Press Releases

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. ...

Diaz: FY 21 Refugee Goal “Historic low for U.S. and Trump administration” Washington, DC – When it comes to deciding how many refugees can start their lives anew in the United States this fiscal year, the Trump administration is a month late and 80,000 short of the historic average goal of 95,000 people. The administration is ...

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 ...

Washington, DC – On September 30, the last day of National African Immigrant Heritage Month, hundreds of people joined a Zoom meeting to learn about the journey many Black Africans make to the U.S. to escape persecution–and the journey some are forced to make back via deportation.  A recording is available here. Sylvie Bello of the ...

Faith Community Outraged by the Administration’s Devastation of the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program Diaz: “Trump administration is playing the role of persecutor, not protector” Washington, DC – The Trump administration is proposing another historic low refugee admissions goal of 15,000 for FY 2021, according to the administration’s report to Congress. The administration violated U.S. law by not ...

Washington, DC – Ahmad Javed Momand was a doctor in Afghanistan. Now, he works as a lab tech, processing test results and taking employees’ temperatures at a U.S. health care facility. Both of his jobs are vital and important. But only one requires the time and skills involved in completing a PhD in medicine.  Dr. Momand’s ...

Black Africans Confront the U.S. Asylum System Washington, DC – On September 30, the last day of National African Immigrant Heritage Month, learn about the journey many Black Africans make to the U.S. to escape persecution–and the journey some are forced to make back via deportation.   WHO: Gladness, whose sister Josephine is facing deportation to Cameroon and ...

Listen to a recording of the press call here Silver Spring, MD – Last Thursday, ICE agents knowingly violated the agency’s Sensitive Locations policy and lied to Binsar Siahaan, an Indonesian asylum-seeker and six-year member of the Glenmont United Methodist Church, in order to arrest him and carry out his deportation.  In a clear violation of the ...