interfaithimmigration.org

Call and Webinar will begin on Monday, November 9th at 4 p.m. ET

For audio, please dial 805-399-1000 and enter access code 104402

Audio Visual Link is at http://join.me/faith4immigration

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Agenda• Welcome and Intros- Rev. Noel Andersen, Church World Service/

United Church of Christ

• Policy updates on Refugee Issues- Jen Smyers, Church World Service, Immigration Refugee Program

• Welcome Weekend- Dr. Rev. Sharon Stanley-Rae Refugee & Immigration Ministries, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

• Community Dinner- Dr. Rev. Sharon Stanley- Rae and Yasmine Taeb, Friends Committee on National Legislation

• Communications, Megan Cagle, Church World Service

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November 20th Anniversary of DAPA/ DACA +

• Last November, President Obama took action that would provide relief to millions of undocumented people by creating DAPA--Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents. Now, almost a year later not only has that action been tied up in the courts, but ICE has been engaging in aggressive enforcement.

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Action Week #Not1More

• #Not1More Deportation for a National Week of Action on the Anniversary of DAPA—November 15-21st.

• Check the map for actions in your area.

• Add actions to the map here

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Family Detention

• In July, U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee ruled that the practice of detaining children in such facilities violated a 1997 legal settlement to release children as soon as possible and also to hold them in the least restrictive setting allowed.

• Pennsylvania Department of Human Services found the Berks facility is currently licensed as a "child residential facility" and will not be granted a new license until it goes back to operating as such

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Hunger StrikeA hunger strike has begun in several detention centers listed with below hashtags as a result of DHS lack of compliance with Judge’s order to close detention centers.

Please support the hunger strikers by clicking onto the following:

• SIGN THE PETITION: http://act.presente.org/sign/hutto/?sp_ref=160360404.166.16686.f.70052.2&referring_akid=.52.62jjWY&source=fb_sp

• SIGN THE PETITION: https://grassrootsleadership.ourpowerbase.net/civicrm/petition/sign?sid=24&reset=1

• CALL NOW: http://grassrootsleadership.org/blog/2015/11/what-you-can-do-demand-release-women-targeted-retaliation-hutto27-hunger-strike

• Join a solidarity campaign by posting a selfie of yourself with the phrase: “WE STAND WITH #AdelantoHungerStrike, #Hutto27, #LaSalle14, #ElPaso54 FREEDOM NOW”

• 4 million refugees, 8 million internally displaced• Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan hosting 3 million refugees• Germany pledged to welcome up to 1 million Syrians

• Proportionate to each country’s population, this would

equate to the US welcoming 3 million Syrian refugees• U.S. has only resettled 1,911 Syrian refugees• White House pledged to resettle 10,000 Syrians in FY16

(were already planning to resettle 5-8,000)• Administrated pledged to increase total refugee admissions

from 70,000 in FY15 to 85,000 in FY16 & 100,000 in FY17• In 1980 the U.S. airlifted 200,000 Vietnamese refugees

Syrian Refugees

•Resettle 100,000 Syrian refugees in FY16•Increase funding for UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency) to help Syrians abroad and refer more Syrians to resettlement

•Bolster capacity to interview and process Syrians•Admit Syrians with approved immigration petitions awaiting their priority dates (about 20,000) through a Priority 2 designation

•Expand the P3 family reunification program so that all Syrian Americans can apply for their family members

•Ask Congress to increase funding to process and resettle refugees – opportunity with December 11 CR deadline• Migration & Refugee Assistance (Bureau of Population,

Refugees and Migration - DOS)• Refugee & Entrant Assistance (Office of Refugee

Resettlement – HHS) • Refugee, Asylum and International Operations - DHS

What the Administration Can Do

What Congress Can Do• Appropriate more funds to refugee assistance,

processing & resettlement• Migration & Refugee Assistance (Bureau of Population, Refugees

and Migration - DOS)• Refugee & Entrant Assistance (Office of Refugee Resettlement –

HHS) • Refugee, Asylum and International Operations - DHS

• Co-sponsor S. 2145, a $1 billion supplemental introduced by Senators Graham (R-SC) & Leahy (D-VT)

