Advocacy Update
October 2006

Voicing Our Values
By Bernadette Passade Cissé, LIRS Washington Representative

On November 7 U.S. voters will be electing all U.S. representatives and 33 senators. We hope that those for whom we cast our votes will represent our values in Washington, D.C.

As advocates and people of faith who work on behalf of refugees and migrants, we are united by certain values, including the value we place on human life. We believe that human life is sacred, a gift from God. From this value comes our deep-rooted belief in the obligation of national leaders to implement policies and enact laws that preserve human life. We believe that life is sacred—including the lives of refugees and migrants coming to the United States for family, work and freedom. And we believe that they have a right to exist and live in dignity.

As we at LIRS seek to preserve and promote that right, we base our advocacy on principles rooted in our values. The following summarizes LIRS’s immigration reform ideals and 10-year advocacy goals:

• Refugees and their families, including children, have the right to flee terror and persecution. Protecting them is an obligation that doesn’t undermine security, but in fact sustains long-term security.
• The United States is better off when migrants who come here for family, work or freedom are reunited with their families, are able to work in conditions that uphold their human and worker rights, and have access to a path to legal status.
• Americans are better off as a people when we can continue to model as a nation the spirit of welcoming the stranger. We do this by integrating refugees and migrants into welcoming communities, by partnering with nongovernmental organizations in responding to refugees and migrants; by allowing newcomers access to legal representation, especially outside of jails; and by guaranteeing them access to impartial judges.

Refugees and migrants have hope in America’s spirit of welcome, and over the decades LIRS and our partners and supporters have responded to that hope by advocating for fair immigration policies. We believe that two currently pending pieces of legislation are important steps toward achieving fairness for newcomers. Rep. Joseph Pitts (R-PA) recently introduced legislation (H.R. 5918) that would help tens of thousands of refugees who are the unintended victims of our war on terrorism to rebuild their lives in dignity. And the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 (S. 2611) would bring several million undocumented workers who meet very stringent legal and financial requirements out of the shadows of insecurity and place them on a path to legal status.

We thank you for responding to our calls to action regarding these pieces of legislation. And now we call you to act again. Advocacy takes many forms, including voting for candidates who support the values that form the foundation of just and fair laws. On November 7 respond to the hope of refugees and migrants by voicing your values at the polls.

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