Join us in advocating for restoring life-saving asylum protections and defunding harmful asylum policies. Our goal is to ensure that Members of Congress are educated about the administration’s systematic attacks on the asylum system that has resulted in a complex web of harm against asylum seekers. As the administration wrongfully and immorally uses the COVID-19 pandemic as a guise to dismantle asylum protections, we must raise our voices to hold the administration accountable to restoring asylum protections.
Background Material for Virtual Congressional Meetings
- Talking Points: Message guidance and tips for use in congressional meetings and with the media.
- Policy Asks: Our list of actions that we want the congressional offices to take.
- Leave-Behind Materials: Send these resources to congressional staff after meetings.
- Report Back Form: Fill out this form to let us know how your meeting went, how we can improve virtual legislative visits, and what follow-up is needed.
Action Alert: Urge Congress to Welcome Asylum Seekers and Restore Asylum Now
We believe that all people have inherent dignity and are deserving of basic human rights. As the COVID-19 crisis tests our strength as a society, the administration has systematically eviscerated asylum protections, and continues to target, detain, and deport and expel immigrants and asylum seekers. This threatens the safety and health of our communities, exacerbates the outbreaks in facilities that impacts those detained and staff, and turns away asylum seekers, in violation of our moral and legal obligations. The administration has sought to create insurmountable barriers for all asylum seekers and destroy the U.S. asylum system—it is unconscionable. Now is the time to make your voice heard to ensure we are living out the best of who we are as a nation, welcoming asylum seekers.
Click Here to contact your Senators and Representative. Here is a sample email or phone script:
“I’m your constituent from [CITY/TOWN], and [as a person of faith], I urge you to hold the administration accountable to restore asylum protections and stop the administration’s evisceration of the U.S. asylum system. The administration has already created insurmountable barriers for asylum seekers and returning them to the violence and persecution they fled. I urge you to:
- Defund unlawful anti-asylum policies including unlawful CDC expulsions and enact safeguards to the U.S. asylum system.
- Ensure robust oversight of any USCIS appropriation given the enforcement-based policies that increase costs and require the agency to overspend by conditioning funding on the agency’s promise to fulfill its welcoming mandate.
- End immigrant detention, deportations, and 1325/1326 prosecutions at minimum during the COVID-19 pandemic – and fight for the health and freedom of all immigrants by releasing all individuals held in immigrant detention.
- Support & co-sponsor pro-asylum legislation, including the Refugee Protection Act (RPA) (S.2936 / H.R.5210); the Immigration Enforcement Moratorium Act (S.4011); the Federal Immigrant Release for Safety and Security Together Act (FIRST Act) (H.R.6537 / S.3645); and the Asylum Seeker Protection Act (H.R. 2662).
Share this message with your Senators and Representatives on social media! Here are sample posts:
- As a person of faith, I’m grieved that the U.S. asylum system is being eviscerated. @Senator @Representative, I urge you to defund anti-asylum policies, restore asylum protections, and end immigrant detention and deportations now.
#Faith4Asylum #SaveAsylum - My faith calls me to welcome those in need and I am horrified that the U.S. is turning its back on asylum seekers. @Senator @Representative please defund anti-asylum policies, restore asylum protections, and end immigrant detention and deportations now. #Faith4Asylum #SaveAsylum
- .@Senator @Representative please co-sponsor pro-asylum legislation, such as the Refugee Protection Act (S 2936 / HR 5210) and the Asylum Seeker Protection Act (HR 2662). #Faith4Asylum #SaveAsylum
Engage Local Media Outlets with a Letter to the Editor
Before or after your virtual congressional meeting, write a short letter to the editor for your local paper. The letter can reiterate our policy asks and call for action and leadership from your elected officials. Here are steps to take to write and send the letter, plus a sample version. Contact media@interfaithimmigration.org for help.
Engage on Social Media
Share Your Virtual Advocacy Days Story
- Record a video, take a selfie or another photo that captures your experience of participating in Virtual Advocacy Days, or share a graphic.
- In the video, or in the caption if posting a photo or graphic, share why you are participating and what you want your Members of Congress to do. Include a link to the policy asks in the caption.
- Post on Twitter, Facebook, and/or Instagram with the hashtags #Faith4Asylum and #SaveAsylum. Tag your Members of Congress (on all platforms) as well as the Interfaith Immigration Coalition (on Facebook and Twitter only). Make your post public on Facebook so we can share it!
Share a Video in Support of Asylum
- Record a video of yourself saying:
My name is _________ and I’m _________ (faith tradition).
I am from _________ (city, state).
I am calling on Congress to Save Asylum because _________. - Post the video on Twitter, Facebook, and/or Instagram with the hashtags #Faith4Asylum and #SaveAsylum. Tag your Members of Congress (on all platforms) as well as the Interfaith Immigration Coalition (on Facebook and Twitter only). You can also include a link to this action alert or this toolkit to encourage your friends and followers to advocate, too. Make your post public on Facebook so we can share it!
Advocate on Social Media
You can advocate for asylum on social media using these graphics and sample posts:
- Join me in participating in @interfaithimm’s Virtual Advocacy Days for Asylum! Here’s how you can fight to #SaveAsylum: https://bit.ly/IICAdvocacyAlert #Faith4Asylum
- ACT NOW 🚨 Contact your members of Congress and urge them to welcome asylum seekers and restore asylum: https://bit.ly/IICAdvocacyAlert #SaveAsylum #Faith4Asylum
- Take Action for Asylum! Urge Congress to stop the Trump administration’s unconscionable evisceration of the U.S. asylum system: https://bit.ly/IICAdvocacyAlert #SaveAsylum #Faith4Asylum
- Raise your voice! Urge your members of Congress to restore asylum protections and defund harmful, unlawful anti-asylum policies: https://bit.ly/IICAdvocacyAlert #SaveAsylum #Faith4Asylum
- As a person of faith, I’m grieved that the U.S. asylum system is being eviscerated. @Senator @Representative, I urge you to defund anti-asylum policies, restore asylum protections, and end immigrant detention and deportations now.
#Faith4Asylum #SaveAsylum - My faith calls me to welcome those in need and I am horrified that the U.S. is turning its back on asylum seekers. @Senator @Representative please defund anti-asylum policies, restore asylum protections, and end immigrant detention and deportations now.#Faith4Asylum #SaveAsylum
- .@Senator @Representative please co-sponsor pro-asylum legislation, such as the Refugee Protection Act (S 2936 / HR 5210) and the Asylum Seeker Protection Act (HR 2662). #Faith4Asylum #SaveAsylum
- We must restore our country’s legacy of providing refuge to people fleeing violence and persecution. @Senator @Representative, I ask you to defund anti-asylum policies, including unlawful CDC expulsions, and end immigrant detention and deportations. #Faith4Asylum #SaveAsylum
- .@Senator @Representative support and co-sponsor pro-asylum legislation, including the Refugee Protection Act (S 2936 / HR 5210), the Immigration Enforcement Moratorium Act, the Asylum Seeker Protection Act (HR 2662), and the FIRST Act (HR 6537 / S 3645). #Faith4Asylum #SaveAsylum
- The Trump administration is using #COVID19 to deny our moral and legal obligations to welcome and process asylum seekers. @Senator @Representative please restore asylum protections and defund harmful anti-asylum policies now! #Faith4Asylum #SaveAsylum