Stop the anti-immigrant "SAVE Act"

Action Alert from Church World Service

Proponents of the Secure America through Verification and Enforcement (SAVE) Act, immigration legislation that CWS opposes as inhumane and ineffective, are trying to force the House of Representatives to rush the bill to the floor for immediate action. They are doing so by circulating a "discharge petition," which, if it gets enough signatures, will circumvent the important process of vetting that takes place in committee. Normally the committee process helps improve proposed legislation, but supporters of The SAVE Act are trying to force it to be voted on in its very flawed form.

Action Needed: Contact your Representative IMMEDIATELY to ask him/her to OPPOSE The SAVE Act (H.R. 4088). Enter your zip code and click "Go" below to send an e-mail. To phone or fax, you can look up contact info here. Finally, please phone House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (202-225-4965) or fax her at 202-225-8259 to inform her that you've just contacted your Representative to express your opposition to The SAVE Act.

The SAVE ACT (H.R. 4088) would:

• Broaden the definition of "alien smuggler" to include anyone who provides assistance to an undocumented immigrant. This would impact churches, humanitarian groups, bus drivers, and others who are in no way "smugglers" but simply do not examine immigration status prior to helping people in need.
• Force employers to rely on an inaccurate verification system for all employees, without any safeguards against racial profiling, misuse, privacy, or error.
• Cost taxpayers billions of dollars to build fences and militarize our borders, which has proven ineffective and will do nothing to fix our broken immigration system.
• Increase imprisonment of asylum seekers and other immigrants, including children, while ignoring the lack of humanitarian standards in detention centers.
• Divert local police resources from community safety and force them to act as immigration officers, which will result in racial profiling and unreported crime.

Faith reflection:
In Luke 4:18, Jesus proclaims liberty to those imprisoned and oppressed by unfair systems. He also instructs us to welcome the stranger - not mistreat them. As Christians, our actions should reflect these teachings, and as a nation of immigrants, our laws should reflect them as well.

Talking points -- Phone your Representative and:

• Ask him/her not to sign the discharge petition and to vote against The SAVE Act.
• Ask him/her to encourage others to oppose bringing the bill to the floor.
• Even if he/she supports the bill, he/she should oppose the discharge petition because these issues need to be debated in committee to improve the bill.