News Archives » Action Alert
Become a SHEPHERD May 8th, 2014
As Catholics we are called to seek ways that each of us can work with our dioceses and communities to combat human trafficking. This can be done through prayer, education, and responsible consumerism.
Visit www.usccb.org/shepherd to learn more about Becoming a SHEPHERD or email MRSShepherd@usccb.org to request the SHEPHERD toolkit guide – now available in both English and Spanish – to help you educate your parish and community about human trafficking.
If you have already used the SHEPHERD toolkit, please fill out this quick survey from the USCCB campaign! They are looking for your feedback!
End the Quota! May 7th, 2014
CMSM J/P Action Alert
We would like to share this Action Alert from the CMSM, JPIC Office. Please take action today!
TODAY!
CALL IN DAY: Wednesday, May 7th
This Wednesday, May 7, 2014, people directly impacted by detention, advocates, faith communities, and members of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men will take part in an advocacy day on Capitol Hill asking members of Congress to End The Quota.
Amplify their voices by calling your member of Congress on Wednesday, May 7th, and tell them Congress should eliminate the detention bed quota, which ensures funding to keep an average of 34,000 immigrants locked up in ICE detention facilities on any given day.
What You Can Do to #EndTheQuota
1. Call your Senators and Representative
Congressional Switchboard: 202-224-3121
- Click here to find your Senators and their phone numbers
- Click here to find your Representative and then call (202) 224-3121 for the Congress Switchboard. You can also find their direct lines here.
Sample Script:
My name is ________ calling from [CITY, STATE]. As a constituent, I oppose funding for the immigration detention bed quota, which ensures that 34,000 immigrants are incarcerated in ICE detention facilities at any given time. I urge you to contact members of the Appropriations Committee, Homeland Security Subcommittee, and tell them that you oppose the immigration detention bed quota. If the bed quota is included in appropriations, I hope you will support an amendment to strike it from the final appropriations bill.
Background:
The detention bed quota is an unprecedented policy – no other law enforcement agency operates on a quota system. Immigration detention is a huge waste of taxpayer dollars, with ICE’s detention budget nearing 2 billion dollars for Fiscal Year 2014. During a time of fiscal responsibility, it is unacceptable to be spending billions of dollars to needlessly detain immigrants in an inhumane system that is breaking apart families and communities. Meanwhile, for-profit prisons such as GEO and CCA lobby for such legislation to make money off of detaining immigrants and breaking up families.
We encourage you to schedule a meeting either in DC or in the district office) to follow-up after your call.
2. Did you call or meet with your Member of Congress?
Tell us how it went. We need your help in tracking which Members of Congress will help us end the quota!
3. Tweet today about the advocacy day and your opposition to a bed quota with #EndTheQuota.
Sample Tweets:
TODAY @DetentionWatch & @CAMBIOtoday bringing families, faith leaders & advocates @uscapitol to say #EndTheQuota , #stopice & #Not1More , #DWN14
.@RepHalRogers Immigration detention bed quota is wasteful & unnecessary. No other law enforcement uses a bed quota! #EndTheQuota! #Not1More
.@houseappropsgop Immigrants are not numbers to fill a bed quota & line pockets of #privateprisons corporations! #EndTheQuota #2million2many
.@SenateApprops ICE detention & deportations are breaking apart families & costing taxpayers billions #EndTheQuota! ,#Not1More and #2million2many
.@SenLandrieu Detention bed quota costs nearly $2 billion & prevents real immigration reform! Counting on you to #EndTheQuota #2million2many
With Hope,
Eli McCarthy PhD
Office of Justice and Peace
Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM)
8808 Cameron Street, Silver Spring, MD 20910
emccarthy@cmsm.org
Spring/Summer 2014 Issue of JPIC Report Available On-Line April 28th, 2014
The Spring/Summer 2014 issue of JPIC Report is now available on line as a PDF. It will soon be available in print form.
Please contact Mary O’Herron in the JPIC Office if you want to be added to the mailing list.
You can find all issues of JPIC Report on this website in the Resources section. (Download a PDF of the latest issue)
Solitary Nation April 28th, 2014
Last week, PBS FRONTLINE aired Solitary Nation, portraying the brutal reality of solitary confinement in a Maine maximum-security prison. FRONTLINE has made a significant contribution to the work to end torture by revealing, in graphic detail, the heart wrenching inhumanity of isolation.
Viewers meet a young father, desperate to earn his GED, who deteriorates repeatedly under the crushing reality of daily life in solitary confinement. And yet the inhumanity of isolation in this one prison is ongoing in prisons, jails and detention centers throughout the U.S. The full video is free and available for viewing here: http://to.pbs.org/1lNv83j
We invite you to view the video, and share it with members of your community. Thoughts and additional resources to consider when viewing the film are enclosed in a viewers guide below, and available for download here. This material is from the National Religious Campaign Against Torture: www.tortureisamoralissue.org, of which Oblate JPIC is a member.
Click here to read more »
Stations of the Forest March 10th, 2014
We would like to thank the Columban Fathers for the powerful Stations of the Forest video. It is a compelling narrative of the destruction of the forest that has ruined ecosystems from the Philippines to Brazil – a destruction that imperils the world.
Following the format of The Stations of the Cross this prayerful resource laments the stages in the death of part of God’s Creation. It incorporates issues related to rainforest destruction: extractive industries, loss of biodiversity and climate change.
A Booklet accompanies the DVD, providing the script, an agenda for meetings, a reflection on the Stations, and prayers. (download booklet here)
Download – The Grace of Forests Lenten resource
