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CALL CONGRESS AND SUPPORT COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM
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And don't just call - drop in and visit your Representative's local office!
The Senate recently passed immigration reform with a robustly bipartisan 68-32 vote, and now the big question is what the House will do. So far, House Committees have approved five bills, none of which create a path to citizenship, and all of which contain provisions that would negatively impact our community members.
All Representatives need to hear from people IN THEIR DISTRICTS. Raise your voices and tell your Representative to focus on legislation that creates a pathway to citizenship and reunites families. Make your call, and ask your family, friends, neighbors, etc. to join you in calling and visiting your Representative's local office, which should be close to where you live. Find your Representative's local office at www.house.gov.
Call 1-866-940-2439 to be connected with a key Representative near you. You can also call the Capitol Switchboard (202) 224-3121 or find your Representative's direct line at www.house.gov.
Feel free to use this sample script:
"I am from [City, State], and I urge the Representative to support immigration reform that creates a path to citizenship and reunites families. I urge the Representative to OPPOSE bills like the SAFE Act, Border Security Results Act, Agricultural Guestworker Act, and SKILLS Visas Act. These are not real reforms to our immigration system. We need immigration reform that creates a path to citizenship and reunites separated families."
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Upcoming Events from the JFI Campaign
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 The Justice for Immigrantscampaign of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is in the process of encouraging dioceses around the country to lift up immigrants and the need for IMMIGRATION REFORM by holding pilgrimages during the period of August 15 - October 15, 2013.
Each diocese will determine the date, route, type of pilgrimage/procession to coordinate. The first pilgrimage has already begun in California. Some of the pilgrims will be travelling for 21 days, over 285 miles. (Read more about their commitment and hopes here.)
The JFI office will be developing a page on their website where people can go to see the details of these diocesan pilgrimages. This information will be shared AS SOON AS IT BECOME AVAILABLE.
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COMMENTARY: Immigrants Are Us
By Kevin Appleby,
Director of Policy, MRS/USCCB
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WASHINGTON - More than any other organized religion in the United States, the Catholic Church is an immigrant church that has grown with the nation, welcoming successive generations of immigrants who have helped build our country.
To borrow a phrase from a toy store, immigrants are us.
More recently, some have questioned the bishops' involvement in the national debate over immigration, perhaps wanting the church to stay neutral. But if they did so, they'd be untrue to their roots.
The church and her institutions have welcomed and helped integrate into American life Irish and Italian immigrants who arrived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; Central and Eastern Europeans who fled Europe after the Second World War; and Latin American and Asian populations more recently.
Read the entire article here.
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New Publication on Church's Teaching on Migration
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 Are you interested in learning more about the Catholic Church's teaching on migration?
In honor of the 10th anniversary of the joint Mexican/US pastoral letter Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope, the Department of Migration and Refugee Services/United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has released a new book that includes essays on major themes addressed in the pastoral letter.
This book provides insights into the historical, pastoral, and theological foundations for the Church's teaching in this area and includes essays written by theologians, legal scholars, and policy experts in the field of migration.
Order your copy today at Amazon.com.
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Pray, Fast and Action for Immigration Reform
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40 Days of Prayer, Fasting, and Advocacy
sponsored by the Faith Organizations belonging to the Interfaith Immigration Coalition
Join with people of faith from across the country in this 40 day commitment from September 9 to October 18!
Demonstrate your solidarity with immigrant communities by fasting for just one meal, a day, or every week. Fasting can be a profoundly transformative action for those engaged in the fast and for the larger community. Fasting, when coupled with prayer, turns our attention away from our own needs and toward God as it calls us into deeper solidarity with our suffering brothers and sisters. By taking on their suffering we help to expose injustice and communicate to the heart of our communities the urgent need for profound conversion and systemic change.
We encourage you to take action at the local and national level during these 40 days. Find ways to engage with your community, your representatives in Congress, and the media to demonstrate our commitment to achieving transformation of our broken immigration system.
Go to the website above to see how you can take part in this nation-wide effort!.
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The Coalition of Irish Immigration Centers (CIIC) is a national umbrella group for all of the Irish Immigration Centers in the US, established in 1996 to promote the welfare of Irish immigrants in the US at a national level.
