Action Alert: Contact Congress NOW to Stop the Erosion of Immigrant Rights, Protections, and Dignity

DOING MORE TO ADDRESS PRESIDENT TRUMP’S ADMINISTRATION’S “ZERO tOLERANCE” POLICY AND FAMILY PROTECTION

aCTION aLERT:

stop family separation and protect immigrant survivors
contact your members of congress today

View NCEDSV’s full statement and ways to show your support here. 

Weigh in with Members of Congress!

NCEDSV, as the statewide coalition to end domestic and sexual violence, encourages you to urge your friends, family, and social media networks to VOTE NO on two anti-immigrant bills moving through the House this week. The House is expected to vote on two anti-immigrant bills on Thursday, June 21, 2018. One proposed by Rep. Goodlatte, Securing America’s Future Act of 2018 (H.R. 4760) and another proposed by Speaker Ryan, Border Security and Immigration Reform Act of 2018 (H.R. 6136). Neither bill addresses the administration’s policy of separating families, and neither bill fixes the administration’s decision to end DACA.

CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES

Find your Representative here using your zip code.

Background Information:

The American Immigration Lawyers’ Association has a brief summary of both bills available here.

WHAT DO I SAY?

My name is _______ and I’m calling from [City and State] I‘m calling today to tell [Representative________ ] to vote NO on both the Goodlatte bill (H.R. 4760) and the Paul Ryan’s Border Security And Immigration Reform Act (H.R. 6136). These bills will harm domestic violence and sexual assault survivors, fail to adequately protect Dreamers, limit protections existing for abused and neglected children, and they fail to address the family separation crisis at the border.

Specific Impacts of HR 4760 on immigrant survivors:

  • Eliminates the ability of abused parents of U.S. citizens to apply for VAWA self-petition protections
  • Places limits on individuals on temporary worker (H) visas, from filing civil actions for damages against their employers, potentially limiting the ability of those sexually assaulted or harassed at work from accessing justice
  • Provides for a benefit fraud assessment on various immigration programs including VAWA self-petitions, fiancée visas, Special Immigrant Juvenile Visas, U-Crime victim visas, and asylum, among other immigration programs
  • Bars abused family members, including abused ex-spouses, of drug traffickers from obtaining legal status.
  • Undermines policies that local welcoming jurisdictions have determined are constitutionally sound and are appropriate for their respective communities, and they decrease the ability of local law enforcement agencies to respond to violent crimes and assist all victims of crime, U.S. Citizens, and immigrants alike.
  • Attempts to coerce local law enforcement agencies into sharing information with ICE by placing restrictions on federal law enforcement funding in grant conditions.
  • Expands criminal penalties for those who are present without authorization.
  • Expands immigration penalties for individuals with domestic violence convictions, as well as the types of evidence immigration courts can consider in deporting individuals with domestic violence convictions.
  • Reduces access to Special Immigrant Juvenile status for abused and neglected children.

Specific Impacts of HR 6136 on immigrant survivors:

  • Excludes more potential DREAMERS from accessing a new “contingent visa” by excluding more individuals with certain domestic violence and child abuse convictions. The bill cross-references the broad Violence Against Women Act definitions of domestic violence and child abuse to exclude more potential DACA beneficiaries with such convictions. This cross-reference will create difficulties in expanding access to services for victims in other, future VAWA legislation by tying the definitions in VAWA to immigration consequences.
  • This bill expands definitions relating to domestic violence as a basis for deporting individuals, and fails to provide exceptions or waivers for survivors who may have used violence against their abusers.
  • The bill undermines the work of local communities who have implemented welcoming policies that reduce law enforcement collaboration with ICE, policies that encourage immigrant victims to come forward, seek help, and cooperate with police.
  • Undermines important protections for minors who are fleeing sexual assault, domestic violence, and abuse who arrive from Northern Triangle countries, making it easier to deport them back to their countries from which they are fleeing violence.
  • Makes it harder for asylum seekers to flee persecution by increasing the standard of proof need to apply, likely halving the number of asylum seekers. By changing the law to facilitate the quick deportations of asylum seekers and make it harder to apply for asylum, victims fleeing sexual and domestic violence and other forms of gender-based violence, who could articulate a genuine fear of persecution, will be deported anyway without the chance to collect evidence or present witnesses before a judge.

SOCIAL MEDIA POSTINGS

Use Hashtags #KeepFamiliesTogether and #EndFamilyDetention

This information summarizes postings prepared by the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence, The National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, CALCASA and the California Coalition Partnership to End Domestic Violence.

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