TAKE ACTION: Tell Congress to Protect Immigrant & Refugee Families, Uphold Family Unity
During this Holy week we find ourselves reflecting on Jesus’ last days before facing the suffering of the cross. After his procession into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, Jesus spent the next days continuing to teach the disciples what it looked like to live faith, demonstrate compassion, and stand up against injustice–all amid anticipation of the unfathomable suffering that was to come. As we engage today in this sacred time, it is up to us to stand with our brothers and sisters who suffer injustice.
Right now we see many ways that our United Methodist family values are not protected for immigrants and refugees who call the United States home, or are seeking safety and welcome. We need our national, state, and local elected leaders to hold the administration accountable and proactively seek policies that have a positive impact on people’s lives. It is critical that we make our voices heard and tell our elected leaders to protect family unity, provide a pathway to citizenship for our immigrant neighbors, and rebuild and strengthen the refugee resettlement program.
The United Methodist Church “believe[s] the family to be the basic human community through which persons are nurtured and sustained in mutual love, responsibility, respect, and fidelity.” United Methodist Social Principles, ¶ 161.B Families are the foundation of our communities and congregations. Protecting and preserving family unity is at the core of our faith.
CALL YOUR SENATORS & REPRESENTATIVES NOW! It is time for Congress to #ValueOurFamilies!
Call the Capitol Hill Switchboard at 202-224-3121 to be connected to your elected officials
Sample Script: “Hello, my name is ____________________. I am your constituent from [CITY/TOWN], and as a United Methodist, I urge you to honor all of our neighbors by supporting policies that protect and unite refugee and immigrant families. It is important for me that you work to clear the family-based and employment-based green card backlogs in appropriations and create a pathway to citizenship for all 11 million undocumented people. Please also protect the refugee resettlement program and do everything in your power to see the administration revise the FY21 refugee admission to 62,500. A core expression of my faith is my value for family unity. I believe Congress should act to bring families together, not keep them apart.”
