Dear Senators Lee & Romney,
We write to urge you to open the government immediately and oppose any bills that lack compassion towards immigrant families, any bill that tears families apart, any bill that makes it even harder to immigrate here legally, any bill that doesn’t offer a permanent solution for our Dreamers and TPS holders, and any bill that gives funding to the unnecessary border wall. The vast majority of Utahns oppose the construction of a border wall if they have to pay for it and the majority also support a permanent solution for Dreamers.
Thousands of federal employees in Utah are hurting as a result of the shutdown. Many are forced to quit their jobs, or work other jobs to make ends meet. Parents are being forced to choose between feeding their children and paying their rent. If the shutdown continues until February, SNAP food assistance benefits will be impacted affecting thousands of low income families in Utah. We ask you to stop holding federal employees and their families hostage to fulfill unrealistic and unpopular campaign promises.
The Trump Administration’s “deal” falsely promises to temporarily give back protections they took away and includes devastating changes to protections for unaccompanied minors and asylum seekers.
We ask you to vote NO on the Trump-McConnell Bill as it goes directly against our values as a state and country of immigrants. We urge you to end the government shutdown immediately and then address our immigration system in a humane and holistic manner.
Sincerely,
Comunidades Unidas / Communities United
Voices for Utah Children
Alliance for a Better Utah
Utahns Against Hunger
Catholic Community Services
Perretta Law Office
Salt Lake Indivisible
Centro Civico Mexicano
Mormon Women for Ethical Government
Human Rights Campaign Utah
Clare Coonan
Diana Khosrovi
In summary, the Trump-McConnell bill would:
Authorize $5.7 billion for the wall at taxpayers’ expense without any accountability or taking into consideration damage to the environment and border communities.
Fails to include real relief for DACA-qualifying youth. The bill only protects a fraction of all Dreamers, does not provide permanent protection from deportation, and more than doubles the current application fee and adds many new restrictions to the program.
Fails to protect all TPS holders. The bill only protects individuals with TPS from four countries, doubles the application costs and creates new standards virtually eliminating the program in the future.
Bans asylum for all Central American Minors and eviscerates the Trafficking Victims Protection Act for Unaccompanied Kids.
Makes permanent and nefarious asylum procedure changes to reduce grants of asylum protection.
Dramatically increases the number of ICE jail beds and hires new border patrol and ICE agents.