IMMIGRATION CALL TO ACTION

This month our Justice Jubilee Year focuses on justice for immigrants.  The Senate is about to vote on a bill mandating the detention of thousands of immigrants, including longtime residents, without any due process or justification. Please speak out now.

Please make calls today! The Laken Riley Act (H.R. 29) passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday, January 7, on a vote of 264 to 159. That legislation now moves to the U.S. Senate for a vote as soon as this week. This is a dangerous bill that manipulates a personal tragedy in an effort to criminalize and demonize immigrant communities. You can prevent this bill from being signed into law by urging Senators Hawley and Schmitt to vote “no” on H.R. 29.

H.R. 29 requires the mandatory immigration arrest and detention – without access to bail – of any undocumented person convicted of or merely arrested for burglary, theft, larceny or shoplifting related offenses. There is no statute of limitations and no mechanism for the individual to contest their immigration detention in order to resolve the underlying criminal charges against them (if charges are even brought). This bill requires the detention, potentially for years, of people who pose no risk to their communities for nonviolent offenses like shoplifting diapers – even if they were never charged, even if the alleged offense was decades ago, and even when ICE itself does not believe they pose a danger or flight risk. It throws due process out the window, makes racial profiling the law of the land and violates bedrock constitutional principles.

This is the first immigration bill of the new Congress. It is important to set a clear precedent that these kinds of xenophobic, anti-immigrant bills should never pass.

It is critical that we take action immediately by contacting our Senators Hawley and Schmitt and urging them to vote “no” on H.R. 29. Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and follow the prompts to speak with your Senator.

Thank you for speaking out and standing up for our immigrant brothers and sisters.