From UU FaithAction NJ:
It has been a busy week on the US border and in the halls of power–and very little of it was good. Many of us are horrified at the latest round of inhumane and unjust treatment of immigrants, including the highly publicized removal of children from their parents.
Two things you can do this week to stand up to the ICE deportation machine and stand with immigrants and their families:
1) Contact your US representative. Email them using this convenient email letter–one you can edit to create your own personalized response. (Click link.)
You can also call. Phone calls are logged and they matter. It will probably be most effective to call your Congressional representative. And with thanks to the Beacon UU social justice team, I pass along the following info. too:
The White House Comment Line: 202-456-1111
The Department of Homeland Security Comment Line: 202-282-8495
The Department of Justice Comment Line: 202-353-1555
Thank our senators. They are cosponsors of Senator Barbara Feinstein’s bill “Keep Families Together.”
Senator Cory Booker: 202-224-3224 and Senator Robert Menendez: 202-224-4744
Write a letter to the editor. Letters in local, state, and national papers influence readers. Find guidelines for submission in the newspaper itself or on the webpage for the paper. Include the name of your congressional representative in your letter. All publications of their name come to the attention of their staff.
Use your social media connections. Many people are very distressed by this situation. By recommending constructive action, you help to empower your friends and bring us all closer to the moment when this cruel practice STOPS!
2) Sign this petition!
https://www.change. org/p/kristen-peck-keep-the- chajon-family-together? recruiter=883811126&utm_ source=share_petition&utm_ medium=facebook_link&utm_ campaign=share_for_starters_ page
The petition, created by NJ Unitarian Universalist Dr. Kristen Peck, member of the UU FaithAction NJ Immigration Justice Task Force and Beacon UU congregation, is to help raise a ruckus in support of Jorge Chajon and his family here in New Jersey. Dr. Peck is actively involved in visiting and supporting detainee Jorge during his detention (since Aug. 2017) in both the Elizabeth Federal Detention Ctr., and most recently the Essex County Jail. Jorge is a DACA recipient who first came to the US when he was 13 years old! Please keep Jorge and his family in your thoughts and prayers as he awaits what may be a final trial this coming Tues. June 26. With thanks to Dr. Peck and to UU FaithAction member, Gary Nissenbaum, who has provided pro bono legal services.
We will be sending out another email with two additional ways to rally in support of our fellow New Jerseyans and for the inherent worth, dignity and rights of all people everywhere.
In faith, with love, for justice, from UUA General Assembly in Kansas City,
Rev. Rob Gregson