Catholic Day of Action for DREAMERS

Monday, February 26, the USCCB is sponsoring a National Call-In Day for Dreamers. In their announcement, the Bishops remind us: “Our faith compels us to stand with the vulnerable, including our immigrant brothers and sisters. We have done so continually, but we must show our support and solidarity now in a special way.  Now is the time for action." 

We hope to drive thousands of call to Congress.  Please call 855-589-5698 and press 1 to be connected to your Senators. Call again and press 2 to be connected to your Representative.  Once connected please ask the person on the phone to deliver this simple message to your legislator:

“I urge you to support a bipartisan and humane solution for Dreamers: Protect Dreamers from deportation and provide them with a path to citizenship. Reject proposals that undermine family immigration or protections for unaccompanied children. As a Catholic, I know that families are not “chains,” but a blessing to be protected. Act now to protect Dreamers, our immigrant brothers and sisters.”

Resources are available on the JFI website.

In response to requests from Dreamers for a demonstration of additional support from Catholic leadership, the PICO National Network is partnering with a group of Catholic social justice organizations based in DC, including the Franciscan Action Network, to organize a Catholic Day of Action for Dreamers at the Capitol on Tuesday, February 27 at 10:30 am.

Participants will include Catholic Dreamers, Catholic clergy and women religious, Catholic lay leaders and a wide range of supporters. Several Catholic bishops have also been invited to attend. The event will include prayer and singing among 100-200 participants, and will culminate in civil disobedience which will be exercised by a cohort of Catholic leaders.

The event will be followed by a press conference, along with a series of visits to congressional offices to underscore the strong commitment of the Catholic community to secure a compassionate response to the crisis faced by Dreamers. After such an eventful week of immigration ups and downs, we invite our members and friends to join us in solidarity by planning “echo events” all over the country. Host a prayer vigil, visit your Congress members’ local office, or write an Op-Ed for your local paper.

Praying with Dreamers Week

Advocating for the Dream Act 2017 (S. 1615 / H.R. 3440) is putting the faithful call to love our neighbors into action. Congress must hear from us this week and every week until they pass a clean Dream Act with a pathway to citizenship. Please join us for an all-out push for the Dream Act 2017,October 29-November 4, during Praying with Dreamers Week---#Faith4Dream Week

START PREPARING NOW

Plan Dream Sabbath Events

1.       Plan #Faith4Dream events to happen before or during the week of action.

2.       Use the Interfaith Immigration Coalition’s Dream Sabbath Toolkit to incorporate Dreamers’ stories and advocacy into your worship services, scripture study, educational events, vigils, and public witness.

3.       Consider connecting with local Dreamers and holding a vigil on your college or university campus in support of the Dream Act.

4.       Remember to invite your Members of Congress and their staff to attend the events!

5.       Print signs here to visibly demonstrate your faith support at all your actions.

Write for the Media

Elevate the public call by publishing a letter to the editor before the end of October in support of the Dream Act of 2017 (H.R. 3440, S. 1615).

1.       Include your faith tradition, scriptural grounding, and congregational affiliation to demonstrate your connection to the community.

2.       Call on your Member of Congress (by name!) to work to pass the Dream Act of 2017.

3.       Find a draft letter to the editor and local media outlets to submit your letter to at: https://act.fcnl.org/lte/speak-out-dream-act/

4.       Let us know if you get published. Send a link and the text of your piece to awilson@networklobby.org so that we can share these with your Member of Congress.

Faith leaders are invited to write longer opinion editorials, especially in TN, ME, NV, ND, UT, AZ, OH, FL, SC, NJ, PA, and NY. If you are a faith leader and would like support writing, pitching, or placing a faith leader piece, please reach out to Ashley Wilson at awilson@networklobby.org.

Faith leaders can also sign a letter in support of the Dream Act that we will deliver to Congress.

DURING ACTION WEEK

Call Every Day---Urge Your Members of Congress to Enact the Dream Act of 2017!  Call 1-866-940-2439

Sample Script: I’m [your name]. I’m your constituent from [City, State]. As a person of faith, I support Dreamers. I strongly oppose President’s Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. DACA has provided nearly 800,000 immigrant youth the opportunity to work, raise a family, and pursue their dreams. Congress must do everything in its power to protect immigrant youth - I am calling to urge the [Senator/Representative] to support a clean passage of the Dream Act of 2017 (S.1615 / H.R.3440). Can I count on the [Senator’s/Representative’s support? Thank you!

Please call 3 times to connect to your 1 Representative and 2 Senators. Tell us if you take action!

Urge these key lawmakers to support the Dream Act. They are the swing votes that we need to secure in order to pass the Dream Act 2017 and provide Dreamers with a path to citizenship. Call or tweet at dreamactoolkit.org

Join the Virtual Prayer Chain—Let’s take over social media with our prayers with Dreamers for the passage of the Dream Act:

1.       Record a video of yourself holding a printed, filled out #Faith4Dream sign: PDF, PNG

Say: My name is _________________ and I’m ______________ (faith tradition) I am from ___________________ (city, state). I pray with Dreamers for the Dream Act because_______________________

2.       Upload your video to Twitter with the hashtag #Faith4Dream and tag the Interfaith Immigration Coalition (@interfaithimm) and tweet at your members of Congress.

