TO DO: Immigration/Family Unity
Source: Women's Refugee Commission

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1VWxBE68c2p0UgpysG3mWzgM2TLduIFIShg7hyW0lvEU/viewform

Representative Roybal-Allard is considering introducing the Protect Family Values at the Border Act to enhance humanitarian protections along the border.  It creates protections for U.S. citizens and others held in U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody and ensures families are not needlessly separated and placed at increased risk of harm. Attached is DRAFT language.

Please consider signing this letter (see below) asking our Representatives to support the Protect Family Values at the Border Act to ensure increased border enforcement does not come at the expense of human rights and human dignity. 

Deadline is September 6th COB.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1VWxBE68c2p0UgpysG3mWzgM2TLduIFIShg7hyW0lvEU/viewform

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Never submit passwords through Google Forms Petition: Support Protect Family Values at the Border Act We, the undersigned faith based, civil rights and human rights organizations, strongly urge you to support the Protect Family Values at the Border Act, which creates protections for U.S. citizens and others held in U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody and ensures families are not needlessly separated and placed at increased risk of harm. This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to promulgate regulations establishing standards for CBP custody. These regulations would cover basic humane treatment such as the provision of food, emergency medical care, translated legal documents, timely transfers and access to facilities by non-governmental organizations. The bill also ensures that the United States’ commitment to family unity and family values is reflected in policies and procedures used by CBP. The Protect Family Values at the Border Act gives DHS flexibility when considering migration deterrence programs to prevent practices that separate families and threaten the safety of women and children. Specifically, the Act ensures that women and children are not repatriated in an unsafe manner or needlessly separated from family members with whom they are traveling. Currently, DHS uses several so-called “migration deterrence programs” that refer migrants for specialized removal, repatriation and/or criminal prosecution. Contrary to DHS policy to “preserve the unity of families…during repatriation,” these programs regularly put women and children at risk by separating families.Too often, migrants are separated from traveling companions, including family members, and deported to unfamiliar border towns with high rates of violence and organized crime at night after most shelters have closed, forcing them to spend the night without shelter or protection. A particular concern is that an evolving and worsening security situation in some regions of northern Mexico is not being sufficiently taken into account by DHS. These practices needlessly endanger recently deported migrants.This bill ensures DHS carries out smart enforcement actions that keep family values in mind and avoid placing women and children and other vulnerable migrants in unwarranted danger and into the hands of traffickers and other criminal organizations. In recent years, CBP has failed to meet adequate standards of care for both migrants and U.S. citizens held in CBP facilities. Persons held in CBP custody have regularly reported substandard conditions and concerning treatment in these facilities. Moreover, lack of access to CBP facilities for NGOs, faith-based organizations, and attorneys has meant that there is no oversight of the conditions or conduct and migrants held in these centers are unaware of their rights to seek legal relief or to report human rights violations. Detainees are often encouraged to sign documents written only in English that are neither translated nor explained to them. In many cases, these orders for expedited removal lead to immediate deportation without a chance to apply for asylum or other means of staying in the country. In fact, many legitimate asylum seekers, who have already endured violence and trauma and come to the United States to seek safety, have unknowingly signed these orders. We are a diverse group of faith-based, civil rights and human rights organizations who believe the treatment of individuals apprehended along our borders is a human rights issue that must be addressed to protect U.S. citizens and border residents, as well as migrants, and to bring practices into alignment with existing policies. We strongly urge you to support the Protect Family Values at the Border Act to ensure increased border enforcement does not come at the expense of human rights and human dignity. Sincerely, * Required Name of Organization * (Only taking organizational sign-ons) This is a required question Your email address * (for contact purposes only) Never submit passwords through Google Forms.