This weekend—on June 20—people around the globe will celebrate World Refugee Day.Supporting the Refugee Protection Act of 2010 is an excellent way to honor the struggle of the millions of people worldwide who have been forced to flee their homes and countries in fear of persecution, torture, or death.Call your Senators today and encourage them to co-sponsor the Refugee Protection Act of 2010. (Instructions are below.)After fleeing horrors in their own countries, asylum seekers arriving in America may be faced with unjustified challenges and barriers that undermine their health and violate their human rights. The Refugee Protection Act re-orients our laws to provide support for traumatized people who have escaped persecution, like the Rohingya of Burma or the Darfuris of Sudan.Read the act here (PDF) and learn more about it on PHR’s blog. Among its most important provisions, the Act will:
- end the mandatory jailing of asylum seekers who arrive in the US without a valid visa or travel documents;
- impose minimum standards on immigration detention facilities that will prevent substandard conditions and abuses that have led to the avoidable death or injury of far too many immigrants;
- eliminate arbitrary administrative requirements, such as the rule that requires traumatized people to apply for asylum within a? year of arrival in the US.
To pass the Act, we must recruit more Senators as co-sponsors. And you can help.It is easy:? call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. ?Ask for your Senator’s office.? Below is a sample script you can use; feel free to add your own experiences and ideas, and those of your community:
Hello.? My name is [your name] and I’m a constituent of Senator [Senator’s name]’s from [your home city or town].? I’m calling to ask the Senator to co-sponsor the Refugee Protection Act of 2010, bill number S. 3113. Refugees come to the US to find peace and safety for their families because of our reputation as a champion of international human rights.? The Refugee Protection Act of 2010 ensures that the United States will remain a refuge and place of healing for those in danger.
Call your Senators today and tell them to join Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT),?Carl Levin (D-MI), Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Roland Burris (D-IL) as a co-sponsor of this bill.P.S. Want to learn more about PHR’s refugee and asylum work? Check out our blog series here.