Detained Children Still Need Our Help
to Stop Deportations of Remaining Families Before Christmas!
I'd so much rather be writing a Christmas card now. But, because lives of kids & families have been turned upside down, I share this great opportunity:
Take 7 minutes.
Save children's lives!
See this update from our partners in Pennsylvania and Texas, where our nation's family detention centers are located:
Community pressure is working! Last week you urged Congress and government officials to halt the deportation of 26 Black and Brown families detained by ICE in Texas and Pennsylvania. On Friday, families were pulled off of planes waiting to take off. About half of the 26 families will have their asylum cases reviewed by an immigration judge and should be released from the Dilley family prison. We have seen the power of community when you mobilized.
However, one mother and her four-year-old child were deported on Friday. Several other families in Texas were denied a fair hearing and are at urgent risk of being deported. The families detained at the Berks family prison are currently undergoing a review of their asylum cases.
We still need your help! PLEASE CALL these members of Congress to ask them to take urgent action to stop the deportations of the remaining families. We are asking these members of Congress to demand that ICE free these families so they can have a fair review of their asylum claims.
Suggested Script: “I am calling the Representative/Senator to ask that they urgently intervene on behalf of immigrant children and their parents who ICE is planning to deport to their deaths before Christmas. Thank you for what you have already done, but your continued intervention is needed TODAY!
A group of over 20 children, including toddlers and teenagers, have been detained by ICE in family prisons in Texas and Pennsylvania for as long as a year and a half. We are asking that the Representative/Senator contact Simona Flores, Philadelphia Field Office Director of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, to demand that ICE free the families while their asylum applications are being reviewed. I’m calling on the Member to step forward and stop this atrocity.”
These families were denied the right to seek asylum under policies that federal courts have since ruled were unlawful. ICE plans to deport these children to face death or torture in their home countries. I am joining with faith and community partners around the country to request urgent intervention to stop the deportations. Thank You!!
PLEASE CALL THESE LEADERS FROM PA. TODAY (no matter where you live!):
- Representative Scanlon - (202) 225-2011
- Senator Casey - (202) 224-6324
- Representative Dean - (202) 225-4731
- Representative Evans - (202) 225-4001
- Representative Fitzpatrick - (202) 225-4276
Follow Shut Down Berks on Facebook for updates on #Safetyforthe28.
Love and health to you and your family this season!--
Rev. Sharon Stanley-Rea, Director, Disciples Refugee & Immigration Ministries
REMINDERS:
Questions or Comments?
Contact: sstanley@dhm.disciples.org, Rev. Dr. Sharon Stanley-Rea,
Director, Disciples Refugee & Immigration Ministries
