It’s Thursday, and time once again for the weekly State Action Alert.
First, a quick word: You’ll notice that not all of these alerts contain a direct call for action. That’s because I’m taking a three-fold approach. On any given week, it may be important to 1) give you a heads-up about key issues that may require your action at some future point; 2) ask you to move straight into action because the time is right; or 3) update you on the results of your action.
Today, I write to you with an alert of the first type. In this case, it’s good news about a state- and local-level development. Last week, Salt Lake City and Colorado put forward compacts to send a message of welcome to their immigrants. The compacts are part of a national movement called Welcoming America, whose intent is to foster a welcoming atmosphere throughout the country. They aim to promote friendly interactions between immigrants and Americans that will help immigrants integrate into American society with greater ease.
These compacts send an important signal about the need for fair and humane immigration reform. They broadcast a welcoming message about the communities and states that work to welcome migrants as new neighbors, and they set a positive example for other parts of the country to do the same. The more states and localities create these kinds of compacts, the greater the likelihood that national lawmakers will feel emboldened to take action to fix our broken immigration system.
We’ll keep you informed on these kinds of positive state- and local-level developments, and alert you when there are things you can do to help right away through the LIRS Action Center.