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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
IMF Must Consider Consequences for Poor and Social-Political Stability in Ukraine April 30th, 2014
IMF Reputation and Prospects for 2010 Reforms at Stake: Oblates join call for the IMF to consider the impact of their loan conditions on the people of Ukraine
Today, the IMF’s Executive Board of Directors is scheduled to review a $16.8 billion loan for Ukraine, which was endorsed by IMF staff last week. The IMF-Ukraine deal will impact the future of both Ukraine and the IMF.
The IMF deal comes with several conditions, including a move to a flexible exchange rate. Ukraine, with IMF assistance, made this change in February 2014. This has led to a 29 percent drop in the value of the Ukrainian hryvnia – making it even more difficult for Ukraine to pay its debt. Unfortunately, the IMF deal does not include any debt relief or “haircuts” – requiring creditors to accept a loss. Instead, the debt burden will carried by Ukraine’s citizens, almost a third of whom already live in poverty, according to an April 2014 UN Report.
“IMF-Ukraine negotiations have neglected the consequences for the citizens of Ukraine, and in this vein have disregarded how loan conditions will impact political and social stability in Ukraine” said Jo Marie Griesgraber, the Executive Director at New Rules for Global Finance, a DC-based NGO that pushes for responsibility in global financial institutions. “This is short-sighted and we strongly urge the IMF Executive Board to take this into consideration.”
Click here to read more »
Missionary Oblate JPIC Lauches New Blog April 30th, 2014
The OMI JPIC Office has launched a new communications vehicle – the Missionary Oblates JPIC Blog – as a way to highlight interesting aspects of our work, and provide a venue for reflection. The goal is to reach out to and engage a wider audience on JPIC issues. A team of Oblates and associates have committed to write articles and reflection pieces on a regular basis.
Please visit the new blog and let us know what you think! Click here to access the blog..
Climate Change Will Strike the Poorest Countries Hardest April 30th, 2014
Late monsoons in Bangladesh in 2013 affected all rain-fed agriculture.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world’s leading climate science body, declared in its recent report that global warming is wreaking havoc “on all continents and across the oceans,” with the worst yet to come. But by far the most severe impacts will strike the poorest countries that bear little or no historical responsibility for causing climate change, the report said.
“Those countries who have contributed least to the manifestation of this problem are in jeopardy of being the most vulnerable to it,” said Gary Yohe, an economist at Wesleyan University and a coordinating lead author of the IPCC report. “The poor, the young, the old and the people who live along the coasts will be hit the hardest.”
Continue reading this article from Inside Climate News…
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)
