Advocate – WorldRelief

Whatever the changes to policy, our call and our commitment to putting love in action remain the same. We will still stand.

Will you stand with us?

One crucial way to stand with us today is by speaking up to your elected officials.

Congress has the power to act and often make key decisions that affect vulnerable people around the world and in the United States. When you speak up and contact your elected officials, they are more likely to understand and support positions that would help people we care about.

Take Action Today

Respond to the Border Crisis

2 million people attempted to cross the U.S. border between ports of entry.

Many of those individuals and families were driven from their homes as a result of conflicts, crises and climate disasters. At World Relief, we believe it’s possible to have secure and just borders while extending compassion to those who are in need.

Learn how you can support World Relief's work at the border and in advocacy.

Equip Communities to Welcome Afghans

URGENT ACTION: Tell Congress to Equip Our Communities to Welcome Afghans Seeking Safety and Protection

Background: Communities ready to welcome refugees and help them integrate and thrive are preparing to assist 75,000 vulnerable Afghans who have been evacuated from Afghanistan. From August 17 until September 1, approximately 48,000 Afghan evacuees who were in imminent danger arrived in the United States, and we expect tens of thousands more arrivals in the coming weeks. Most of our new Afghan neighbors are entering the United States with “humanitarian parole,” which is temporary immigration relief and does not make them automatically eligible for refugee resettlement services. We need Congress to take action this month to ensure Afghan evacuees receive resettlement and integration services and have the chance to apply for legal permanent residence -- and to ensure that our communities have the resources they need to provide these services. Join us today to ensure that Afghan arrivals can rebuild their lives in safety.

Tell Congress to Enable Our Afghan Allies and Friends to Rebuild Their Lives in Safety

Contact your 2 Senators and 1 Representative.

Make sure to personalize in text brackets.

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Restore Refugee Resettlement

Urge President Biden to Restore the Refugee Resettlement Program

Members of Congress have oversight over what happens with the proposal of the refugee program after it is submitted from the State department and they are responsible for appropriating funding. Their job is to represent the views of their constituents. Let your Representative and Senators know that you support raising the refugee ceiling set by the Presidential Determination to 125,000 and to strengthen the U.S.'s role in aiding vulnerable people fleeing violence and persecution.

Make sure to personalize in text brackets.

Your browser does not support iframes. Please visit <a href="https://worldrelief.good.do/biden-restore-refugee-resettlement/email-congress/">https://worldrelief.good.do/biden-restore-refugee-resettlement/email-congress/</a>

End Gender-Based Violence

Urge Congress to support the Safe from the Start Act and End Gender-Based Violence

In humanitarian emergencies, conflict settings, and natural disasters, women and girls are at the highest risk for violence. One in five refugee or displaced women experiences sexual violence, and living in a conflict-affected area increases the risk of intimate partner violence by 50%.
These numbers display the known presence of violence against women and girls. However, crisis response does not effectively work to prevent gender-based violence, support those who have been affected, or empower women to be a part of the solution. If we seek to protect the most vulnerable, that means we must end gender-based violence in every form, including in humanitarian crises and conflict.

The Safe from the Start Act put forward in the House takes measures to ensure that humanitarian actors have the tools necessary to effectively combat gender-based violence. The Act prioritizes the safety of women and girls from the start by improving the preparedness of organizations involved in aid and providing access to life-saving, wholistic assistance that addresses the physical, psychological, and social consequences of gender-based violence.

Your browser does not support iframes. Please visit <a href="https://worldrelief.good.do/safe-from-start/email-congress/">https://worldrelief.good.do/safe-from-start/email-congress/</a>

Asylum Seekers and Separated Families

Advocate for Asylum-Seekers and Families At the Border

Many families from Central America and other parts of the world are attempting to cross the U.S. border to seek asylum. However due to the COVID19 pandemic, the border has been effectively closed, shutting off the opportunity for many individuals, including unaccompanied children fleeing persecution, to find protection in the United States. Several recent policies have meant that parents are often forced to make unnecessary, harmful decisions to keep their families detained indefinitely or face separation from their children and many individuals who could qualify for asylum are being returned to dangerous situations.

Your browser does not support iframes. Please visit <a href="https://worldrelief.good.do/border/email-congress/">https://worldrelief.good.do/border/email-congress/</a>

Immigration Thought Leaders

Convening a Christian conscience on behalf of those in vulnerable situations is a core call of World Relief and an integral way that we empower local churches to serve and engage. We consider it an essential task to engage the American church and remind leaders and congregations alike that our Christian faith should compel us to seek justice and mercy for those who experience vulnerability and suffering. In increasingly divisive times, we are proud of our leading role as a thoughtful pro-immigrant voice in the U.S. evangelical community.

Our commitment to advocate on behalf of and alongside the oppressed is based on the example of Jesus. We believe that such advocacy is an key part of service and faith-in-action.

To that end, the World Relief Advocacy Team seeks to:

Address structural inequality & violence
Increase awareness
Build a movement for justice
Deepen empathy and understanding
Catalyze engagement

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute."

— Proverbs 31:8

Our Team

Matthew Soerens

VP of Policy and Advocacy for World Relief

Matthew Soerens is the US Director of Church Mobilization for World Relief, where he helps evangelical churches to understand the realities of refugees and immigration and to respond in ways guided by biblical values. He also serves as the National Coordinator for the Evangelical Immigration Table, a coalition that advocates for immigration reforms consistent with biblical values.

Matthew previously served as a Department of Justice-accredited legal counselor at World Relief’s local office in Wheaton, Illinois and, before that, with World Relief’s partner organization in Managua, Nicaragua. He’s also the co-author of Seeking Refuge: On the Shores of the Global Refugee Crisis (Moody Publishers, 2016).