Today, I’d like to update you on a number of troubling developments in Congress.
We expect that the Senate will begin voting as early as this afternoon on the Department of Homeland Security spending bill (H.R. 240) and its harmful amendments that defund the President’s November actions on immigration and subject thousands of “DREAMers” and DACA recipients to the threat of deportation. We will keep you updated on its progress.
In the meantime, both House and Senate leadership have announced multiple hearings in the upcoming weeks on topics including:
- Immigration enforcement measures including detention, family detention, and deportation practices
- The implications of deferred action from deportation, including the DACA program
- Legislation that would strip protections for migrant children traveling alone, harm migrants and the communities that welcome them, and erect unnecessary barriers for vulnerable people seeking asylum
- Legislation that would mandate the use of E-verify and force undocumented community members even further into a shadowed existence
These hearings are the beginning of what we anticipate to be the introduction of many negative pieces of legislation, including many bills introduced during the last Congress that LIRS opposed, such as the SAFE Act. In addition to these hearings, both the House and Senate have introduced border security bills which would threaten the safety and due process of many migrants at the border, including those fleeing violence and persecution.
LIRS supports family unity, vulnerable children and families, and access to justice for all migrants. As such, we are very concerned about the content of these hearings and the pieces of legislation being considered. Please visit LIRS’s Action Center to send a message to your Members of Congress and let them know that the faith community stands with migrants and refugees and will not support such actions.
We will keep you updated in the coming weeks on the outcomes of these hearings and continued opportunities for you to lift up your voice in support of compassionate and humane immigration laws. As always, thank you for standing for welcome.
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