• Sign onto the Dear Colleague letter led by Rep. Vargas (D-CA-51)

“we should take the Statue of Liberty and tear it down” if the U.S. doesn’t accept more Syrian refugees

- Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

Positive Refugee LegislationProtecting Religious Minorities Persecuted by ISIS Act, H.R. 1568 Rep. Vargas (D-CA-51) and Rooney (R-FL-17)• Help Syrian and Iraqi refugees facing gender-based violence and religious and ethnic

minorities; open more processing entities, increase staff, streamline security checks, expand video interviewing, improve accountability, transparency

Strengthening Refugee Resettlement Act, H.R. 2798 - Rep. Ellison (D-MN-5)• Admit refugees as LPRs; expand MG, R&P, case management; domestic resettlement

emergency fundRefugee Protection Act, S. 645 and H.R. 1375 (last year) - Sen. Leahy (D-VT) and Rep.

Lofgren (D-CA-14)• Eliminate one-year filing deadline; protect refugee families; authority to designate

groups for resettlementDomestic Refugee Resettlement Reform & Modernization Act, S.1615 & H.R. 2839Sen. Stabenow (D-MI) and Rep. Pascrell (D-NJ-9)• Elevates ORR within the HHS bureaucracy; allows formula state

funding to include projected arrivals; helps with data collection & assistance to secondary migrants

Negative ProposalsResettlement Accountability National Security Act, H.R. 3314

Rep. Babin (R-TX-36) – Houston area• Stop all U.S. resettlement until House and Senate pass resolution to re-establish

the resettlement program; study on how many refugees use benefits, for how long, how many pay taxes during their first year in the U.S., various costs to programs

The Refugee Resettlement Oversight and Security Act, H.R. 3573Rep. McCaul (TX-10)• Would place U.S. resettlement on hold, or stop it altogether, if Senate & House

can’t pass joint resolution on refugee resettlement every year; would mandate that for resettlement from Iraq and Syria, religious minorities should be prioritized - aiming to prevent the resettlement of Muslim refugees.

Join religious leaders in opposing any proposal that would prevent Muslim refugees from accessing resettlement:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1PNbNKO3TV1ZcoaKhhddNCV209kzGJvDs4yS11y5ODZw/viewform

Anti-Refugee Sentiment– Numbers USA, FAIR, Refugee Resettlement Watch, and Act!

For America, have joined with other hate groups for Anti-Muslim protests and to try to stop resettlement altogether

– Recent hearings negatively conflated refugees with terrorism and public cost

– www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2015/07/13/lauded-racist-groups-refugee-resettlement-watch-founder-ann-corcoran-moves-further-right

How can we help Syrians?• Connect with a Refugee Resettlement office: bit.ly/

RefugeeResettlementSites• Call Congress • Meet with Senators & Representatives when they’re home Nov 9-

13, 20-30 & beyond!

• Write an Opinion Editorial or Letter to the Editor of your local paper about the need to welcome Syrian refugees

• Host events to educate your community about the crisis in Syria, how resettlement works and advocacy opportunities

• Share stories and photos of your community extending welcome to Syrian refugees on social media with #AmericaWelomes, #RefugeesWelcome, #WelcomeWorld

We ALL Need to Meet with Congress!• Is your member on the appropriations committee?

– appropriations.senate.gov– appropriations.house.gov

• If so, they make the decisions about how much funding PRM & ORR are allocated!

• If not, they can influence appropriators by writing letters in support of increased funds for PRM & ORR

• Urge them to champion an increase in funds for refugee protection and resettlement!

Request a meeting TODAY!

• RCUSA Toolkit: bit.ly/localcongressionalvisits • Find their websites and local office phone

numbers at www.house.gov and www.senate.gov. • Organize a group: refugee, caseworker, faith

leader, employer, community member• Call to request a meeting• Prepare for the meeting• Let your DC advocacy staff person know!

Urge your Community to Call Congress!

Take Action TODAY: Call 1-866-940-2439 to be connected with your Senators’ offices

“I’m a constituent from [City/State] and I urge the Senator to CO-SPONSOR S.2145, the Graham-Leahy supplemental to provide vital help for

Syrian refugees abroad and ensure that refugees resettled in the U.S. have initial assistance to

rebuild their lives.”