3.       Post the video to Instagram and Facebook with #Faith4Dream. Make the post public on Facebook and tag Interfaith Immigration Coalition and your members of Congress!

Plan an In-District Visit to Members’ Offices

Members of Congress will be in-district the week of Nov. 20, during the days preceding Thanksgiving. During the faith week, schedule visits to meet with them! While all visits are important we have identified key states where visits are critical FL, TN, AZ, OH, PA, NY, NJ, KY, NC, OK, AK, CA, IN, IL & MI.

Fill out this form if you’re interested in leading or joining a meeting with other faith partners.

HELP US TRACK OUR IMPACT!

Demonstrate the faith communities’ power around the country by putting your planned event, media piece, or in-district advocacy visit on the map before Oct 29: bit.ly/DreamSabbathMap or email your event information to nandersen@cwsglobal.org.

Find more ideas and resources at: http://www.interfaithimmigration.org/dream.

Share the Journey

On September 27 Pope Francis launched a two-year campaign to encourage us all to love our neighbors and to Share the Journey of the millions of migrant and refugee families who are seeking safety and a decent life. We invite you to participate -- and to encourage your networks to join you.                                                                                                                                                                                                    

The Share the Journey campaign, which is being sponsored by Caritas Internationalis, highlights Catholic teaching on migration and reaffirms the Church’s commitment to assistant our migrant brothers and sisters who have fled their homeland for a better life elsewhere.

 

As part of this campaign, the Catholic bishops of the United States have selected October 7-13, 2017 as a week of action for migrants and refugees. Titled Dioceses for DREAMers it will focus on Catholic support and solidarity for DACA youth, DREAMers and the DREAM Act 2017. With your participation in the week of action we can build the grassroots momentum that is needed to pass legislation that protects DACA recipients and DREAMers and provides a pathway to citizenship for DREAMers.

 

Please join us and spread the word on social media, using #ShareJourney and #ComparteElCamino.

 

Sample Tweets

·     [Insert I’m/We’re/Organizations’ Name is] reaching out to migrants and refugees fleeing war, persecution and poverty. https://sharejourney.org #ShareJourney

·     [Insert I’m/We’re/Organizations’ Name is] loving my neighbor by reaching out to migrants & refugees. Join[me/us]. https://sharejourney.org #ShareJourney

·     Migrants & refugees shouldn’t have to leave their homes to survive. Let’s reach out w/ love & support. https://sharejourney.org #ShareJourney

·     Reaching out is the first step in loving neighbors fleeing war, persecution and poverty. https://sharejourney.org #ShareJourney

 

 Sample Facebook Post

·    Today [Insert I’m/We’re/Organizations’ Name is] reaching out to show support for migrants and refugees fleeing war, gang violence, death threats, religious persecution, extreme poverty and more. Reach out and love your neighbor, too. Learn more, do more at https://sharejourney.org #ShareJourney

 

Additional resources are available at:

·     The Share the Journey website, https://sharejourney.org.

·     The Justice for Immigrants website,  https://justiceforimmigrants.org/caritas-share-the-journey-campaign/

 

Voice Your Support for Bi-Partisan Dream Act

The Dream Act of 2017, S. 1615, was recently introduced in the Senate as a bipartisan effort, sponsored by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL). It is intended to protect immigrant youth who entered the United States as children and know America as their only home. The bill offers qualifying immigrant youth “conditional permanent resident status” and a path to full lawful permanent residency and eventual citizenship. This bill would protect numerous youth, including the estimated 780,000 individuals who received temporary relief from deportation and employment eligibility through the Department of Homeland Security's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

The young people S. 1615 seeks to protect are contributors to our economy, veterans of our military, academic standouts in our universities, and leaders in our parishes and communities. As Catholics, we have long supported DREAMERS as we believe in protecting the dignity of every human being, especially that of our children.

We ask you to renew your support for DREAMERS by urging your Senator to co-sponsor S. 1615. You can do so by sending the following message:  

Dear Senator,

As a person of faith, I stand with the U.S. Catholic Bishops and write to express my strong support for the "Dream Act of 2017" (S. 1615). The young people protected by this bill are contributors to our economy, veterans of our military, academic standouts in our universities, and leaders in our parishes and communities. As Catholics, we have long supported DREAMERS as we believe in protecting the dignity of every human being, especially that of our children. Among those protected by this bill are Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, a program that has benefited over 780,000 young people. DACA has ensured that recipients are able to live their lives free of the anxiety that they could be deported at any time to a country they do not know and separated from their families. We believe immigrant youth deserve continued protection and a path to citizenship.

I urge you to:
•    Support and co-sponsor S. 1615, the Dream Act of 2017; and
•    Continue to work towards larger legislative reform of our immigration laws.

The faith community stands with you in support of the DREAM Act of 2017, S. 1615, and vows to work with you to reform our immigration system in a humane and common-sense manner.

Thank you.