Good afternoon,

I have spent almost ten years advocating for common-sense immigration reform in various roles and organizations, always led by my Christian faith. In my time doing this work, I have observed a growing movement of support for immigrants and immigration reform across diverse sectors and political parties. My observations have also been supported by various polls, like this one, indicating a desire from both self-identified Republicans and Democrats for bipartisan legislative solutions to address our broken immigration system. Despite these encouraging findings and observations, every year the work to advocate for common-sense immigration reform becomes more challenging as the country becomes more divided. This is exacerbated by heightened rhetoric every election cycle that spreads fear and misinformation about immigrants and immigration. Part of my challenge as a regional Bibles, Badges, and Business mobilizer for the National Immigration Forum is finding ways to combat this negative and hurtful messaging and bring people together to advocate for just and compassionate policies.

In the spring of this year, I was diagnosed with cancer. If I was going to be effective in this work, which I love, I would need to bring more people in to spearhead our advocacy efforts in the region. So, I reached out to three friends to see if they would be willing to partner on organizing and leading in-district legislative meetings across Texas to speak to elected officials about our concerns and priorities on immigration issues. To my delight, they agreed and together we grew a network of twelve state and national organizations to participate in fourteen meetings with Texas state officials. These meetings included leaders across the faith, education, and business sectors from organizations such as World Relief, the American Business Coalition, the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education, and The Bush Center, among others.

These twelve organizations and their leaders collaborated to form a diverse group of Texas leaders to speak to how the broken immigration system was impacting each of the congressional districts in the state. Some new legislators thanked us for providing such a diverse look into the immigration landscape as leaders provided various perspectives on how their communities were impacted by immigration and immigration policies:

• Faith leaders spoke on how immigrants were growing church attendance, forming active parts of their communities.
• Educators explained how the student population in their districts, particularly first- or second-generation immigrants, was impacted by immigration policies.
• Afghan Parolees spoke about the need for the Afghan Adjustment Act.
• Dreamers spoke about the need for stability for themselves and their families, pointing to the need for a permanent solution such as opportunities for citizenship.
• Business sector and Chamber of Commerce leaders spoke to the need for workers and highlighted the contributions immigrants make to the local, regional, and national economy.

While I was not able to attend any of the meetings myself, this experience was one of the most rewarding in my ten years of doing advocacy work. It was amazing to see all these leaders come together for the same cause. I understand that achieving comprehensive immigration reform is a long process, but we cannot let that make us passive. We need to take action and urge members of Congress to work in a bipartisan effort to fix what is broken. This is urgent and we must remind our elected officials of their responsibility to listen to their electors and work together on immigration issues. I hope you’ll join me in advocating for common-sense bipartisan immigration reform by either joining an in-district meeting or contacting your congressmembers today using this easy advocacy tool. It seems difficult to work towards change on your own, but together, through efforts like these, it is possible!

Stay committed and hopeful,

Brenda

Brenda Kirk
BBB Mobilizer for Texas, Oklahoma & Arkansas
National Immigration Forum 

NEWS CLIPS TO NOTE:

POLITICO: Biden confronts deep skepticism of U.S. agenda in Latin America

WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Senate Republicans unveil border proposal as condition for Ukraine aid

NEW YORK TIMES: Why Illegal Border Crossings Are So High

CBS NEWS: Massachusetts announces work authorization clinic for migrants as shelters near capacity

NBC NEWS: Bipartisan bill would provide kids-only immigration courts for migrant children