#WelcomeWithDignity Campaign Urges Leaders to
Focus on Solutions that Build a Fair, Humane Asylum System 

Washington, DC – As political campaigns gain momentum in anticipation of the November 2024 elections, candidates have increasingly embraced dangerous anti-immigrant rhetoric and policy proposals. The #WelcomeWithDignity Campaign has been alarmed by candidates’ promises to enact legislation that would gut our asylum system and endanger individuals and families seeking safety in the United States. Shameful calls for mass deportations, which would devastate families, have sown fear and panic in our communities. 

We urge elected leaders and candidates to reject the cruel policies of the past. Our current immigration challenges require forward-thinking solutions and innovative reforms – not punitive policies that push refugees back into dangerous situations, retraumatize vulnerable people, and separate families. This short-sighted approach has only exacerbated the very real challenges at our border, while violating the United States’ humanitarian and legal obligations to protect people seeking asylum and safety. 

Practical solutions to address the structural and operational challenges within our immigration system already exist. The #WelcomeWithDignity Campaign has worked with its members across the country to devise tangible, concrete solutions that can equip our immigration system to receive people seeking safety in a humane, dignified, fair, and efficient way. Our policy recommendations reflect the combined expertise and experience of over 120 member organizations, including humanitarian services, legal aid, policy advocacy, civil rights, and faith-based groups. 

First, we urge our elected leaders to restore full and equitable access to asylum for people seeking safety at the U.S.-Mexico border, regardless of their manner of entry or whether they have been able to obtain an elusive CBP One appointment. This begins with investing in increased access to asylum at U.S. ports of entry, including by adequately staffing and resourcing Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Office of Field Operations (OFO) to efficiently and fairly process all people seeking asylum. The U.S. government must also increase the number of CPB One appointments, and expand its accessibility and geographic reach.  

Second, the US Government must support existing systems and launch new support systems to meet the immediate and long-term needs of people seeking safety, enabling the work of local governments and community organizations who are providing essential humanitarian services to newcomers. Legislation such as the Destination Reception Assistance Act (DRAA), introduced by Senator Edward Markey (MA) and Representatives Grace Meng (NY-06), Delia Ramirez (IL-03), and Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) in July 2024, would strengthen these efforts. The DRAA would support both new arrivals and the communities welcoming them by allocating funding for critical services, such as housing, healthcare, and workforce development. 

Third, Congress and the administration must act urgently to create a more fair, effective, and timely immigration system to reduce backlogs, improve fairness, and increase efficiency. Immigration courts and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) have faced years of significant underfunding and understaffing. Coupled with harmful policy shifts, this has resulted in unprecedented asylum processing backlogs, with many people waiting in limbo for years for their cases to be determined. These challenges can be mitigated through increased funding to support the adjudication of asylum claims, counsel for all indigent people navigating the U.S. immigration system, and timely processing of all work permit applications. 

Fourth and finally, the U.S. government must continue to support refugee resettlement and humanitarian parole programs, as well as to build additional regular, equitable pathways to the United States. This must complement – not replace – robust asylum access at the U.S. border. To that end, it is crucial to adopt changes including: expanding eligibility for refugee resettlement; completing the processing of applications through the Obama-era Central American Minors (CAM) program; and expanding the use of family reunification parole programs. 

To learn more about our solutions, visit us online: https://wwdignity.org/solutions 

By adopting these smart, practical solutions, the United States can live up to its values, ideals, and fundamental responsibilities toward people seeking safety. Organizations across the country, as well as local communities, are already demonstrating these values in action. Local communities have rallied together to support newly arriving refugees with clothes, sustenance, and help navigating the asylum system. #WelcomeWithDignity members and partners have worked around-the-clock to ensure that asylum seekers and other immigrant communities have access to legal support, housing, and other vital services. We invite our elected leaders and candidates to be guided by the same values espoused by millions of their constituents and communities – those of welcome, hospitality, and solidarity. 

“People seeking asylum have no choice but to flee their homes. Policies that ignore this critical truth, or try to punish people for fleeing, will only cause more pain, suffering, and chaos. There is ample research demonstrating that Americans want a fair, balanced, and solutions-oriented approach to the challenges within our immigration system – that Americans want to welcome people seeking safety,” Melina Roche, #WelcomeWithDignity Campaign Manager said. “By upholding the right to seek asylum; increasing the resources and capacity of our immigration system; ensuring that we support reception services; and strengthening refugee resettlement, we can foster an immigration system that is fair, efficient, and most importantly, upholds the basic rights and dignity of all those who seek safety at the doorstep of this country.” 

