The following letter was approved by Frederick Friends Meeting on February 11, 2019 and sent to Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen and Representatives Jamie Raskin and David Trone.

Dear Senators Cardin and Van Hollen, Representatives Trone and Raskin:

As the federal government emerges from its longest ever partial shutdown over the contentious issue of funding for additional walls along our Southern border, it is timely for us, the Frederick Friends Meeting (Quakers), following the guidance of the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), to speak up in support of comprehensive immigration reforms that respect the dignity, protect the safety, and recognize the contributions of immigrants and refugees to our nation.

Effective immigration reform should include measures that:

• Keep families together;
• Bring accountability and community engagement to border policies;
• Create a path to lawful status and citizenship (e.g., the Dream Act, S. 1615/H.R. 3440, and the American Promise Act, H.R. 4253, proposed in the 115th Congress);
• Protect all workers, regardless of immigration status;
• Align immigration enforcement with humanitarian values;
• Preserve the human and civil rights of all immigrants;
• End mass incarceration of immigrants (e.g., the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act, H.R. 3923, proposed in the 115th Congress);
• Uphold international and U.S. legal obligations to protect refugees, asylum seekers and survivors of human trafficking.

Only Congress has the power to meaningfully reform U.S. immigration policies to be just, welcoming, and equitable. Congress should invest in long-term solutions rather than endless enforcement.

Frederick Friends Meeting
723 N. Market St.
Frederick, MD 21701

The time is always right to do what is right. —Martin Luther King, Jr.