Advocate for our new – and future - neighbors!
We need your voices. Act with us to create an inclusive community of well-being where people thrive. You, like us, are motivated by a belief in the inherent dignity of all humans. Continue to advance equity, inclusion, and social justice with LSSNCA.
Afghan Allies
Provide Afghan Allies with a clear legal path to residency with an Afghan Adjustment Act.
The humanitarian parole status thousands of Afghans received to enter the United States doesn't provide a way for them to apply for legal permanent residency. A bipartisan Afghan Adjustment Act was introduced in both the Senate and House of Representatives, creating a potential pathway to legal permanent residency.
Right now, tens of thousands of Afghan Allies are applying for asylum and waiting in limbo regarding their permanent legal status in the U.S. We won't back down in advocating for the passage of an Afghan Adjustment Act, and hope you will join us.
Urge Congress to re-introduce the Afghan Adjustment Act!
Asylum Restrictions
On February 21, 2023, the Biden Administration announced a new proposed regulation, titled “Circumvention of Lawful Pathways.” This regulation is sometimes also referred to as the “transit ban” or the “asylum ban.” The Asylum Ban is scheduled to take effect in May 2023 when Title 42 is slated to end to help offset the increase in the number of people expected to arrive at the southern border seeking safety.
The ban will require several changes for migrants arriving at the southern border seeking asylum in the United States, and disregards America’s national asylum laws and commitments to international human rights laws and treaties, and our moral obligation and tradition of welcoming people escaping conflict and persecution.
- Migrants would be required to apply for asylum during their journey (i.e., while in transit) in the first “safe” country they enter. If they are denied asylum, they can continue onto the United States.
- If they do continue, they must use a new app, “CBP One,” to schedule an appointment at a specific time and at a specific Port of Entry along the southern border to arrive and apply for asylum. If they do not schedule this appointment prior to arriving or attempt to enter in between Ports of Entry, they will face deportation.
- If they did not pursue other forms of humanitarian or asylum relief before arriving at the U.S. border, they face deportation.
- If an asylum-seeker is granted access into the United States, they are eligible to immediately apply for Employment Authorization (EAD), which they should receive within 90 days.
- The rule would exempt people with medical emergencies, children traveling alone, and Mexican nationals.
We, along with nearly more than 160 faith-based organizations and congregations across traditions, sent a letter to the Biden Administration last month admonishing these policies.
Add your voice urging the Biden Administration to rebuild and restore a humane and just asylum system.
Make your voice heard! The proposed rule is open to public comment period until March 27, add your comment today!
Family Detention
The New York Times reported on March 6, 2023 that the Biden administration is considering reinstating family detention at the U.S.-Mexico border as a means to deter families from coming to the U.S. to seek safety. This comes on the heels of several other inhumane and unjust policy and rules announcements from the Administration, like the asylum ban.
While we don’t know what exactly is being considered, this is another ill-informed way the Biden Administration is considering responding to the end of Title 42 in May 2023 to help offset the increase in the number of people expected to arrive at the Southern border seeking safety.
- LSSNCA values strengthening and supporting families so they can stay together.
- Detention has long-term physical and psychological impacts on children and families.
- It is not a deterrent for someone who is fleeing life or death situations.
- There are more humane and cost-effective ways to ensure asylum-seekers are able to meet their basic needs and attend their required court hearings, like community-based case management.
Title 42
Title 42 was put in place by the Trump Administration during COVID-19 to restrict entry of people coming into the United States and continues under the Biden Administration. Title 42 removes adults seeking asylum in the United States to Mexico or to the country they are fleeing once they have filed for asylum and passed a credible fear interview, while they await adjudication. The policy prevents at-risk individuals from seeking asylum safely and lawfully in the U.S. and puts their lives in peril whle they wait in dangerous conditions to appear in immigration court. The policy also separates families as children are exempt. Title 42 has been challenged in court several times over its unlawfulness.
The policy is slated to end in May 2023. Let's make sure it stays that way.
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