Tell your members of Congress: Reject the White House’s request for another $4.5 billion to terrorize refugees

The White House is asking for an extra $4.5 billion to target, separate, detain, and deport immigrants and asylum seekers. They’re trying to claim that some of this money is for “humanitarian” purposes, but we’ve seen enough to know that’s not true.

The Trump administration is co-opting a refugee crisis to pay for more human suffering. Here are some toplines of what they’re requesting:

• $342 million to expand even further the deadly, abusive immigration detention system to be able to detain nearly 54,000 people every day.
• $377 million to further militarize the border, including an increase in funding for “Operation Guardian” which sends the National Guard to do Border Patrol’s bidding.
• $155 million for the Department of Justice US Marshals to criminalize people seeking to claim their legal right to asylum by prosecuting them for unauthorized entry or re-entry.
• And more to lock up immigrants and refugees, separate families, and deny asylees protection from harm. You can read more in our Defund Hate resource here.

Whether Congress says Yes or No to this budget request is up to us right now. Today, join thousands of people across the country, from Bend the Arc, Indivisible and other allies, to demand immigrant justice — call your members of Congress to tell them to reject Trump's request.

Call 

1-844-332-6361

1-844-909-0232

National call-in day: Thursday, May 9th

Sample Script:

“Hi, my name is [first and last name] and I'm a constituent of [member of Congress]. How our country treats immigrants is a very important issue for me, so I'm calling to ask [member of Congress] to reject the White House’s request for another $4.5 billion to further terrorize immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. I want [member of Congress] to urge their party’s leadership to reject the White House budget request.”

More Information:

TELL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TO DEFUND HATE - Indivisible 

White House asks for $4.5 billion in emergency funds for border - CNN Newsource

White House Asks Congress for $4.5 Billion in Emergency Funds to Deal with Border Crisis -Yahoo Finance 

Tell Congress: Reject Ronald Vitiello's nomination as head of ICE

There are thousands of children still in detention at this moment thanks to Ronald Vitiello

Petition to the Senate: "Reject Ronald Vitiello's nomination to become permanent director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement." Add your name:

The Senate is poised to approve Ronald Vitiello – one of the key players in the Trump policy of tearing families apart – as the permanent head of ICE.1 Even Republican members of Congress saw through Trump's fear-mongering and embarrassed him by rejecting his declaration of a state of emergency at the southern border. So now, the Trump administration is fostering and playing up a sense of crisis in order to justify his authoritarian power grab – orchestrating a nightmare scenario by misallocating resources for political gain. The Senate could vote on Vitiello's nomination any day now, but some Republicans are wavering after the ICE employees' union expressed concerns. We need to speak out now. Tell the Senate: Reject Ronald Vitiello's nomination as permanent head of ICE. Click here to sign the petition. There are thousands of children still in detention at this moment thanks to Ronald Vitiello. We've watched ICE tear gas mothers, children and even toddlers in diapers, children die of severe neglect in ICE and CBP custody, and border agents turn away thousands of migrant refugees escaping violence. We've also watched the Trump administration sabotage the asylum process, divert funds, and illegally deploy the military to the border – all to manufacture a sense of crisis. Ronald Vitiello, as the acting director of ICE since June 2018, is a key cog in this despicable campaign who:2 Implemented and defended Trump's family separation policy. As acting head of ICE, he carried out Trump's orders. He tried to downplay and minimize the horror of separating children from their families in media appearances, and told senators that the policy would continue. Characterized immigrants in a racist way as bearers of crime and disease and called Democrats the “NeoKlanist Party.” Vitiello also participated in an event hosted by FAIR, a group the Southern Poverty Law Center deems a hate group. Oversaw an abusive and deliberately disorganized agency. No person who lost track of children and cannot locate and return them to their family deserves to stay in their job. Even the ICE employees' union – no friend to immigrants – expressed concerns about Vitiello's competence to lead the agency. It is awful that the concerns of the ICE employees' union bothered some Republican senators more than Vitiello's role in separating families – but it gives us a window to prevent him from being confirmed if we act now. Tell the Senate: Reject Ronald Vitiello's nomination as permanent head of ICE. Click the link below to sign the petition. https://act.credoaction.com/sign/vitiello-ice?t=9&akid=32117%2E3130208%2EsrFR6J - Nicole Regalado, CREDO Action Add your name: References: Geneva Sands, "ICE director nominee in limbo after criticism from union," CNN, Feb. 13, 2019. America's Voice, "America’s Voice to Senate: Reject Nomination of Ronald Vitiello – Defending and Implementing Family Separation Should Be Disqualifying," Nov. 15, 2018.

