Dear CSWE Members,
Yesterday, United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Trump Administration would rescind President Obama’s executive order on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA). This decision would affect more than 800,000 undocumented young adults in our schools, programs, and communities across the United States. The Administration, which views DACA as an unconstitutional action through executive order, is passing on to Congress to decide whether to enact legislation to protect these young people.
CSWE is dismayed about this decision and strongly concerned about its implications. Through its Public Policy Initiative, CSWE will share its concerns with Congress, in the hope that it will act to protect DACA and these individuals. CSWE is also providing information to its members who wish to weigh in on DACA. This is a completely voluntary activity.
If you would like to contact your senator or representative, e-mails and phone calls are the best way to contact members of Congress when immediate action is needed.
- Writing a letter or an e-mail: Correspondence by e-mail is a popular option for communicating with members of Congress, and e-mail is preferred over regular postal mail. Your e-mail should be written clearly and concisely. Feel free to use some of the bullets below and include some of your personal background. We recommend checking your representative’s or senator’s website, where a form for e-mailing them if often provided.
- Making a telephone call: When preparing to make a telephone call, craft your message clearly and concisely, because you have less time to make your case than if you were drafting an e-mail. It is always helpful to write out a short script of what you would like to say. Again, feel free to use the bullets below. Please note that when calling, you may request to speak with the representative or senator directly, but you will probably be asked to leave a message with a staff member who covers a variety of issues; be prepared with a clear message. You can also ask to leave a message on the appropriate staff voicemail or leave a message and request a return call. Be prepared to provide your address and telephone number.
- Find information to contact your representative here: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find/
- Find information to contact your senator here: https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
- In addition to using the House and Senate websites to obtain office phone numbers, you can call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121, provide your legislator’s name, and request to be connected with the office.
When contacting your representative or senator about DACA, consider mentioning the following:
- Your concerns about the decision of the Administration to rescind DACA, which will affect more than 800,000 individuals in the United States.
- How DACA has improved the lives of its recipients and their families and had a positive effect on communities throughout the United States.
- That Congress should act quickly on necessary legislative action to maintain DACA and protect these individuals.
- How the decision to rescind DACA would affect you, your school, or your community.
Other Advocacy Efforts: You may also be interested in learning about an effort by
FWD.us, which is “mobilizing the tech community to promote policies that keep the U.S. competitive in a global economy, starting with fixing our broken immigration system and criminal justice reform.”
Relevant Background: “In 2012, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) began implementing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, which allows youth who were brought to the United States as children and who meet certain criteria to request consideration for deferred action, which constitutes a case-by-case determination by DHS not to pursue an individual’s removal from the United States for an initial two-year period as a matter of prosecutorial discretion. DACA recipients can live and go to school in the United States and may be eligible to obtain work authorization while their deferred action remains in effect.” Source:
Supporting Undocumented Youth
Thank you in advance for supporting advocacy efforts important to the social work profession.
Sincerely,
Darla Spence Coffey
CSWE President and CEO