Thursday, February 8, 2024
Dear NM CAFe clergy, leaders, partners, and friends,
Yesterday, the Lankford/Sinema/Murphy bill (Senate Bipartisan Border Bill) failed to advance in the Senate after losing procedural votes. Following this, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was involved in tense negotiations to see how the Senate could advance a stand-alone foreign military aid package.
As of this morning, we have learned that Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was negotiating votes on at least three immigration amendments to the stand-alone foreign aid bill, “The National Security Act, 2024” –
1) Murphy-lankford-Sinema (The Lankford/Sinema/Murphy bill is the Senate supplemental that included foreign military funding and harmful anti-immigrant, anti-asylum and border militarization policies and funding. This bill guts asylum and expands detention and deportations and funds the border wall.)
2) HR2 (HR2 ends asylum, ends parole, deports unaccompanied children, restarts family detention among other extreme and dangerous immigrant provisions. Here is our coalition partner, the Southern Border Community Coalition’s earlier statement urging Congress to reject HR2 when it was under consideration by the House).
3) A republican hybrid of HR2 and Murphy-Lankford-Sinema bill. Details of this amendment are unknown, but it will likely strip protections for unaccompanied children, limit parole, end asylum, and increase mass deportation.
Senators should vote NO on all three! We do not expect any of these amendments to get votes. However, it will set a horrible precedent for any of these to get significant Democratic support as it would set a new (worse) floor for future negotiations on immigration, asylum and border policies.
We are currently reaching out to Senators, specifically Senator Ben Ray Luján and Senator Martin Heinrich, to urge them to weigh in ASAP with Leader Chuck Schumer to urge to say, if amendments go to votes:
- a) Sen. Schumer must draw a red line on vote thresholds for any and all harmful border/immigration amendments – 60 vote threshold only;
- b) Sen. Schumer must be really clear with the Democratic caucus that they need to vote NO across the board on these (and other harmful immigration amendments).
Senator Martin Heinrich’s Staffer Contact Information:
Oliver Riquelme
oliver_riquelme@heinrich.senate.gov
Dominic Saavedra – Legislative Director
dominic_saavedra@heinrich.senate.gov
Senator Ben Ray Lujan’s Staffer Contact Information:
Brooke Stuedell
brooke_stuedell@lujan.senate.gov
Graham Mason – Legislative Director
graham_mason@lujan.senate.gov
PLEASE SEND THIS SAMPLE EMAIL TO YOUR SENATORS:
Subject: Vote NO on Anti-Asylum Amendments in the National Security Act, 2024
Dear [[insert name of staffer]],
NM Comunidades en Acción y de Fe (CAFE) strongly urges our Senator to VOTE NO on any anti-asylum immigration amendments in the H.R. 815 – the National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024, but to support Klobuchar’s Afghan allies amendment.
The following amendments to the National Security Act, 2024 would force vulnerable refugees to pay the price for foreign aid. Voting in support of these amendments undermines the United States’ longstanding commitment to protecting refugees, would endanger vulnerable migrants in need of protection, and will set a dangerous precedent that Democrats are publicly supporting playing politics with the lives of migrants.
We urge you to VOTE NO on:
Vote NO on the Murphy-Lankford-Sinema Agreement
This amendment forces vulnerable refugees to pay the price for foreign aid by gutting asylum and violating the Refugee Convention, prevents people seeking refuge from making asylum claims by creating a Title 42-like expulsion authority, denies asylum seekers due process rights by stripping judicial review, expands detention and deportations, exacerbates the humanitarian and operational challenges at the border, and funds the ineffective border wall agenda.
Human Rights First (HRF), National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), American Immigration Council (AIC), and others have published analysis documents on the “Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024”.
Vote NO on H.R.2 – Secure the Border Act of 2023
This amendment would advance an extreme anti-immigrant agenda by eviscerating asylum, revive the harmful Remain in Mexico policy, restart detention, barring DHS funding for NGOs that provide crucial humanitarian services such as shelter, food, and clothing to asylum seekers and other vulnerable populations, strip funding for alternatives to immigration such as the Case Management Pilot Program (CMPP) and the Shelter and Services Program (SSP), restart the construction of the border wall, and increase the hiring of Border Patrol agents.
Women’s Refugee Commission (WRC), National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), and Human Rights First (HRF)’s joint analysis of H.R.2 provides a comprehensive overview of the bill and its extremely harmful policy provisions. UnidosUS’s blog outlines how H.R.2 will turn the immigration system into a punitive anti-immigrant tool.
Vote NO on a Hybrid of H.R.2 and Murphy-Lankford-Sinema Agreement
This amendment adopts a Murphy-Lankford-Sinema agreement framework and includes ending Flores, removing protections for unaccompanied children, and a hard cap on parole. This hybrid anti-immigrant amendment will harm children and not solve the challenges we face at the border.
Human Rights First factsheet on the Flores settlement provides recommendations for upholding the rights of children and their parents. The Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights’ report outlines a framework to welcome children at the border and reimagine the immigration system for children. The American Immigration Council’s two-pager provides an overview on the importance of humanitarian parole in the U.S. immigration system.
We urge you to VOTE YES on:
Vote YES on Klobuchar’s Afghan Allies Amendment
Vote YES on Klobuchar’s amendment to provide lasting protection to Afghan allies and those left behind who are at-risk. This bipartisan effort is not only fair and fulfills a long-held promise to allies, but also has widespread and overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress and among the American people.
NM Comunidades en Acción y de Fe (CAFE) strongly urges our Senator VOTE NO on any anti-immigrant amendments to the National Security Act, 2024 and VOTE YES on Klobuchar’s Afghan Allies amendment to reaffirm our commitment and protection to our Afghan allies.
With all our thanks,
NM Comunidades en Acción y de Fe (CAFE)