Jan. 13, 2025
With less than one week until the start of a new Trump presidency on Jan. 20, we are preparing to respond to major changes in policies that are expected to harm immigrants and refugees in the United States.
The new session of Congress began on Jan. 3.
Let your members of Congress know that you support the six Catholic Elements of Immigration Reform that protect and promote the human dignity of all and the common good; and that we need Congress to pass long-overdue legislation to build a just and humane immigration system.
On Day One of his new administration, President-elect Trump has said he plans to enact more than 100 executive orders, including:
- Halt all refugee admissions on the first day he returns to office.
- Reinstate the “Muslim ban” which would prohibit travel to the United States for people from certain predominantly Muslim countries. He has vowed to extend this ban to refugees from Gaza.
- End humanitarian parole for immigrants already in the United States from countries currently deemed not safe for return, such as Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.
- End of the use of the CBP One mobile app for asylum seekers to make appointments at ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border.
- Launch the “largest mass deportation program in history” within the United States.
- End birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to two noncitizen parents.
Beyond these actions, the President-elect’s campaign website states about a dozen more actions, including ending DACA, the program that protects from deportation undocumented children known as Dreamers, and requiring local police cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. Read more post-election FAQs by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Use the form below to let Congress know that you support humane immigration reform. Together we must stand in solidarity with our immigrant brothers and sisters and speak out to protect the inherent dignity of each person as a child of God.
Photo of U.S. Border Patrol processing center in McAllen, Texas, Sunday, June 17, 2018.