Tell Alex Azar and Kirstjen Nielsen: Let the children go. Stop sharing sponsor data with ICE

The petition to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen reads: "Stop helping Immigration and Customs Enforcement target and detain immigrants who apply to sponsor children in detention. End data sharing between the Office of Refugee Resettlement and ICE." Add your name:

Some believe that the greatness of a nation is determined by how it treats its children. By this measure, the United States is failing. There are still more than 14,000 immigrant children in DHS custody, and instead of placing them with willing sponsors, the Office of Refugee Resettlement is making sure many of them stay behind bars. Over the summer, HHS Secretary Alex Azar and DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen enacted a data-sharing agreement that weaponized ORR.1 ORR now shares the biometric and background check data of any person who applies to sponsor a child with ICE, preventing many family members from stepping forward for fear of being hunted down and detained by Trump's deportation force. Sens. Gillibrand, Hirono, Booker, Merkley, Feinstein and Blumenthal are calling on Azar and Nielsen to end this cruel policy. Add your name now to help turn up the pressure. Tell Alex Azar and Kirstjen Nielsen: Let the children go. Stop sharing sponsor data with ICE. Click here to sign the petition. At the height of the family separation crisis over the summer, Azar enacted an ORR policy that forced potential immigrant sponsors and everyone in their household to go through an extreme vetting process and then shared the data it collected with ICE. As a result, ORR is now an extension of Trump's deportation force. Thousands of refugee children locked up in inhumane detention facilities are serving longer sentences because many people are too afraid to sponsor them. The average stay in detention for unaccompanied minors increased from 40 days in 2016 to 59 days in 2018.2 The total number of children DHS and ORR are detaining at once is at an all-time high.3 The effects of detention on children are devastating. The trauma of being ripped from family members and forced to live in overcrowded camps and prisons can have debilitating lifelong effects on a child's health and well-being. HHS says its focus is the health, safety and best interest of the child. Yet, the nation watched in horror as thousands of children suffered in isolation and inhumane conditions in the tent camps of Tornillo, Texas, without adequate access to legal services. ORR recently announced a minor change to its vetting policy, eliminating the requirement that household members of sponsors be fully vetted before a child is reunited with a parent or loved one.4 That is not enough. As long as ICE remains at the center of ORR’s reunification process, children will be in harm’s way. Add your name now to help us and our friends at the National Immigrant Justice Center shine a bright light on the dangerous collaboration between ORR and ICE, and demand that Azar and Nielsen end it now. Tell Alex Azar and Kirstjen Nielsen: Let the children go. Stop sharing sponsor data with ICE. Click the link below to sign the petition. https://act.credoaction.com/sign/children_orr_ice?t=7&akid=31033%2E3130208%2EVrHzN_ Nicole Regalado, CREDO Action Add your name: References: Victoria Bekiempis, "Refugee agency accused of helping deport relatives of migrant children," The Guardian, Nov. 28, 2018. Colleen Long, "The Trump Administration Reverses Its Policy on Migrant Children's Sponsors," TIME, Dec. 19, 2018. Ibid. Miriam Jordan, "Thousands of Migrant Children Could Be Released After Sponsor Policy Change," The New York Times, Dec. 18, 2018.