Resources

Resettlement Offices: bit.ly/RefugeeResettlementSites

• Welcome Weekend for congregations• #RefugeesWelcome Dinners for a variety of

community members• Action alert calling on Congress to increase funding

for refugee protection and resettlement• Social media and Op-Ed templatesRCUSA Local Congressional Visits Toolkit:

bit.ly/localcongressionalvisits Sign up for advocacy alerts: bit.ly/

refugeeadvocacy

Refugee Council USA Contacts• Church World Service: Jen Smyers, jsmyers@cwsglobal.org • Episcopal Migration Ministries: Lacy Broemel, lbroemel@episcopalchurch.org • HIAS: Liz Mandelman, elizabeth.mandelman@hias.org. • International Rescue Committee: Anna Greene,

anna.greene@rescue.org• Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service: Brittney Nystrom,

bnystrom@lirs.org• U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops: Matt Wilch, mwilch@usccb.org • U.S. Committee for Refugees & Immigrants: Esmeralda Lopez,

elopez@uscridc.org • Ethiopian Community Development Council: Susan Kenney-Pfalzer,

SKPfalzer@ecdcus.org • World Relief: Jenny Yang, jgyang@worldrelief.org • Jesuit Refugee Service/USA: Giulia McPherson,

gmcpherson@jesuits.org• Refugee Council USA: Shaina Ward, sward@rcusa.org

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Nov. 13-15—or SOON! WELCOMING REFUGEES THRU WORSHIP, EDUCATION, & ACTION!

GO TO: http://www.interfaithimmigration.org/2015/10/30/welcome-weekend- resources/

• Dedicate a worship service or event in your congregation to Syrian refugees

--to build understanding of refugee journeys;

--to strengthen awareness of need for U.S. to contribute add’l humanitarian

assistance internationally;

--to challenge the U.S. to resettle more refugees;

--to ensure the U.S. has needed funds for refugee resettlement and

integration

• Resources available for your event:

--Welcome Weekend REGISTRATION

--Welcome Weekend ONE PAGER

--Welcome Weekend TOOLKIT

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Please Register Your Event!!Welcome Weekend Event Registration

GO TO: http://www.interfaithimmigration.org/2015/10/30/welcome-weekend- resources/

Thank you for participating in the campaign to welcome refugees to our communities! Please submit your event information in the fields below or contact advocacy@cwsglobal.org with any questions. • First Name, Last Name

Denomination/Organization Congregation Phone Number Email Postal/Zip Code

• Event TypeAttending a Welcome Dinner Hosting a Welcome Dinner Set up a meeting with Member of Congress Welcome Weekend worship service

• How did you hear about this movement? • Are you a member of the refugee community?

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See the 1 Pager & Welcome Weekend Toolkit Resources

GO TO: http://www.interfaithimmigration.org/issues/syrian-refugee-crisis/refugees-welcome-resources/ (Or, see interfaithimmigration.org, search for Refugees Welcome Resources).

• Welcome Weekend Toolkit• Welcome Weekend One Page Information Sheet

-Refugee Poetry -Syrian Stories of Resettlement -Call to Worship, & Prayers

-Sermon Talking Points lectionary text: 1 Samuel 1:4-20 -Local Resettlement Contacts for a refugee speaker -Add’l background info. –ACTIONS!!!

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Welcome Weekend Actions!1) CALL ON CONGRESS to increase funding for additional refugee

resettlement and protection! Meet in person if you can (reps are home Nov. 9-13, 20-30 & beyond)—and CALL TODAY & every day! See alert at: http://www.interfaithimmigration.org/issues/syrian-refugee-crisis/ , with the specific ask to urge your senators to co-sponsor S-2145, the bi-partisan refugee Supplemental Appropriations bill by Graham/Leahy. See the RCUSA Congressional Visits toolkit and above add’l requests for visits & calls. Don’t forget to REGISTER!

2) PLAN A MEAL WITH REFUGEES & CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS!Go to: http://www.interfaithimmigration.org/issues/syrian-refugee-crisis/refugees-welcome-resources/ , and see full info. on how to maximize the impact of your dinner! REGISTER!

