for Migrants!

Congress may be on summer break, but with all of the administration’s attacks on immigrants and border communities, we can’t be silent. We need YOU during this congressional lull to stand up and speak out against attacks on the migrant community.

We can’t stand idly by as children are locked up in cages and separated from their families. We can’t stay silent with the latest asylum ban that blocks migrants from seeking protection or ongoing policies that force asylum seekers to wait in Mexico in danger. And we won’t allow the White House to increase its already bloated budget for more deportation forces, border militarization, and cages for families and kids.

Let’s make sure our representatives hear loud and clear that we won’t stand for this. This is not who we are—we don’t turn away families and children seeking safety at our borders.

August is when our representatives are in their district which means YOU can approach them in town halls or at their in-district offices. (Check out our Essential Advocacy Toolkit for tips!)

This August join us in taking THESE actions to
stand up for immigrants and border communities!

Oppose the asylum ban

Trump and Miller have been leading the charge to eviscerate our asylum system as we know it and make it impossible for Central American families and children to seek safety at our border. The latest asylum ban would do just that—prohibit asylum to anyone who has crossed through Mexico first—that’s almost everyone. A San Francisco district court judge temporarily halted this illegal and inhumane policy, but the government has already appealed it and it could still be implemented. But we can’t let that happen.

• Find & attend a town hall meeting to urge your reps/senators to speak out against the admin’s latest attack on asylum! Stop the #AsylumBan!
• As long as conditions of violence, corruption, and impunity persist in Central America, families and children will continue fleeing. That’s why we created a short “do’s and don’ts” infographic and blog to give presidential candidates and policymakers a more concrete idea of what their policies to address the root causes of why people are fleeing Central America should look like. Share it! #Freetostay

Speak out against the #MigrantPersecutionProtocols

Since the beginning of the year, the Remain in Mexico policy (aka #MigrantPersecutionProtocols or MPP) has been forcing asylum seekers to wait in Mexico during their U.S. immigration proceedings, meaning over 20,000 families, women, men, and children have already had to face danger while waiting in Mexico for months. This is unacceptable.

• Speak out on Facebook and Twitter to oppose the #MigrantPersecutionProtocols
• Call on your reps to #DefundMPP by asking them to support Rep. Escobar’s H.R. 2662, the Asylum Seeker Protection Act which would prohibit funding from being used to implement this dangerous policy.

Defund Hate

The White House proposed a whopping $51 billion budget for DHS for fiscal year 2020 funneling more money to ICE and CBP deportation forces, border militarization, and cages to lock up families and kids with almost no accountability measures. The reality is that CBP and ICE don’t need more money to carry out this harm. They need less of it. We need to make sure we cut $$ for ICE and CBP. Together, let’s #defundhate!

• Find & attend a town hall meeting to tell your reps and senators to cut, not increase, funding for CBP and ICE for fiscal year 2020, and to oppose additional slush funds for DHS.

#SaveTPS

Together we made sure the House passed H.R. 6, the American Dream & Promise Act. But we must now focus on the Senate. These members of our communities can’t wait anymore for permanent protection.

• Find & attend a town hall meeting to tell your senators that we must pass permanent protection for millions of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) recipients.

Thank you for standing up for immigrants and border communities with these urgent actions!