May 1st is National Day of Prayer! Make TWO CALLS to tell both the House of Representatives and the White House that you pray they will act to reunite families and heal immigrant communities!
We pray for…
- The House to act on comprehensive immigration reform
- The Obama Administration to work to alleviate the suffering and separation of families caused by inhumane enforcement, detention, and deportation practices
Both need to hear from you!
Immigration reform legislation has stalled in Congress as House leadership continues to refuse to bring the bill up for a vote. Each day this inaction continues, the less likely it becomes that the House will vote on immigration reform this year. We need all Representatives to hear from people of faith that delay is unacceptable and that House leadership must make compassionate immigration reform a reality.
Every day the House delays, 1,100 individuals are deported from their families and communities. There are concrete actions that President Obama can take to stop the pain caused by the broken immigration system. These actions include broader and increased use of prosecutorial discretion in law enforcement decision-making to reduce harmful enforcement practices and family separation, a move to end the arbitrary use of detention and the detention of vulnerable migrants such as asylum seekers and survivors of torture, improvements to access to justice for detainees, and support for increased availability of community-based alternatives to detention.
We need to hold both the House and the White House accountable to keep families and communities together!
Here are some quick and effective ways you can join the movement!
- Call your Representative at 1-866-940-2439, the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121, or find your Representative’s direct line at www.house.gov. Here’s a sample script:
I’m from City, State, Congregation/Community and as a person of faith, I am outraged that the House has failed to pass immigration reform. The need for just and compassionate reform is urgent, as our broken immigration system tears families and communities apart. I urge the Representative to insist that House leadership work to enact immigration reform that reunites families, protects vulnerable migrants, and leads to citizenship for our undocumented community members.
- Call the White House at 1-866-473-5915 or the White House Comment Line at 1-888-907-2053. Here’s a sample script:
I’m from City, State, Congregation/Community and as a person of faith, I urge President Obama to ease the pain caused by inhumane detention and deportation practices. The President has the authority to alleviate the suffering of our undocumented community members. As our broken immigration system tears families and communities apart, the President cannot neglect his authority to end unnecessarily high rates of detention and deportation. Today I am praying for the President to take compassionate leadership on this issue.
- Keep up the pressure on social media! Urge @WhiteHouse and your Representative’s Twitter handle (found on their website, www.house.gov) to do their part to reunite families and heal communities.
Ex: @RepWOLFPress As a person of faith from Virginia I want you to champion #immigrationreform What are you doing for #familyunity?
Ex: @WhiteHouse As a person of faith I want you to use your authority to alleviate the pain of our undocumented community members. #keepfamiliestogether
Use the hashtags #NatlDayofPrayer #PrayforReform #immigrationreform #familyunity.
For other ideas on immigration reform related actions for National Day of Prayer, check out our prayer vigil resource here. Follow up on your calls with an in-person visit using our Neighbor to Neighbor Toolkit.