Immigration
Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice (UUSJ) has advocated for immigration and refugee justice for nearly a decade. The UUSJ Immigration Action Team (IAT) develops a list of priority issues every two years as each new Congress begins its work. The IAT then meets regularly to assess national developments, track the positions of partner organizations, especially those led by immigrants, and develop detailed plans for education, engagement, and advocacy actions.
Immigration Priorities 2023
The Immigration Action Team’s planning and actions are informed by the positions of our partner organizations and the principles of the Unitarian Universalist Association, especially the first, second, sixth eighth principles, which are:
- The inherent worth and dignity of every person.
- Justice, equity, and compassion in human relations.
- The goal of a world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all.
- Journeying toward spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse, multicultural Beloved Community
The IAT’s past activities have focused on engagement with Congress to promote both long-term goals like comprehensive reform of our nation’s immigration laws, policies, and procedures, and near-term goals such as:
- Pathways to permanent residency for specific groups of undocumented immigrants such as recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), recipients of Temporary Protected Status (TPS), farm workers, and workers who are considered essential.
- A pathway to permanent status for Afghan refugees who had supported the U.S. mission in Afghanistan.
- Just and humane treatment for immigrants at the border, including restoring access to asylum and ending detention for immigrants who pose no threat to public safety or national security while they wait for their cases to be processed.
- Reform of the immigration courts to make them independent and increased funding for them to provide the staffing needed to handle immigration cases in a timely manner.
The IAT carries out its work by monitoring current immigration policies and actions, publishing Action Alerts to inform UUs about critical issues and assist them in sending timely emails to members of Congress, facilitating letter-writing campaigns to members of Congress, and organizing meetings with the staff of key Senators and Representatives. The IAT also sends letters to the Administration to support or oppose specific policies and rules and signs on to letters to the Administration or Congressional leaders prepared by other organizations.
UUSJ’s Immigration Action Team regularly monitors the positions and actions of approximately 40 immigrant/refugee advocacy organizations, including those led by immigrants, faith-based groups, and research/service organizations. As our resources permit, we actively partner with some of them on petitions, letter-writing campaigns, and phone banks. We aim to center and support the voices of those most impacted while applying UU values and our individual experience in the legal, federal agency, and non-profit advocacy to advance toward the urgent goal of comprehensive immigration reform.