Invest in Humane Solutions at our Southern Border

Congress is currently in the process of determining how much money each federal department will receive for Fiscal Year 2020. The White House is asking Congress for more money to go to the southern border to address the high volume of migrants arriving there.

The Department of Homeland Security wants this funding for:

temporary and semi-permanent migrant processing facilities,
additional personnel along the border,
increased detention capacity,
and upgrades to "overtaxed" information technology systems.

Responding to the human need of those migrating, as well as maintaining the security of the U.S., will cost money. More resources -- processing facilities, IT upgrades -- make sense; what does not make sense is failing to adapt to the changing needs of those arriving (more women and children), failing to address the root causes of migration, failing to protect the right to seek asylum, failing to efficiently process asylum requests, and failing to protect human dignity and human rights as asylum seekers are screened. We have a unique calling to remind policymakers to use our tax dollars in ways that protect vulnerable immigrants, keep families together, and decrease immigrant detention. We have an opportunity to “…love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.” (I John 3:18)

Congress should invest in compassionate budgets that protect the dignity of asylum-seekers, refugees, and immigrants, and invests in systems which offer safety and hospitality.

Read a Backgrounder or return to the Office of Social Justice website.

Contact your Member of Congress!

Subject:

Invest in Humane Solutions at our Southern Border

Dear Official,

I’m your constituent and as a person of faith, I urge you to ensure appropriators cut funding for detention, deportation, and border militarization. I don’t want Congress to write a check to detain and deport my immigrant neighbors, when it could be used instead to meet needs and more efficiently process asylum claims. I urge you to do everything you can to see that we do not put more money into detention, deportation, and border militarization, and instead make a bigger investment in addressing the root causes of migration and meeting humanitarian and legal needs at the border. My community welcomes and values immigrants, and I urge you to do the same.

I believe that our federal budget reflects our values as a nation. As Congress decides how much money should go to each federal department for FY2020, I urge you to hold appropriators accountable to decreasing the funds that fuel detention and deportation, and reducing the topline numbers for the Department of Homeland Security to instead invest that money elsewhere – for much needed education, anti-hunger, housing assistance, development, and foreign aid programs.

Regards, Your Name

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As you may know, the FIRST STEP Act is a bipartisan supported criminal justice reform bill that supports “back end” changes to the system by providing increased resources and incentives towards rehabilitation.

The bill encourages inmates to participate in more vocational and rehabilitative programs, by letting them get “earned time credits” that allow them to be released early to halfway houses or home confinement. The bill would also authorize more funding — $50 million a year over five years — to support vocational and rehabilitative programs.

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