Friday, November 11, 2016

Political Advocacy for Refugees

With the new and uncertain political climate in the US, it is more important than ever to make your voice heard in support of refugee resettlement in the US.  No matter where you live, you can take part in this.  Here are some things you can do.

First, make sure any refugees and immigrants in your area know that you want them there.  Even a smile makes a big difference.

Then start with your friends and community.  Kindly correct misinformation about refugees and try to get the facts out about refugee resettlement.

Work locally.  Contact your city council members and tell them you welcome refugees in your town.  Call them, talk to them at a city council meeting, send a letter.  Encourage like-minded friends to do the same.  You can make a difference locally.

Contact your state and Congressional representatives, again with a phone call or a letter rather than an email.  Tell them your state needs to welcome refugees. Tell them the US needs to welcome refugees.

Support refugee resettlement agencies in their political advocacy.  I am contacting all of the agencies right now to learn the best ways to help and I will update this post as I learn more.

To start, World Relief and LIRS have detailed pages about their advocacy.

Finally, you can always donate to the different refugee resettlement agencies.  All of them need help, but they do have different emphases and different backgrounds.  All welcome support from anyone.  You can find links to all of the agencies here.

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