Call to Action: May 17, 2018
STOP TRUMP’S INHUMANE WAR ON IMMIGRANTS
- The number of immigrants arrested and detained has skyrocketed under a policy of 100% prosecution and detention
- Children with undocumented parents and/or arriving at the border with relatives are vulnerable to being placed in foster care or in closed military facilities
- Millions of DREAMERS and TPS holders are marked for deportation
- Asylum seekers, fleeing violence, are being turned away at the border (despite being entitled to due process under US/international laws) or criminally prosecuted
- Immigration judges now have annual quotas and will be penalized for appellate referrals
Congress has largely ignored these blatant abuses. However, there is some movement in the House. If all Dems sign the discharge petition, only 5 more Republicans are needed to force a vote on DACA – over leadership’s opposition.
Trump’s crusade against a multicultural America is abhorrent in a nation built on immigrants and cannot be allowed to continue. Our MoCs must:
- Legislatively protect DREAMERS and TPS holders
- Refuse to fund ICE until it stops and corrects all abuse
- Remove immigration courts from the Justice Department to preserve their independence
**ACTION ONE: CALL YOUR SENATORS**
SAMPLE SCRIPT FOR MERKLEY AND WYDEN:
(Leave a message if you can’t get through)
“My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code]. I am calling to express my strong opposition to Trump’s war on immigrants. The massive roundup of immigrants, blocking asylum seekers, forced removal of children and their placement in foster care or in closed military barracks cannot be allowed to continue. Thank you for speaking out against these abuses, but Congress must do more by (1) pushing for legislative protection of all DREAMERS and TPS holders; (2) holding hearings on ICE abuses and withholding funding until they stop; and (3) removing immigration courts from the Executive branch to preserve their independence and protect the due process rights of those appearing before them. Thank you.”
SENATOR JEFF MERKLEY
Portland: (503) 326-3386, DC: (202) 224-3753
Salem: (503) 362-8102, Eugene: (541) 465-6750
Medford: (541) 608-9102, Bend: (541) 318-1298
Pendleton: (541) 278-1129
https://www.merkley.senate.gov/contact/
SENATOR RON WYDEN
Portland: (503) 326-7525, DC: (202) 224-5244
Salem: (503) 589-4555, Eugene: (541) 431-0229
Medford: (541) 858-5122, Bend: (541) 330-9142
La Grande: (541) 960-7691
https://www.wyden.senate.gov/contact/
(Leave a message if you can’t get through)
“My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code]. I am calling to express my strong opposition to Trump’s war on immigrants and your complicity in allowing this to continue. The massive roundup of immigrants, blocking asylum seekers, forced removal of children and their placement in foster care or in closed military barracks cannot be allowed to continue. These actions are hurting your constituents both directly and by creating a manpower shortage in your district. As a first step, I urge you to support the discharge petition that will allow the House to vote on a bill protecting the DREAMERS. Prove to us that you have the ability to put people, fellow human beings, before party. Thank you.”
GREG WALDEN
DC (202) 225-6730, Medford: (541) 776-4646,
Bend (541) 389-4408, La Grande (541) 624-2400
https://walden.house.gov/contact-greg/email-me
We have choices to make in the November Midterm elections. Do we want to be a country that makes war on immigrants? Do we want our neighbors to be rounded up, detained and deported, even if they have been living law-abiding lives and contributing to our economic well-being? Do we want families fleeing from violence in their countries only to be turned away at our borders or detained while having their children forcibly removed from their care?
If the answers to these questions are no, then join us in supporting candidates who believe in America as a nation of immigrants, in the rule of law, and in treating all who seek to better their lives in this country with compassion. Become an activist now! The 2018 elections will be the most important of our lives and every single vote will count!
SOURCES:
- https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/aijustice/pages/773/attachments/original/1526333273/Building_The_Wall_-_A_New_War_on_Immigrants.pdf?1526333273
- http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/feds-kids-team-trump-war-immigrant-families-article-1.3991603
- https://www.gq.com/story/donald-trump-war-documented-immigrants
- https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/hhs-housing-immigrant-children-military-bases-55196487
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-administration-seeking-to-speed-deportations-to-impose-quotas-on-immigration-judges/2018/04/02/a282d650-36bb-11e8-b57c-9445cc4dfa5e_story.html?utm_term=.f0fb1899bd47
- https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/15/politics/daca-house-vote-discharge-petition-update/index.html
