Rondell Treviño, Founder, Memphis immigration Project
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.- Luke 10:27
Loving your neighbor as yourself is not a feeling, but an action–and this action is not just about sharing the Gospel but also about doing whatever it takes to help your neighbor in their time of need and desperation.
As Christians, right now we have neighbors called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Recipients who are in need and desperation as their DACA status that protects them from deportation and allows them to be productive individuals has been rescinded. Because of this, 122 DACA recipients lose their status every day, which is nearly 1,000 a week.
For the last four or five months, Republican and Democratic Congress and Senators have been debating on the DACA issue–from border security, visa lottery system, and chain migration. In the midst of this debate, however, Republican and Democratic Congress and Senators seem to be closer to a bipartisan bill. This is good news!
Two words come to mind when I think of DACA inching closer and closer to a bipartisan solution: Crunch time. These words simply mean a critical moment or period (as near the end of the game) when decisive action is needed.
This is exactly where we are when it comes to a bipartisan legislative solution inching closer to being passed for 800,000 Immigrant Dreamers with DACA in the United States.
More than ever, the moment is critical when decisive action is needed on behalf of Immigrant Dreamers from Christians. It’s crunch time.
Here are four ways you can help pass legislation for DACA Recipients.
1. Call. In the midst of the need and desperation of Immigrant Dreamers with DACA, please call your member of Congress urging them to protect Immigrant Dreamers by supporting a bipartisan solution on DACA that respects the rule of law and border security, but also supports Immigrant Dreamers staying in the U.S. and being allowed to earn legalized status and/or citizenship. Make the call here.
2. Download STANCE App. Simply download the Stance app on your smartphone and send voice messages to your congressman and Senators urging them to protect Dreamers by passing a bipartisan legislation. This only takes 2-3 minutes to complete. Download app here.
Here’s how it works:
Step 1: After downloading the Stance app and selecting it to open, you will come to the first screen, read, and select continue.
Step 2: You will then come to the screen that says “Find your Representatives” and you either can click on “Use my location” or “Enter address manually.”
Step 3: You will then come to a screen that allows you to pick one of your two US Senators or your Representative. Select the one you want to send a voice message to.
Step 4: You will then come to a screen that says “Tell your Rep/Sen where you stand and encourage them to act. Make it personal!” Then you simply hold down the pink colored shape and record sharing the message provided that says, “I’m calling today about ISSUE. This is important to me because REASON/STORY. And I encourage you to act.” After recording your message it’s sent to the Senators and Representative’s voicemail for he or she to hear.
3. Share. Please share this article to help spread the word on what Christians can do for Immigrant Dreamers with DACA on your social media outlets.
4. #CrunchTime. Please explain why you support legislation to be passed for Immigrant Dreamers on your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and Linkedin, and use the #CrunchTime hashtag.
All four of these actions are great ways for you as a Christian to love your neighbor, the Immigrant, as yourself. Please consider joining us!
Memphis immigration Project exists to engage issues of Immigration from a Biblical perspective.
