As you may know, the U.S. bishops have for many years called for deep respect for immigrants and refugees and for our immigration system to be repaired. They have laid out five principles that guide their migration work. In addition, the USCCB Justice for Immigrants (JFI) program has a great collection of resources, especially as it relates to the U.S. Catholic Church's advocacy positions.

This summer, our partner, the Intercommunity Justice & Peace Center (IJPC) has organized a summer of advocacy around achieving citizenship for all people - Summer of Citizenship for All. Each week a different group (e.g. essential workers, people in health care, Latin@s, youth, etc.) is reaching out to elected officials to let them know from their unique perspective why it’s so important to establish paths for citizenship.

This particular week (6/28 to 7/4) is Faith Leaders Week, and we're writing today to encourage you to join this effort. You can learn more about this initiative here and then reach out to our elected officials - especially our senators - to encourage them to support legislation that moves towards fixing out broken immigration system, including creating paths to citizenship for so many of our sisters and brothers here in the U.S. who are working hard to strengthen our communities and build a better life for themselves and their families.

On this link, you can find the contact information for your elected leaders. We encourage you to take a few moments to contact them, especially about the pieces of legislation mentioned here, including the Farmworkers Modernization Act (HB 1603), the Dream Act (SB 264), and the U.S. Citizenship Act.

Thank you in advance for stepping up and standing in solidarity with our immigrant sisters and brothers.