CIIC is seeking a Coordinator to administer the daily operations of the Coalition consistent with its mission and values.
The Coordinator's primary responsibilities are to act as the main contact for the Coalition, promote the sharing of information and best practices among member centers, advance community outreach, coordinate annual and member meetings, and assist with strategic planning and fundraising as directed by the regionally diverse Board of Directors.
This administrative position is considered part-time at 20 hours per week with some flexibility required based on work volume and coordination of events, board meetings and trainings. Position location flexible within the US. Some travel within the US may be required.
Remuneration will be competitive relevant to the successful candidate's experience and in keeping with current non-profit standards. A full job description can be obtained by clicking here or emailing info@ciic-usa.org
Interested applicants are invited to submit a cover letter and resume to info@ciic-usa.org by close of business on Friday, August 23, 2013.
Due to the anticipated high volume of applicants only qualified candidates will be contacted for interview.
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Guide to Understanding What is in Senate 744 Bill on CIR
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What is the purpose of this guide?
The Immigration Policy Center has written this guide to provide policymakers, the media, and the public with an easy-to-understand guide to the main components of S. 744 and the purpose behind them.
The guide follows the structure of the bill, with a separate section addressing the cost-benefit analysis of S. 744, a resources page, and a glossary.
The guide can be found here.
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A Way Forward on Immigration?
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The Senate's bipartisan passage in June of sweeping immigration reform legislation was an encouraging breakthrough in what is always a polarizing policy and political issue. However, the new day was short-lived, as House leaders quickly declared they would not take up the Senate bill.
Instead of an omnibus bill that attempts to fix the entire immigration system, House leaders favor a piecemeal approach - a series of discrete bills that tackle specific problems in immigration law and policy. Is this a graveyard for immigration reform, as many observers have pronounced? Not necessarily.
Although bulky and detailed (at more than 1,000 pages), the Senate bill has six core elements: strengthened border security; mandatory employment verification; sizable new visa programs for both temporary and permanent labor-market immigration across the skills spectrum; additional interior enforcement; immigrant integration provisions; and legalization with a path to citizenship for the majority of the unauthorized population.
Doris Meissner is a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute and former Commissioner of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (1993-2000). MPI is an independent, nonpartisan think tank in Washington, D.C., dedicated to the analysis of international migration.
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Crosscare - Migrant Project
The Habitual Residence Condition
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The Habitual Residence Condition is a condition that you must satisfy to be eligible for certain social welfare payments in Ireland. It came into effect from May 1st 2004 following the enlargement of the European Union and applies to all applicants, including Irish citizens.
For detailed information, go to
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Gallup Poll Shows More Americans are Supportive of Immigration
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Americans are more supportive of immigration than ever, according to a new poll, with a record-low number of people wanting to decrease the flow of immigration.
Of those surveyed, 40 percent wanted to keep immigration steady, 35 percent wanted the flow decreased and 23 percent wanted to see an increase.
Since Gallup began recording feelings on immigration in 1999, the trend has shown more people wanting to increase or keep steady the number of immigrants coming to the country, with the share of people seeking to decrease it bottoming out at 35 percent in 2012 and this poll.
A record-high number of people also believe immigration is a good thing for the country since Gallup began tracking it in 2001. Seventy-two percent of those surveyed said it's a good thing. The share of people saying it's a bad thing similarly set a record low, with 25 percent.
The phone poll of 4,373 adults was conducted from June 13 to July 5 and has an error margin of plus-minus 2 percentage points.
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Join the Justice for Immigrants Campaign | | The Justice for Immigrants Campaign continues to build its grassroots support for comprehensive immigration reform.
If you want to be notified of immigration legislation updates , NOW is the time to join the JFI Action Alert list. Sign up at: www.justiceforimmigrants.org |
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The Irish Apostolate USA is the umbrella organization for the Irish Immigration Pastoral and Outreach Centers in the United States, under the direction of the Irish Episcopal Council for Emigrants.
Please visit our website for more information: Geri Garvey, Administrator
Irish Apostolate USA
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