Civic Engagement

Washington, DC – On Pentecost Sunday, speaking before an empty Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, North Carolina, Rev. William J. Barber III offered this: We cannot try to hurry up and put the screams and the tears and the hurt back in the bottle, just to get back to some normal that was abnormal in the ...

Washington, DC – (TW: Abuse of children) The headlines are shocking enough: “More Than 900 Children Have Been Expelled Under a Pandemic Border Policy” – The New York Times “The Trump Administration Is Rushing Deportations of Migrant Children During Coronavirus” – ProPublica and Texas Tribune “Under Trump policy, U.S. plays custody keep-away with migrant children”- Los Angeles Times “ICE ...

Washington, DC – The New York Times reports that the Trump administration plans to extend its border closure indefinitely, citing the coronavirus pandemic. The ban would keep regions in the north and south of the United States, whose economies rely on the dynamic flow of goods and people across borders, on lock down for the ...

Washington, DC –  Tomorrow, House Democrats are holding a virtual roundtable on ICE’s deadly “response” to the COVID-19 pandemic. The forum will be live streamed at 12:30pm EST. Following the massive outbreaks of coronavirus in numerous ICE facilities across the nation, and the tragic deaths of Carlos Ernesto Escobar Mejia and Oscar Lopez Acosta, an Ohio ...

Washington, DC – The Interfaith Immigration Coalition (IIC) mourns the death of Carlos Ernesto Escobar Mejia and offers love, prayers, and solidarity to his family members and friends. Mr. Mejia died of COVID-19, which he contracted while detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the Otay Mesa Detention Center.   San Diego Union-Tribune spoke with ...

President Trump issued a new Executive Order to “cancel legal immigration,” claiming that it would help the hard hit economy. The order bans many immigrants from entering the United States and keeps families apart for at least sixty days. Faith leaders reacted strongly, calling his exploitation of the coronavirus public health emergency a “national disgrace.” ...

Washington, DC – Yesterday, several faith-based organizations who work directly with immigrants and refugees submitted comments on an interim final rule promulgated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The rule, combined with an order also issued by the CDC, has blocked all asylum ...

Washington, DC – In a late-night Tweet, President Trump made another major policy announcement that his aides are now scrambling to implement.  It was not an announcement that the federal government would stop seizing PPE from the states and other nations. Not an announcement that the federal government would stop deporting people who test positive for ...

Washington, DC – Two hundred twenty-four faith-based organizations and over 1,000 faith leaders sent a letter to the Trump administration, Congress, and Governors, telling them that “immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers must be included in our emergency response if we are to assist everyone who is in need.” The organizations and individuals span ...

Washington, DC – Today marks one year since the Department of Homeland Security brushed off concerns from non-governmental organizations about the conditions in Venezuela and the need for a Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for this country.  A year later, another one million people have been forced to flee Venezuela, and the Trump administration continues to ...