Tell the U.N.: Send observers to the border

The petition to the United Nations Human Rights Council reads: "Send observers to the U.S.–Mexico Border to witness, document and report on the Trump administration's human rights violations." Add your name:

President Trump has deployed the military against Central American families seeking refuge in the United States and just enacted a racist asylum ban that violates domestic and international law.1,2 We have to use every tool at our disposal to fight back.There is a human rights crisis happening at the U.S.–Mexico border, and it's about to get worse. The United Nations condemned Trump's family separation policy this summer.3 Now the U.N. should go one step further and send observers to witness and report on state-sanctioned violence and human rights abuses at the border. Documenting the Trump administration's human rights violations will help build momentum to stop them from happening and shine a bright light on Trump's tyranny and hate. Tell the U.N.: Send observers to witness, document and report on human rights violations at the U.S.–Mexico border. Click here to sign the petition. Like racist authoritarians before him, Trump is trying to distract the country by demonizing, scapegoating and attacking immigrants while his lapdogs in Congress and the administration are rolling back civil rights, gutting health care access, disenfranchising LGBTQ people and passing tax reforms that fatten the pockets of corporations and the wealthy. The Trump regime is doing all this with no regard for the rule of law. His asylum ban violates U.S. law by preventing people from seeking asylum between ports of entry. The law puts no restrictions on where people can apply for asylum. It also violates international law that requires the United States to examine all asylum claims under the United Nations Refugee Convention.4 Our friends at the ACLU, Southern Poverty Law Center and Center for Constitutional Rights are already challenging this illegal ban in court.5 But while litigation will delay some of Trump's most extreme and dangerous policies, we need to mobilize against the border crisis and stand in solidarity with immigrants on a much larger scale to stop his attacks once and for all. The migrant caravan left Mexico City last week and could arrive at the U.S.–Mexico border as early as mid-December. If we want to stop Trump's war on immigrants and prevent a military escalation at the border, we need to put a spotlight on this crisis now. Demanding that the U.N. send observers is a crucial step. Tell the U.N.: Send observers to witness, document and report on human rights violations at the U.S.–Mexico border. Click the link below to sign the petition. https://act.credoaction.com/sign/un_immigration?t=7&akid=30641%2E3130208%2Ej9UUxb - Nicole Regalado, CREDO Action Add your name: References: Dara Lind, "Trump signs a 90-day asylum ban for border crossers," Vox, Nov. 9, 2018. James LaPorta and Tom O'Connor, "Migrant caravan: U.S. military will have up to 14,000 troops, many armed, ready to intervene at Mexico border," Newsweek, Oct. 29, 2018. Nick Cumming-Bruce, "Taking Migrant Children From Parents Is Illegal, U.N. Tells U.S." The New York Times, June 5, 2018. Chris Riotta, "Donald Trump asylum ban is 'illegal,' major civil rights group warns," The Independent, Nov 9, 2018. Noah Lanard, "ACLU Files Lawsuit to Block Trump’s Effort to Upend Asylum Law," Mother Jones, Nov. 9, 2018.

SUBMIT A PUBLIC COMMENT: Don't let children grow up behind bars.

The Trump administration is now proposing indefinite detention of all children with parents seeking asylum. In a new proposed regulation, the White House is seeking to override the Flores settlement, a court ruling that forbids holding immigrant children in prison settings for longer than 20 days and provides basic minimal protections like a meal schedule, education, and access to legal support. If enacted, this means children could spend months and even years locked away while their cases are being processed—some learning to crawl, walk, and talk behind bars.

Public comment is being sought on this proposed regulation. Click here to voice your strong opposition to this new attempt to undermine human rights and traumatize children and families seeking safety.

Information on submitting a comment:

• Each public comment needs to be individualized to be counted. This is not a “click and send.” Please take a few moments to personalize your comment by speaking from your heart. Anyone can comment, you do not need to be an expert. You can find more background about the family separation policy here.
• If you are a professional in a field and can speak to this issue from your area of expertise, please do so. This applies to medical and public health fields, ministers and faith leaders, educators, social workers and therapists, and any other connection you may want to draw on.
• Public comments matter. They can influence policy. They also become public record and can be used to help upcoming legal challenges  to the proposed rule.

