Civic Engagement

Immigration Enforcement Spending Should Serve Vulnerable Populations The IIC is made up of more than fifty national faith-based organizations working together in partnership to protect and promote the rights and dignity of our community members and neighbors. As Congress determines funding levels for the fiscal year 2020, we urge members of Congress to object to the ...

Washington, DC – The religious community was in full action mode over August recess, because advocating for human dignity, justice, and freedom cannot wait.   The El Paso shooting, other white supremacist attacks, and the administration’s ongoing cruelty toward poor people, immigrants, children, and the infirm, underscored the importance of leadership and how much work remains to ...

Washington, DC – The Trump administration is raiding the budget of FEMA and other federal agencies (including Coast Guard and TSA) to fund its anti-immigrant agenda, while Hurricane Dorian barrels toward Florida and millions of people are considering evacuation. This is the second time this administration has used FEMA’s budget to pay for anti-immigration measures ...

Washington, DC – The Trump administration has alerted Congress that it is raiding the budgets of other federal programs, to dedicate even more money toward the mass incarceration of immigrants.  “The administration has made its immigration priorities very clear – more children, families, and refugees behind bars at whatever fiscal or moral cost. We condemn this, ...

Washington, DC – The Trump administration has abruptly, and with no notice, changed “deferred action” policy in a way that amounts to a “death sentence,” immigration lawyers report.  WBUR explains:  U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) sent out letters saying the agency will no longer consider most deferrals of deportation for people with serious medical conditions, documents ...

Washington, DC – When Stephen Miller and acting USCIS Director Ken Cucinelli rewrote Emma Lazarus’ poem to try to justify their new “public charge” rule, legal experts and religious leaders loudly protested that the policy goes against moral and religious values. The true purpose of the “public charge” rule is to discourage immigrant parents from seeking ...

“The United States should be doing more to protect refugee children, not actively participating in their oppression” Washington, DC – Religious organizations and leaders of diverse faiths are universally outraged at the Trump administration’s latest attempt to harm immigrant children: gutting the Flores settlement agreement, a legal framework that has been in place to protect migrant ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 12, 2019 Contact: Bilal Askaryar | baskaryar@cwsglobal.org | 202-750-0960 Washington, DC – After months of warnings about the consequences from anti-poverty, nutrition, and other experts, the Trump administration is moving forward with new a “public charge” regulation that will turn every request for basic human needs into an immigration status check.  POLITICO reported that ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 7, 2019 Contact: Bilal Askaryar | baskaryar@cwsglobal.org | 202-750-0960 Washington, D.C.: In the wake of the El Paso shooting linked to escalating xenophobic and racist rhetoric against immigrants, faith leaders of national organizations from multiple traditions responded by denouncing racism and white supremacism while calling on the Trump administration to renounce its dangerous anti-immigrant policy agenda. Rabbi Jill Jacobs, executive director ...

Washington, DC – After forcing a vote on his broad anti-asylum bill in the Senate Judiciary Committee today, Chairman Lindsay Graham is threatening to attach the provisions to appropriations bills this fall, Bloomberg First Word is reporting.  Katie Adams, Interfaith Immigration Coalition Co-Chair and Policy Advocate for Domestic Issues with the United Church of Christ reminds ...