Posts by dnorth
World Relief Responds to Biden Administration’s Executive Order on Immigration Reform
January 20, 2021
CONTACT:
Lauren Carl
lauren.carl@pinkston.co
(703) 388-6734
BALTIMORE – Today, President Biden proposed an immigration bill that would provide an 8 year path to citizenship for millions in America without legal status, an expedited path to citizenship for Dreamers and others who have already been residing lawfully in the U.S. and proposes several other vital changes. The president also will sign a series of immigration-related executive orders. World Relief applauds the administration for following through on its promise to prioritize immigration reform, including an earned legalization process for the undocumented.
World Relief is encouraged by the broad thrust of Biden’s proposal. We urge the administration to address other urgent immigration priorities, including resetting the refugee resettlement ceiling, restoring the U.S. asylum process and restoring legal immigration processing, as quickly as possible.
“These day-one actions are worth celebrating, and we hope they will be a down payment on further necessary immigration and refugee policy changes. While we urge President Biden to do what he can administratively, ultimately Congress must cooperate on a bipartisan basis if we are to see the long overdue reforms needed to repair our broken immigration system,” says Scott Arbeiter, president of World Relief. “World Relief, along with our many partner churches and supporters, is eager to help garner bipartisan support in the coming months for a bill that would provide an earned legalization process for undocumented immigrants and meet other priorities.”
World Relief commends the Biden administration for advancing policies and legislations that will serve refugees and immigrants within and across our nation’s borders. While the president’s legislative proposal provides a positive starting point, it is ultimately up to Congress to forge bipartisan consensus to craft an immigration bill that will provide hope to millions of immigrants, ensure secure borders and facilitate lawful migration, which includes reuniting families and offering refuge to some of the world’s most vulnerable people who have fled persecution. We hope and pray that bipartisan unity will be forthcoming in Congress so that lasting and broad-reaching reform is possible.
“We firmly believe that America has a moral imperative to welcome refugees, asylum seekers and other immigrants once again into our nation,” says Tim Breene, CEO of World Relief. “Our hope is that Americans, regardless of political party, will set aside their differences and come together to rebuild an immigration process that will reflect the best of American values and the biblical values that guide many Americans.”
To learn more about World Relief, visit worldrelief.org.
To download a PDF version of this press release, click here.
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About World Relief
World Relief is a global Christian humanitarian organization that brings sustainable solutions to the world’s greatest problems – disasters, extreme poverty, violence, oppression, and mass displacement. For over 75 years, we’ve partnered with churches and community leaders in the U.S. and abroad to bring hope, healing and transformation to the most vulnerable.
Learn more at worldrelief.org.
How refugees could help the U.S. become unified again
By Jenn Foy, Vice President of U.S. Programs at World Relief
President-elect Joe Biden has stated his intention to raise the ceiling for refugee admissions to 125,000 for fiscal year 2021. Unifying around this goal, and welcoming those who have fled persecution and are desperate to find safety and freedom in America, could help the U.S. to again find unity.
An Open Letter
To the people we serve at World Relief,
We want to express our unwavering support to you and express our deep grief over the events of last week when a group of rioters attacked the U.S. Capitol. The scenes we all witnessed left us feeling sick and unsettled and were reflective of the divisions that the country is facing.
We acknowledge that many of you may be fearful as you witnessed violence, terrorism, anarchy and instability — all resembling the dynamics you left behind in your countries of origin, and which you never expected to face again in the United States. We also acknowledge that refugees and immigrants have often borne the brunt of a hostile political narrative that has discounted or diminished the validity of your story and experience and your tremendous contributions to our country.
We also recognize that at least some of the confirmed perpetrators of the attack espoused explicitly racist and white supremacist views. We grieve that the response from law enforcement to this attack stood in stark and unjust contrast to the violence with which largely peaceful Black Lives Matter demonstrations were met in the past year. We know that you may be seeing and experiencing historical events unfold that are often checkered with racism and bias against people of color. And the American church has been complicit in perpetuating untruths that do not affirm the image of God in every person.
We want to recognize that we as part of the church have often placed an allegiance to a distorted vision of our country over our commitment to God. But, the view of the people we saw at the Capitol building does not represent the view of all Americans. In fact, Christ calls us to be peacemakers and to love our neighbors as ourselves. We know pursuing peace is not a passive act but an active one that seeks the good of our neighbors and our communities.
We condemn in the strongest terms the riots last Wednesday and the scourge of conspiracy theories, anti-democratic misinformation and white supremacy that plague our nation. The continued assault on truth, decency and our basic democratic ideals is not just emanating from the far corners of our society but carried out from the highest levels of government.