3) USE SOCIAL MEDIA to share your church’s commitment to hospitality for refugees! REGISTER!

Use Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to post pictures of your welcome events, or of your faith group ready to help refugees. Post your picture and locate welcome signs at americawelcomes.us, and use #RefugeesWelcome in posts.

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Welcome Dinners

• Breaking Bread and Sharing a MealSitting down together to share a meal is a timeless tradition that cuts across all cultures and religions. The act of communities inviting recently arrived immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers holds immense meaning, offering a welcoming space to build relationships and learn from one another. This is a great way to show hospitality and to urge Members of Congress to support refugee resettlement.

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Welcome DinnersLogistics:

• Contact your local refugee resettlement office to build a relationship. Ask them if you can be helpful with any events they might be planning. Ask them if the idea of a community dinner is one that will work for their office, and if so, if they know of refugees who might be interested.

• Meet one-to-one with key leaders in your congregation or community who are interested in helping.

• Once you have the resettlement office and community leaders committed to assisting with the event, sign your event up on the #RefugeesWelcome Dinners page at bit.ly/WelcomeWeekendReg.

• Understand the issues being discussed in your community around refugee resettlement. • Identify the best space for the event: a home, church, temple or community center.• Divide tasks for outreach, cooking, taking pictures and other logistics.• Consider translation needs and ways to ensure the meal includes options for everyone.• Invite your Representative, Senator, or their staff to be part of the dinner• Contact Megan Cagle with Church World Service at mcagle@cwsglobal.org for assistance

with media outreach so your dinner can help urge Congress to support refugee resettlement!

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Building Relationship• Building Relationships• As you share your meal, take time to get to know one another and build a relationship

that will go beyond this one meal. Discuss where you come from and your family traditions. Sample discussion topics include:

• Identify common core values, passions and tastes. Have a few icebreaker questions ahead of time like: What is your favorite food? What do you like most about the town we live in?

• Story of self: Have everyone tell their story in 2-3 minutes about what transforming

events in their lives shaped them. Be respectful if someone does not want to share details about painful experiences, and find ways to focus on commonalities and sharing different cultural traditions. http://billmoyers.com/content/how-to-tell-your-story-of-self/

• Ask refugees how you can support them and identify ways to work together in the future.

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Walking Together• Walking Together• Think together about what the next steps in the relationship could be as you

continue to walk together on this journey. There are multiple possible opportunities and outcomes.

• Invite refugees to speak at your congregation’s weekly service or education classes.• Host another larger dinner with more people from ally and newcomer

communities.• Set a time to meet with your local, state and national policymakers about the

importance of policies that support refugee resettlement and address conflicts around the world that force people to flee their homes.

• Share pictures and stories on social media. Make sure refugees provide consent and feel comfortable with their stories being shared publicly, since identifying information could impact family members back in their home countries.

• Write an Opinion Editorial about the dinner or contact a local media outlet to run a story about the shared meal together.

Media

To increase the reach each event has, we are asking each host to publicize their event through

traditional and social media.• Download draft media releases, op-eds, social

media posts, and other resources: http://bit.ly/RWCommunications

• Contact Megan Cagle with Church World Service at mcagle@cwsglobal.org for additional resources and assistance.

Social Media

Please use the following hashtags and any others you create for your event

in your social media posts:

• #RefugeesWelcome• #WelcomeWorld• #Refugees• #RefugeeCrisis

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Contact Information• Contact information for refugee resettlement organizations• While it’s best to build relationships directly with a refugee resettlement office

near you (see list: bit.ly/RefugeeResettlementSites), you can also contact national resettlement agency staff:

• Church World Service: Jen Smyers, jsmyers@cwsglobal.org • Episcopal Migration Ministries: Lacy Broemel, lbroemel@episcopalchurch.org • HIAS: Elizabeth Mandelman, elizabeth.mandelman@hias.org• International Rescue Committee: Anna Greene, anna.greene@rescue.org• Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service: Brittney Nystrom, bnystrom@lirs.org• U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops: Matt Wilch, mwilch@usccb.org• U.S. Committee for Refugees & Immigrants: Esmeralda Lopez, elopez@uscridc.org • Ethiopian Community Development Council: Lucy Negash - lnegash@ecdcus.org• World Relief: Jenny Yang, jgyang@worldrelief.org• Refugee Council USA: Shaina Ward, sward@rcusa.org