We have until November 6 to organize as many comments as possible. Please spread the word! President Trump must hear that we will not tolerate this violation of human rights, the basic dignities afforded to all, and our nation’s values. Submit your comment now.

Microsoft got the message about enabling ICE

To this day, the future is uncertain for the 463 children whose parents were deported by ICE without them. Their parents came to the US for the dream of a better life, and many have fled violence in their home country. Now hundreds of parents have been deported back to potential danger with no real hope of reuniting with their children.

So last week, we took the fight to end tech companies’ collaboration with ICE's deportation machine straight to Microsoft’s door.

Together with partners like Color of Change, the Tech Workers Coalition, Fight for the Future, and Coworker, we hosted actions at Microsoft offices in cities across the country to deliver a joint petition with 300,000 signatures from members like you. But that’s not all: a Microsoft employee hand-delivered a USB with the petition—including 500 signatures from Microsoft employees—to CEO Satya Nadella at an annual gathering at Microsoft’s Redmond, WA headquarters.

Nadella definitely got the message that Microsoft’s ongoing contract with ICE can’t be swept under the rug and hurts real people. And in case 300,000 signatures didn’t do the trick, we teamed up with Color of Change to crowdsource this amazing mobile billboard that we drove around Microsoft’s headquarters during the protest.

Together with a coalition of groups representing millions of people, we’re showing Microsoft that the voices of the people will speak louder than the $19 million contract Microsoft has with ICE.

Watch and share this video of our day of action on Facebook to help keep the heat on Microsoft!

Not on Facebook? No problem, click here to watch on Youtube.

The pressure is working: Nadella was quick to downplay Microsoft’s contract with ICE, claiming in a statement that it was “not aware” of its services being used to help separate families at the border.

That’s quite a change of tune from earlier this year when the company boasted online that Azure, a Microsoft cloud computing service with deep learning capabilities to accelerate facial recognition and identification, was “mission-critical” to ICE.

It's a matter of life or death for so many migrant families in this moment. Deported parents worry if they will ever see or hold their infants again. They worry about who will take care of their kids if and when they are released from government detention centers. They worry about surviving another day to be able to search and fight for their separated love ones, some too young to speak.

Last week’s day of action was a crucial step in holding tech companies like Microsoft accountable for their complicity in Trump’s war on immigrants. But we will not back down until we take this crucial cog out of ICE’s deportation machine.

- SumOfUs

More information:

Microsoft Employees Question C.E.O. Over Company’s Contract With ICE, New York Times, July 26 2018.

Urge President Trump to Set a Presidential Determination of At Least 75,000 Refugees

In the face of the largest global refugee crisis in modern times, the Presidential Determination represents the United States’ commitment to offering safe haven to the world’s refugees. 

As your constituent, I urge you to actively encourage the Trump administration to welcome at least 75,000 refugees to the U.S. in Fiscal Year 2018.

The Refugee Act—which passed Congress unanimously in 1980—states that before each fiscal year, the president must consult with Congress to determine the maximum number of refugees that can be resettled in the U.S. for that year.

The “Presidential Determination” does not dictate how many refugees will end up arriving, but it sets a ceiling that serves as goal for the government and refugee resettlement agencies for the coming year.

To remain a global humanitarian leader, we must continue to welcome refugees who flee their homes in search of freedom from violence and persecution. People’s lives and futures are at stake.

I believe that protecting refugees makes us stronger as a community and as a country. 

Cut and paste message above to Sen. McCain's website.

Cut and paste message above to Sen. Flakes website. 

Read the New York Times article: How Trump’s Executive Order Will Affect the U.S. Refugee Program

To specifically help Syrian refugees, sign MoveOn's petition.

There is a refugee crisis happening right now and the U.S. needs to show leadership and kindness by accepting these refugees from Syria and elsewhere. Germany is accepting 800,000 refugees while we are only accepting in the few thousands. We have the wealth to do it, so let's do it!

- MoveOn