Day of Action for Central
American Refugees & Migrants, September 13, 2016
Today, community, faith, and migrant rights
advocates are gathering at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation in
Washington, DC to ask President Obama to protect children and families from
Central America.
This event takes place in response to President
Obama’s planned convening of world leaders for a summit on refugees in New York
City, following the related UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants. In this private
meeting, the administration will aim to position the United States as leading
by example in boosting commitments for refugees globally. We commend the
president for wanting to take leadership, but he needs to know that bold leadership must begin at home.
We are calling on the U.S. government to lead by
example by changing its response to the humanitarian crisis in our own
backyard. Join us as we
tell President Obama to take action for Central American migrants and refugees.
Thousands of children, women, and men are being
forced to flee their homes due to horrific levels of violence, corruption,
impunity, and poverty in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Yet in their
search for protection in their own country, in the region, or the United
States, they are often met with detention, little access to asylum, and
deportation back to dangerous situations. While the U.S. government has taken
important steps forward in announcing the expansion of refugee resettlement
efforts for Central Americans in the region, these will be meaningless if it
continues to prioritize strategies of detention, deportation, and deterrence
over protection.
The ELCA supports ministries that protect
vulnerable people because we are called to walk together with our brothers and
sisters experiencing hunger, poverty, and violence. Today, we urge the U.S.
government to show the same commitment by properly protecting Central American
children and families.
Help us
spread the word! Join the Day of Action for Central American Refugees and
Migrants. Here is what you can do:
Email President
Obama now!
Share on
Twitter and Facebook:
Suggested Tweets:
- I stand w/ children & families fleeing Central America
violence & corruption #ProtectDontDeport #US4RefugeesMigrants
- @POTUS lead by example-Protect Central Americans fleeing
violence&corruption #ProtectDontDeport #US4RefugeesMigrants
Share the
Day of Action for Central American Refugees and Migrants with your friends,
families, and colleagues.
Let’s stand together for protection for our
neighbors and for those in our communities. We thank our cosponsors of today’s event: Alianza Americas, Latin American Working Group, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, American Friends Service Committee, CARECEN, and the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.
(To view this email in your web browser, click here).
