Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Call Congress to Support Immigrant Detention Reform!

This week, activists across the United States are meeting with their local congressional offices to support HR 1215, the Immigration Oversight and Fairness Act. Even if you aren’t taking part in a meeting, you can still help out by calling your Congressman’s Washington, DC office and urging him to support this important legislation to:

1. Imprison accused illegal aliens only when he or she is shown to be a flight risk or a danger to the community. By relying on effective alternative procedures, we can humanely assure that the accused show up for their hearings while reducing costs and strain on the overburdened prison system.
2. Ensure that each and every person who is detained has the opportunity to challenge the grounds of his or her detention. This is necessary because legal residents and even U.S. citizens have had to spend months in prison while waiting for their deportation hearings.
3. Create enforceable standards of humane treatment for those who are detained, whether in federal, state, local, or private facilities.

NJ Congressmen Rush Holt, Donald Payne, and Steve Rothman have already agreed to cosponsor this important bill! If you live in one of their districts, please call to say “thank you.”

If you live in another district, please call your Congressman and urge him to support HR 1215.

You can find out the name and contact for your representative by entering your zip code at www.house.gov.

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