Every week at All Saints Church we put our faith into action. This week our focus is on the inequities of the United States’ immigration legal system. Too often, immigrants are deported not because they legally cannot stay in the United States but simply because they can’t afford an attorney. Of the more than 1.25 million people with pending cases in the immigration court system, 500,000 lack representation.

People who are immigrants are our community members. They are our friends, neighbors, colleagues, and family. To leave them without adequate support and representation is immoral and unethical. The US immigration system routinely expects immigrants with no legal representation to navigate a confusing maze of outdated rules and procedures. This process creates an unconscionable risk of wrongly deporting people, tearing families apart, and placing immigrants back in life-threatening circumstances they have tried to escape.

Unlike  in the criminal legal system,  which guarantees the right to defense counsel under the Sixth Amendment,  there is no right to  appointed  counsel for people facing detention and deportation even though the stakes are just as high.

The SAFE (Safety & Fairness for Everyone) Network is a unique collaboration of government leaders, legal service providers, and community-based advocates all working in partnership to stand up and grow publicly funded, universal representation programs at the state and local levels. Through universal representation, government and community leaders are standing up for their immigrant neighbors and fighting for investments in communities, paving the way for federal action. A federal legal aid system for immigrants would help address systemic inequities within the immigration system, and would represent a safeguard that is already proven, effective, achievable, and has widespread public support.

We join with the Vera Institute of Justice along with their partner organizations in urging Congress and President Biden to build upon the work of the SAFE Network and create a federally funded legal defense service that provides universal, zealous, and person-centered defense to all immigrants. Please sign an action letter.

Options to Take Action:

1. Sign the Action Letters at the Action Table outside the church on Sunday morning.
2. Download pdf copies of the Action Letters that you can sign and mail.
   Action Letter to Congress and President Biden for California residents
   Action Letter to Congress and President Biden for those residing outside California
3. Link to VERA sponsored Daily Kos action on Legal Representation for Immigrants

++++++++

If you ever need to look up your member of the U.S. House of Representatives or your U.S. Senators check here: www.house.gov and www.senate.gov.

To find contact information for your California State Senator or California State Assemblymember check here: www.senate.ca.gov and www.assembly.ca.gov.