“At Comunidad Sol in NE Ohio, as displaced Indigenous Peoples, we strongly condemn any policy or rhetoric that targets immigrants, as it perpetuates centuries of colonization and violence against our Peoples. Dismantling the asylum system and carrying out mass deportations threatens not only those seeking refuge but also Indigenous Peoples who have been forced to migrate due to persecution and the dispossession of their lands,” said Geronimo Ramirez, Executive Director of Comunidad Sol. “We demand that the U.S. government act with justice and dignity, recognizing the ancestral right of our peoples to live with safety and respect, without fear of being persecuted or expelled.”

“The Tahirih Justice Center believes everyone has the right to live with dignity and safety in thriving communities. As a secular organization founded on the principles of the Baha’i Faith, we are strictly nonpartisan and do not take positions on candidates or elections. The change we seek transcends partisan politics” said Casey Carter Swegman, Director of Public Policy at the Tahirih Justice Center. “We review all public policy and legal proposals against a set of principles that are trauma-informed and survivor-centered. Immigration-related policies put forward by any candidate or U.S. administration must be rooted in the values and principles of inclusivity, welcoming, and healing. To achieve a world where everyone lives in safety and dignity, these values must be reflected in all our systems, including housing, healthcare, criminal justice and immigration.”

“Rather than doubling down on ineffective, misguided, and deeply harmful deterrence policies, our leaders should reaffirm America’s long held, bipartisan commitment to welcoming refugees and asylum seekers, who significantly contribute to American communities by enriching our culture, filling essential jobs, starting new businesses, and paying taxes,” said Hans Van de Weerd, Senior Vice President for Resettlement, Asylum, and Integration at the International Rescue Committee. “The IRC calls on leaders from both parties to embrace solutions that provide a safe, humane, and orderly reception process, in line with American values, while strengthening refugee resettlement and expanding safe pathways to protection that can alleviate pressure at the U.S. southern border. Congress also needs to do its part by supporting border and interior communities with robust funding for reception and for a fair and timely asylum process that meets current forced displacement realities.” 

Robyn Barnard, Senior Director of Refugee Advocacy at Human Rights First said: “The US asylum system has been a beacon of hope for families seeking shelter from persecution for decades. Our leaders should build upon its strong foundations to create a more just, equitable, and effective system to ensure every woman, child, and family who arrives at our borders receives a fair chance at securing protection. More failed bans, anti-immigrant bills, or racist rhetoric will not lead us to a successful future, it will only betray our values and long-held commitment to refugees. We urge leaders of all parties to look to those in our community with the deep expertise and smart solutions for improving our immigration system and to reject any efforts to play politics with the lives of people seeking asylum.” 

“We have been dismayed by candidates’ embrace of tried-and-failed policies that increase dysfunction at the border, endanger people seeking asylum, and run roughshod over our laws and treaty obligations,” said Karen Musalo, Director of the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS). “These short-sighted proposals have been accompanied by a disturbing rise in hateful, anti-immigrant rhetoric, scapegoating newcomers and making all of our communities less safe. There is a better way forward. We urge our leaders to turn the page on politics of cruelty and division, and instead adopt a pragmatic approach that treats refugees and immigrants with dignity and fairness. We all know it can be done. We just need our leaders to muster the political courage to do what is right.”

“Restricting access to asylum at the border and denying many the right to seek protection, exposes vulnerable people to danger and does nothing to address the U.S. immigration system’s shortcomings. Investing in processing infrastructure, reception services, resettlement, and the immigration system itself- such as court staff and asylum officers- is essential to create a more just and humane system that upholds U.S. values and legal obligations,” affirms Maureen Meyer, Vice President for Programs at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA). “The candidates should shift the focus away from enforcement and deportations, and toward collaboration with regional governments to address the drivers of migration and to expand access to legal pathways throughout the Americas.” 