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Question and Answer

IIC Contacts by organization• African American Ministers in Action:

Leslie Malachi, lmalachi@pfaw.org• American Baptist Home Mission Societies

of the American Baptist Churches, USA:

Aundreia

Alexander,

Aundreia.Alexander@abhms.org• American Friends Service Committee: Lia

Lindsey, llindsey@afsc.org • American Jewish Committee: Chelsea

Hanson, hansonc@ajc.org• Bread for the World Institute: Andrew

Wainer, awainer@bread.org• Christian Church (Disciples of Christ):

Sharon Stanley, sstanley@dhm.disciples.org • Christian Reformed Church

Kris Van Engen, kvanengen@crcna.org• Church of the Brethren: Nate Hosler,

nhosler@brethren.org • Church World Service: Jen Smyers,

jsmyers@cwsglobal.org• Columban Center for Advocacy and

Outreach: Chloe Schwabe,

cschwabe@columban.org • Conference of Major Superiors of Men: Eli

McCarthy emccarthy@cmsm.org • Daughters of Charity: Mary Ellen Lacey,

Maryellen.lacy@doc.org • Episcopal Church: Katie Conway,

kconway@episcopalchurch.org • Franciscan Action Network: Marie Lucey,

lucey@franciscanaction.org

• Friends Committee on National

Legislation: Ruth Flower, flower@fcnl.org• HIAS: Liza Lieberman,

liza.lieberman@hias.org• Interfaith Worker Justice: Michael

Livingston, mlivingston@iwj.org• Irish Apostolate USA: Geri Garvey,

administrator@usairish.org• Islamic Information Center: (currently no

contact available)• Jesuit Refugee Service/USA, Mary Small,

msmall@jesuit.org • Jewish Council for Public Affairs: Jill

Borak, jborak@thejcpa.org • Leadership Conference of Women

Religious: Ann Scholz, SSND

ascholz@lcwr.org• Lutheran Immigration and Refugee

Service: Brittney Nystrom, Bnystrom@lirs.org • Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns: Judy

Coode, jcoode@maryknoll.org • Mennonite Central Committee: Tammy

Alexander, TammyAlexander@mcc.org• Muslim Public Affairs Council: Hoda

Elshishtawy, hoda@mpac.org• Sisters of the Good Shepherd: Larry

Couch, lclobbyist@gsadvocacy.org• National Council of Churches: Russell

Meyer, rmeyer@floridachurches.org • National Council of Jewish Women:

Madeline Shepherd, madeline@ncjwdc.org

• NETWORK Lobby: Laura Peralta-Schulte

LPeralta@networklobby.org• Pax Christi: Anne-Louise Nadeau,

anadeau@paxchristiusa.org • PICO: Gordon Whitman,

gwhitman@piconetwork.org • Presbyterian Church, USA: Teresa

Waggener, Teresa.Waggener@pcusa.org • Sisters of Mercy of the Americas: Ryan

Murphy, rmurphy@sistersofmercy.org• Sojourners: Ivone Guillen, iguillen@sojo.net• 3P Human Security: Tom Brenneman,

cooperativebydesign@gmail.com • T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human

Rights, Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster

rkahntroster@truah.org • Union for Reform Judaism:

Jonathan Edelman jedelman@rac.org• Unitarian Universalist Association: Jen

Toth, JToth@uua.org• United Church of Christ: Rev. Mari

Castellanos, castellm@ucc.org• United Methodist Church: Bill Mefford,

bmefford@umc-gbcs.org• UNITED SIKHS: Anisha Singh,

anisha.singh@unitedsikhs.org• U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops:

Kevin Appleby, kappleby@usccb.org• U.S. Jesuit Conference, Shaina Aber,

saber@jesuit.org• World Relief: Jenny Hwang

jhwang@worldrelief.org