Urge to Reconsider Congressional Bill
Submitted by Marguerite Thompson
(Current call-to-action from USCCB’s “Justice for Immigrants” website)
Members of the Senate are considering the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” a budget reconciliation bill. This sweeping piece of legislation covers many different areas, including immigration. Before the bill passed in the House, several bishop chairmen of the USCCB wrote to Congress to commend certain provisions and to urge reconsideration of others that would irreparably harm the poor and disadvantaged, as well as our immigrant brothers and sisters.
Some immigration-related things the House-passed bill would include:
- Allocate $25 billion for immigration enforcement efforts and $45 billion for detention, including family detention. This amounts to a nearly 400% increase annually when compared to current funding levels. Families, including those with young children, would be left to languish in costly and harmful detention facilities. Enforcement efforts would be expanded well beyond those who committed crimes to include people who have peacefully contributed to American communities for years, even decades.
- Provide $100 million to facilitate the expedited removal of unaccompanied children without any access to legal counsel, overriding current protections for this population.
In their letter to Congress, the bishops described these provisions as doubling down on an “unsustainable, enforcement-only approach to immigration” and “contrary to the common good.” Ask your senators to remain consistent in protecting human life and dignity and promoting the common good by addressing these harmful provisions before moving the reconciliation bill forward.