By Elket Rodriguez

Immigration Reform is a priority for the current Administration and this Congress. We are calling on immigration advocates to engage their elected officials for immigration reform that is compassionate and consistent with our Principles and Values for Immigration Reform. Our Advocacy Action Team for Immigrants and Refugees is working to encourage and equip folks in CBF life to engage in support of our values and principles. Most advocates believe immigration reform will be taken up soon after passage of the next COVID-19 relief bill.

In the first few weeks of the this Administration, we have witnessed many announcements and policy changes, especially on immigration. Some immigration bills have already been introduced. The U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 is a comprehensive bill favored by the Biden Administration that seeks a path to permanent residency and citizenship. The Dream Act of 2021 offers a path to residency and citizenship for DACA recipients – young immigrants who were brought to the United States as children.

Your elected representatives need to hear from you right now. Ask them to pass immigration reform that offers a path to legal residence and citizenship. To find contact information, click here. To sign up for alerts from the action team, click here. For more information on each of these bills and to learn how CBF Advocacy engages in coalition, keep reading.

The Dream Act seeks to provide a path to permanent residency and citizenship for thousands of DACA recipients. The U.S. Citizenship Act seeks to reform employment, family visas and the asylum system as well as to create a path to citizenship for DACA recipients, Temporary Protected Status beneficiaries and millions of undocumented immigrants. The proposed bill also seeks to help Central American countries deal with the root causes of immigration.  

CBF Advocacy recognizes the importance of coalitions to advocate for immigration reform that meets the Advocacy and Action Team’s Principles and Values. The team partners with the Interfaith Immigration Coalition (IIC) and the Evangelical Immigration Table (EIT) to advocate for immigration reform. You can read about their approaches here and here. To participate in IIC’s “Faith on the Phones” even, please click here. To sign on to a letter from the EIT urging Congress to pass immigration reform, please click here.

Through the Advocacy Action Team for Immigrants and Refugees, CBF believes in immigration reform that meets our principles and values. We particularly affirm a path to legal residence and citizenship for immigrants. This is a critical moment for our congregations to act, alongside immigrants’ rights organizations and immigrant leaders. Please call your elected officials. Ask them to pass immigration reform that offers a path to legal residence and citizenship. To find contact information, click here. To sign up for alerts from the Advocacy Action Team for Immigrants and Refugees, click here.