September Updates: From The Episcopal Church, Office of Government Relations (English and Spanish)
EPPN “Citizenship day”
The Episcopal Public Policy Network sent an email on September 17 celebrating Citizenship day. In the email we sent resources, I hope you’ll find them useful:
How to become a U.S. citizen and how to promote citizenship in your community
Faith and Citizenship an Episcopal guide to public policy advocacy
Election Year Resources – including links to voter registration resources, poll watching information, and places to learn about issues and candidates positions
Midwest Interfaith Immigration Summit
The Interfaith Immigration Coalition organized a summit on immigration advocacy the 10th and 11th of September in Columbus, Ohio. In the Summit faith-based leaders and advocates in the Midwest region came together to work toward educating and mobilizing their communities in support of fair and humane immigration reform. A diverse group of faith leaders also participated in a prayer vigil in front of the statehouse calling for an end of immigration raids and calling for immigration reform. You can access to material and information about the summit at the Interfaith Immigration Coalition website (http://www.interfaithimmigration.org/index.php/section/Events). You can also access to the media coverage of the prayer vigil:
o Check out the Channel 4 coverage of the OH Prayer Vigil: http://mail.dfms.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.criticalmention.com/report/7770x36603.htm
o News papers:
The Columbus Dispatch: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/09/11/VIGILimmig.ART_ART_09-11-08_B2_6GB9TBS.html?sid=101
SanduskyRegister.com Front Article: Statehouse vigil calls for immigration reform http://www.sanduskyregister.com/articles/2008/09/11/front/891348.txt
The Episcopal Church supports the International Violence Against Women Act (S.2279/HR 5927):
The Episcopal Church signed on a letter directed to Congress in support of the bill. The International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA) was introduced in the Senate last October by Chairman Biden and Ranking Member Lugar and in the House this past May by Chairman Berman. Under this legislation, efforts to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls globally would become a key priority in U.S. diplomacy and would be fully integrated into all appropriate U.S. foreign assistance programs.
In response to immigration raids:
Sen. Menendez (D-NJ) introduced a bill on unlawful raids/detention. The Episcopal Church signed on a letter on support of Sen. Menendez bill. This bill would provide protections for people swept up in immigration raids; people locked up in detention, instead of released or placed in alternative to detention programs; and people in immigration detention who are denied medical care, phones, libraries, etc.
Iraqi Refugees
The Episcopal Church signed on a letter to Chairman Biden and Ranking Member Lugar of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee requesting a hearing on the Iraqi refugee crisis and alternatives for a comprehensive response. Briefing on Developments in the Iraqi Refugee Admissions and Assistance Program: James B. Foley, Senior Coordinator for Iraqi Refugee Issues, announced September 12, 2008 the achievement of the Administration’s goal for resettling Iraqi refugees in fiscal year 2008. Thus far, 12,118 Iraqi refugees have arrived in the U.S. for permanent resettlement, and more than 1,000 are booked to travel to the U.S. by the end of the month. You can access the complete transcript of the conference and the video here: http://www.state.gov/p/nea/rls/rm/109568.html
The administration proposed refugee admissions for FY 09: the administration proposed the same admissions numbers for FY09 that had set for FY08 (80,000), though 75,000 would be allocated to specific regions and 5,000 would be the unallocated reserve (5,000 lest than FY08).
SCIS Updates:
· 18-Month Extension of Temporary Protected Status for El Salvador: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nationals of El Salvador through Sep. 9, 2010. The extension will make those who have already been granted TPS eligible to reregister and maintain their status for an additional 18 months.
· Two categories of special immigrant religious workers to expire on October 1: Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reminds its customers that authorization for the non-minister special immigrant religious worker program will expire on Oct. 1, 2008. Individuals applying to serve in the two non-minister categories of the program must either adjust status to permanent residence or apply for, and be admitted with, an immigrant visa before Oct. 1, 2008
http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/SpecialImmigrantRWPetitionsOct1sunset91908.pdf
Legislative Update
· House Judiciary Committee marked up HR 6020. This bill would streamline naturalization applications for non-citizen members of the military who have given at least one year of honorable service to the armed forces.
· On September 24, the Senate passed a Naturalization Measure for Military Personnel The measure (S 2840) was amended and passed by voice vote
· House of Representatives passed the SSI Extension for Elderly and Disabled Refugees Act! This legislation passed through the Senate prior to the August recess and now will be sent to the President. The bill will extend SSI eligibility for elderly and disabled refugees, asylees and other humanitarian immigrants, from seven, to nine years, and includes a provision to cover those who have already lost their benefits due to the time limit.
· The House passed legislation that would make recruiting child soldiers a federal crime and bar those responsible from the United States. The measure (S 2135), which passed 371-0, would allow the government to deport or deny entry to individuals found to have drafted child soldiers
· Bill Introduced to Help Displaced Iraqis S3509: Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) introduced legislation that would require the Secretary of State to develop a comprehensive regional strategy to address the mass displacement of Iraqis.
· SIVs for Afghans: Ben Cardin (D-MD) introduced a bill (S3001) that would provide Special Immigration Visas to Afghans. The bill proposes to provide 1,500 additional SIVs for Afghans (and their families) that have provided service to the US government.
· Hearings:
1) “Mismanagement, Missteps, and Missed Benchmarks: Why the Virtual Fence Has Not Become a Reality.” Full Committee Homeland Security. Thursday, September 10 and 18, 2008.Related documents:
http://homeland.house.gov/Hearings/index.asp?ID=164
2) Republicans hosted a forum on unnecessary crimes: the toll of illegal
alien criminals on American families
Republican Members of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration hosted a forum on September 11, 2008, regarding the toll of illegal immigrant criminals on American families.
3) Oversight Hearing in the House Immigration Subcommittee on the Executive Office for Immigration Review. September 23, 2008 http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/hear_080923.html
· Briefings:
1) Anti-Human Trafficking Activism Congressional Human Rights Caucus Congressional Human Rights Caucus, Somaly Mam Foundation and Congressional Human Trafficking Caucus hold a briefing with anti-human trafficking activist Somaly Mam, a survivor of the Cambodian slave trade.
2) No more death report on Human Rights Abuses of Migrants on the Border Briefing September 17 sponsored by Rep. Raul M. Grijalva. Report presented by No More Deaths, an organization in Southern Arizona that provides humanitarian aid to migrants repatriated across the U.S.-Mexico border to Nogales, Agua Prieta and Naco, Sonora.
3) Raids Briefing Sponsored by Rep. Solis (D-CA) On September 23, 2008. Briefing on the aftermath of the Postville, Iowa Immigration Raid.
