Asylum

Washington, DC – The Biden-Harris Administration took bold action on Day 1 on numerous immigration issues, including rescinding the discriminatory Muslim, Refugee, and African Ban and halting construction on the former President’s border wall. Reaction from faith leaders to Day 1 policy announcements is available here.  The Interfaith Immigration Coalition’s blueprint for policy change includes three ...

IIC Immigration Policy Priorities The Interfaith Immigration Coalition (IIC) is composed of over 55 international and national faith-based organizations, united in a commitment to fair and humane immigration policies that reflect our call to welcome the stranger and protect human dignity. Coalition members and grassroots networks serve migrants abroad, at the U.S./Mexico border, and throughout the ...

IIC Priorities for Biden-Harris Administration Washington, DC – The Torah, the Christian Bible, the Qur’an, and the Hindu Taitiriya Upanishad are all clear: welcoming the “wayfarer” and recognizing every individuals’ God-given humanity are values to defend and extend.  The Interfaith Immigration Coalition (IIC) released “The Interfaith Framework for Welcoming and Supporting Migrants, Immigrants, Asylum Seekers, and Refugees,” ...

The Interfaith Immigration Coalition offers these recommendations for initial steps for the Biden-Harris administration to take in reforming executive branch immigration policies; decolonizing the U.S. role abroad; and passing immigration laws in Congress. Read the complete document, “Interfaith Framework for Welcoming and Supporting Migrants, Immigrants, Asylum Seekers, and Refugees,” here.  Bring accountability, compassion, fairness, and morality ...

But COVID Outbreak Adds New Threat to #SafetyForThe28 Washington, DC – On Thanksgiving eve, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued a temporary stay of removal for the 28 children and their parents facing imminent deportation from the South Texas Family Residential Center and Berks County Residential Detention Center in Pennsylvania. “This stay ...

Dilley, TX and Leesport, PA – “¿Puedo decir algo más? / Can I say something else?” That’s the voice of “Antonio,” an eight year-old boy, detained with his family in the South Texas Family Residential Center for more than 456 days. He spoke to reporters about his hopes and fears, from the detention center. Antonio ...

Washington, DC – Following is a statement from Elissa Diaz, Policy Associate for Church World Service and Chair of the Interfaith Immigration Coalition. Today we celebrate the opportunity to turn a page, as a country, and move toward healing. When it comes to federal immigration policy, the past four years have been dark, driven by xenophobia. The ...

A statement and call to action from Interfaith Immigration Coalition Washington, DC – The failure of U.S. immigration judges to give Black asylum-seekers a fair hearing compels us to write this statement. The U.S. Border Patrol’s refusal to even listen to Haitian asylum-seekers’ fears when they arrive at the border compels us to write this statement. The U.S. ...

New Backgrounder on Deportations of Refugees to Cameroon WASHINGTON – Despite the global pandemic which has slowed most international travel, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is accelerating the deportation of Black migrants to countries they fled, retaliating against those who speak out about abuses in detention. On October 13, a group of nearly 60 Cameroonian and ...

Washington, DC – The Trump administration is finding more ways to deport immigrants from the United States without access to lawyers, courts, or due process. “The administration is using every cheap trick in the book to put people in danger. By empowering ICE to summarily deport members of our communities, the president is pandering to his ...