We mourn the lives that were lost in the violence and grieve the ongoing trauma that refugees, immigrants and people of color, in particular, experience in this country. At the same time, we commit to continue our work in creating welcoming, just communities where you and your families can find safety and thrive.
We pray for peace, for reconciliation, and for justice and accountability for those who perpetrated the violence in our nation’s capitol last week. We pray for truth, decency and the rule of the law to prevail. We pray that there will be no further bloodshed and that a peaceful transition takes place. And beyond that, we pray that the seeds of division and discord begin to wither in the light of truth.
Most of all, we are praying for you. We are praying for your families to be safe during this time and for you to continue to find a welcoming and loving community that represents the best that this country has to offer.
We do not write today because we have answers to offer but, as an organization that has served over 400,000 people like you and whose staff is composed of many refugees and immigrants, we want to affirm our commitment to continue serving you as best as we can. To that end, please do not hesitate to reach out at any time to any of our staff if you are feeling overwhelmed and need someone to speak with. Please note our list of local offices on our website at www.worldrelief.org/us-locations.
We thank you for allowing us to journey with you and believe we can work together to contribute to the healing this land needs. We recognize you. We stand with you.
With respect and affection,
World Relief
A World of Hope for the Refugee
The Gospel Coalition
By Jenny Yang, Vice President of Advocacy and Policy
The warm and cozy feelings we often associate with the Christmas season belie the cold, harsh, and unwelcoming environment in which Jesus Christ was born.
The journey that Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus took is not altogether unfamiliar to the millions worldwide who are forcibly displaced from their homes every year––40 percent of them children. We do not hope in Christ abolishing all the conflict and injustice that force people to flee their homes, but in the knowledge that he came in the midst of suffering himself.
World Relief Responds to New DHS Memo Regarding DACA, Urges Congressional Action
***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***
July 29, 2020
CONTACT:
Lauren Carl
lauren.carl@pinkston.co
(703) 388-6734
BALTIMORE – Today, the Trump Administration issued a memo that, for the moment, allows recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) to continue to renew their DACA protections and work authorization, while reducing the validity of each renewal to one year (from two) and restricting new DACA applications. Last month, while World Relief celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision halting the administration’s previous attempt to terminate DACA, it underscored the need for permanent congressional action. Now, given the administration’s actions today, the urgency of congressional action is all the greater.
“While we’re grateful that the administration has not, at this point, again sought to terminate DACA, today’s actions present new hardships for Dreamers, requiring a renewal application and accompanying fee on a more regular basis and seeking to prevent new applicants,” commented World Relief President Scott Arbeiter. “Furthermore, the memo makes clear that rescission is still ultimately quite possible, which means that hundreds of thousands of young people will continue to live with the fear that the government may ultimately mandate the loss of their jobs or even deport them to countries that they cannot even remember. The harm would extend further to these young people’s families, including hundreds of thousands of young children of DACA recipient parents, and to their employers and churches.”
“Today’s announcement underscores the need for Congress to act in such a way that would please the vast majority of Americans – including more than three out of four white evangelical Christians – who want Dreamers to be able to continue to stay and work lawfully in the U.S.,” Arbeiter noted, citing a June 2 CBS News poll.
As it has done for many years – but with new urgency – World Relief calls upon Congress to pass a legislative solution for DACA recipients and other Dreamers, allowing those who meet appropriate qualifications to apply for permanent residency and eventual citizenship.
“We’re thankful that the House of Representatives has already taken action, passing the American Dream and Promise Act, on a bipartisan basis last year. We urge the U.S. Senate to take up the bill, or similar legislation, as quickly as possible,” urged Tim Breene, World Relief CEO. “Now is not the time for political maneuvering, but for coming together on a bipartisan basis to enact the will of the vast majority of the American people.”
World Relief’s network of immigration legal services programs stands ready to assist as many individuals as we can to determine what today’s announcement will mean for them and to assist those who qualify with applications. World Relief invites local churches and individuals to stand with DACA by providing financial support to subsidize the cost of these legal services, to ensure that as many individuals as possible can access authorized, competent, affordable legal counsel.
To learn more about DACA, visit World Relief’s website: https://worldrelief.org/daca-and-dream-act-101/, and for giving opportunities, visit: https://worldrelief.org/dreamers/.
About World Relief
World Relief is a global Christian humanitarian organization that brings sustainable solutions to the world’s greatest problems – disasters, extreme poverty, violence, oppression, and mass displacement. For over 75 years, we’ve partnered with churches and community leaders in the U.S. and abroad to bring hope, healing and transformation to the most vulnerable. In the U.S., World Relief provides authorized, affordable immigration legal services through a network of local offices and by providing technical support to scores of church-based legal clinics.
Learn more at worldrelief.org.
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