Immigration Reform

The Interfaith Immigration Coalition (IIC), a coalition of 42 national faith-based organizations, calls on Congress to enact immigration reform that will reunite families, provide meaningful opportunities for undocumented immigrants to apply for citizenship, and promote community wholeness.

Read: Full 2014 Recommendations to Congress

Call your Representative at 1-866-940-2439

You can also call the Capitol Switchboard 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 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 and leads to citizenship for our undocumented community members.”[/jbox]

House leadership continues to refuse to bring immigration reform up for a vote, despite having enough bipartisan votes to pass a bill with a path to citizenship. As Republicans are predicting that they might win control of both the House and Senate in November, it is becoming less and less likely 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 we need House leadership to make immigration reform a reality.

While we call on the House of Representatives, the Senate also must continue its work to enact true immigration reform. S.744, the Senate immigration bill passed last year, makes too many compromises in militarizing the border and ramping up harmful enforcement efforts. The path to citizenship included in S.744 would also exclude many people, and would take more than 13 years for most individuals who do qualify to achieve citizenship. We need more inclusive reform that makes citizenship more accessible and does not compromise border communities and community safety.

Recommendations to Congress

For more than a decade, the IIC has been working with congregations, service providers, and faith leaders across the country to educate communities, oppose anti-immigrant policies, and enact humane immigration reform. In the past five years alone, the IIC network has organized thousands of prayer vigils, community forums, rallies, and local congressional visits across the country in support of immigration reform. As a diverse coalition, we seek to raise concerns of faith and immigrant communities that must be prioritized as the President and Congress do their part to reform our nation’s broken immigration system. The IIC urges Congress to enact legislation that will:

Read: Full 2014 Recommendations to Congress

To sign on and add your name, please write to Jen Smyers at Church World Service.