Residents of Georgia, including communities of faith, want Congress to pass a path to citizenship for the nearly 240,000 undocumented immigrant workers in the state, approximately 170,000 of whom are essential workers. Reverend Caroline McGee, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta and Faith in Public Life Action in Atlanta, Georgia said, “As a pastor, I believe in the God-given dignity of people, including our immigrant neighbors. The pandemic has shown us that immigrants are essential to our communities and workplaces, but are too often exploited and neglected. Immigrant families have lost thousands of loved ones who had no choice but to keep working in deadly conditions. Congress has a moral responsibility to pass policy that provides a pathway to citizenship for all immigrants in the nation.”
Issues
We are calling on Senate Democratic leaders to ensure that a path to citizenship for our immigrant family members, neighbors, and friends becomes law this year.
Do not come. Do not come. The United States will continue to enforce our laws and secure our border.” Those were the words Vice President Kamala Harris spoke, and wanted the world to hear, in her trip to Guatemala this week.
It is not “illegal” to seek asylum in the United States. It is immoral to fail to see people seeking asylum for what they are–human beings who never planned to become “refugees,” but have been forced to flee or watch their children die. Recognizing this reality, the only way to address it is through a humane, orderly path to safety.
Today, 65 high-level faith leaders sent a strongly-worded letter to President Biden urging him to put an end to “Title 42 expulsions” and welcome people seeking asylum with dignity.
Use these tools and resources to advocate with the Biden administration and Congress for the repeal of Trump-era anti-asylum policies; strengthening the asylum system to put human dignity at its core; healing families, souls, and communities; and transforming U.S. asylum laws to protect human dignity in all forms.