June 22… Father’s Day/World Refugee Day Alert on Immigration What’s Happening? As we celebrate Father's Day on Sunday June 21, please keep in mind that millions of families will not be enjoying cookouts and celebrations with their fathers. This Sunday 2.7 million children, and millions of adults, are attempting to stay connected with a father who is in prison, jail, or detention. They will be boarding buses, mailing crayon-drawn pictures, or facing the sky-high cost of a 15 minute phone call. (Politico)

Action One: Prayer Loving God, we pray for those fathers who suffer the injustice of a job with wages insufficient to care for their family's needs. We pray for fathers who work but cannot earn a salary allowing them to live above the poverty level. We pray for fathers forced to take two low-paying jobs to house and feed their families. We pray for fathers who cannot find decent work with decent pay. The teaching of our faith emphasizes that work is central to the development of human dignity and the full personhood of all people. We are called to ensure that our government develops policies that provide all who can work with decent jobs at decent pay. Help us respond to this challenge with joy, not fear, knowing that Christ, who worked as a carpenter with his father, walks with us. (Source: Education for Justice; By Jill Rauh)

Action Two: Calls/Letters Call your Congressional Representative to #EndtheQuota at both national & local levels! Ask him/her 1) to speak out publicly against the national bed quota, & 2) co-sponsor Rep. Deutch’s new bill—which ends the use of local quotas in detention contracts! Find your local representative online (http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/) or call 202-224-3121 for the Congressional Switchboard. Sample Script: Hi, my name is ____ and I’m calling from ______. As a constituent, I would like to express my concern about the way in which immigrant detention in the US has become a financial market where people’s lives are being traded for profit. To begin addressing this, I would like Representative _______ to publicly denounce the national detention bed quota which requires ICE to lock-up an average of 34,000 immigrants in detention at any given time - close to half a million immigrant’s annually – in a network of over 200 county and state jails, private prisons and federal facilities. In addition, I ask that Representative_______ co-sponsor Rep. Deutch’s new bill which would prevent ICE from including guaranteed minimums—which function as local level quotas—in any new or renewed detention contracts. Would you please pass my concerns along to the Representative? [wait for an answer] Thank you.

Thank the representatives (all Democrats & 19 Republicans) who voted against the King amendment: http://act.networklobby.org/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=14703

Tell Senator Mark Kirk: Protect migrant child refugees fleeing violence and poverty: Petition: http://action.groundswell-mvmt.org/petitions/tell-senator-mark-kirk-protect-migrant-child-refugees-fleeing-violence-andpoverty?source=twitter-share-button Twitter: Ask @SenatorKirk to be a champion for migrant child refugees http://action.groundswell-mvmt.org/petitions/tell-senator-markkirk-protect-migrant-child-refugees-fleeing-violence-and-poverty?source=twitter-share-button via @CRLN_LA @GroundswellMvmt

Expand DACA/DAPA: http://we.reformimmigrationforamerica.org/page/speakout/drop-the-lawsuit-petition?js=false

Sign petition to End Family Detention: http://www.notonemoredeportation.com/petition-end-immigrant-detention-now/ Urge the Administration to end its policy of detaining mothers & children: http://actions.humanrightsfirst.org/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=11236

Call Gov. Rauner (217-782-0244) and tell him not to make cuts for vulnerable groups in FY2016. Please do not balance the budget on the back of the poor & vulnerable. People need these services & programs. Tell the Obama Administration to End Family Detention! http://capwiz.com/pcusa/issues/alert/?alertid=65491631 Call your State Representative and Senator at their Springfield Office (look up your IL legislators here: http://www.elections.il.gov/districtlocator/addressfinder.aspx) and tell them NO MORE CUTS! Let them know you are paying attention and that you are deeply outraged. Our most vulnerable have endured enough cuts. Send email to Sec. Jeh Johnson reminding him to keep his promise & stop detaining & deporting potential beneficiaries of DACA/DAPA: salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/51048/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=15759 Call 1-866-940-2439 to be connected with the offices of House Judiciary Committee Members and urge them to oppose H.R. 1149 and any similar legislation that would rollback TVPRA: Sample Script: As a person of faith, I urge Representative (NAME) to OPPOSE any rollbacks to the Trafficking Victims Protection Act & to oppose any proposal that reduces protections for migrant children, creates barriers for asylum seekers, and expands the use of immigration detention for children, including H.R. 1149 The Protection of Children Act. I urge the Representative to instead support legislation that protects vulnerable migrants & refugees seeking protection in the US. The US must find ways to reduce the violence these children face in their home countries and ensure that children who arrive to the US have access to the legal counsel & services they need.

Action Three: Education Jesuit Refugee Services/Law School Report: http://jrsusa.org/news_detail?TN=NEWS-20150612103308 Young Voices from the Border: http://www.coha.org/young-voices-from-the-border-fear-and-unaccompanied-migrant-children/ Locking Up Immigrants for Profit: http://fusion.net/video/140518/molly-crabapple-locking-up-immigrants-for-profit/

Action Four: Events/Resources National Week of Action to End Family Detention: July 7 – 11 http://www.notonemoredeportation.com/end-detention-week-of-action/

Submit a Letter to the Dilley Mothers & Children: https://cliniclegal.org/letters Stories from Unaccompanied Children: http://ignatiansolidarity.net/wpcontent/uploads/2014/08/Unaccompanied_Children_Real_Stories_of_Central_American_Children__Families.pdf

IWC is collecting supplies for mothers & children being released from detention & dropped off at the local Greyhound station. Registry: http://www.myregistry.com/organization/Interfaith-Welcome-Coalition-San-Antonio-TX/850453# Join protests to end family detention in your area: http://www.webelongtogether.org/endfamilydetention/events

Action Five: Social Media Twitter: Access your member of Congress’ twitter handle at http://stuffthought.com/blog/113th-congress-twitter-handles/ Thank you for your efforts!