“We urge Congress, the Administration, and candidates for high office to devise policies that welcome, embrace and equitably process migrants to our country, including those seeking asylum. We are troubled by the political discourse that vilifies immigrants. This narrative ignores their substantial contributions to our economy and communities, and their integration into our families,” stated Pablo DeJesús, Executive Director at Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice. “Rather than threatening mass deportations, curtailing refugee programs, denying needed services, and severely restricting access to asylum at the border, our leaders should modernize and fund a humane and effective immigration system. As Unitarian Universalists, we uphold ‘the inherent worth and dignity of every person,’ we revere ‘justice, equity, and compassion in human relations,’ and we strive for ‘the goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all.’ The U.S. can implement a fair and efficient immigration system to assist asylum seekers, grow our economy, and uphold our best American values. We pray our nation’s leadership will align towards welcome and dignity, and we will advocate for such policies.”

Rev. Laura Kigweba, Director of Grassroots Organizing at The General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church said, “As United Methodists, we affirm the worth, dignity, and inherent value and rights of all persons regardless of their nationality or legal status. We call for candidates and elected leaders at every level of government to commit to building a just and dignified asylum system that protects and cares for all seeking safety and protection. We denounce racist rhetoric and policies that attempt to criminalize people who are seeking asylum. No longer should asylum seekers endure threats or violent conditions from structures and policies that do not value or care for their humanity. We need leadership and legislation that prioritizes solutions that affirm the dignity of all.” 

“At Project Corazon, we believe in a just and humane immigration system—one that upholds fundamental human rights and ensures that vulnerable individuals fleeing persecution are treated fairly, with compassion and respect. While our organization is a 501(c)(3) and does not endorse or support any political candidates, we urge whoever takes office to remember our nation’s foundational principle of justice and its long history as a refuge for those seeking safety. We remain steadfast in our mission to fight for asylum seekers at our borders and to provide them with legal support, no matter the political climate,” said Estuardo Cifuentes, Program Manager, Lawyers for Good Government’s Project Corazon

“As people of faith, Franciscans call on candidates for public office to reject policies that decimate our country’s asylum system and threaten the lives of families and individuals seeking safety and refuge in the United States,” said Sister Marie Lucey, Associate Director of Franciscan Action Network. “In line with Catholic Social Teaching and our Franciscan values, we support the legal and moral right of people to migrate as well as their right to stay in their home countries without fear of persecution, violent oppression, and desperate poverty. We reject the current punitive political rhetoric based on misinformation and fear. Practical and humane solutions to the problems in our immigration system do exist. We urge candidates at every level to back away from anti-immigrant messaging and policy proposals and to pay attention to solutions such as those outlined by the #WelcomeWithDignity Campaign.”

“The right to seek asylum is literally life or death for Indigenous Peoples and other at risk communities seeking safety and refuge in the North. Instead of denying this fundamental right to the most vulnerable, the next administration has an opportunity to govern with humanity, dignity and most importantly, upholding domestic and international law that protects asylum seekers.” said Lorena Brady, Policy and Program Manager with the International Mayan League. “For years, we have called for the establishment of an Indigenous Peoples Commission or advisory body that can support the United States government in creating policies and protocols rooted in an Indigenous Human Rights Framework. By working with our Peoples and communities, we as  thought partners can help  address  the asylum backlog, and prevent horrific programs that separate families and cause irreparable harm to Indigenous and all children, among other priority human rights protections. As former refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants, our small team knows first hand that solutions are possible when our communities are engaged and respected.”

“Church World Service calls upon the U.S. Government to uphold our nation’s legacy of welcome and fulfill our duty to safeguard society’s most vulnerable. Our forcibly displaced neighbors fleeing violence, persecution, and economic uncertainty deserve to be treated with humanity and dignity, whether they arrive as refugees or cross the border on foot to request asylum. They come to build new lives, provide for their families, start businesses, and worship in peace.” Said Danilo Zak, Director of Policy for Church World Service. “Refugees and asylum seekers are fleeing danger, not bringing it. And we know that when provided humane treatment and support, they enrich our communities at every level. We must demand stronger and more streamlined immigration and humanitarian protection policies, which allow newcomers to work, study, and give back to their local communities.”  

“Every person, regardless of where they were born or when or how they came to this country, deserves a chance to build a good life, free from persecution and violence” said Imani Cruz, Global Policy Coordinator for Migration Justice for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). “Right now, our response to immigration is causing harm to people simply trying to survive. We need to create an equitable approach to immigration with efficient, humane pathways that allow people to build a life.”