Take Action for Carmela

ACTION SHEET - YOUR ROLE:
1. FAST with Carmela every Wednesday! Post and share about your experience to educate your networks about Carmela's struggle and the need to remind elected officials of their duty to act. Post online including our Facebook @New Sanctuary Philadelphia with the hashtag #Carmelalibre #Suyapalibre and our tweeter @NSMPhilly
2. CALL your US congress people and ask them to place pressure on USCIS – Administrative Appeals Office and approve her U-Visa. Report back going to this link bit.ly/Icalledmyrep to let us know you called and the answer you got. Comment on our social media to help raise awareness and visibility of your public action
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          Sample Script "My name is ________________I live in zip code ____ and I am a constituent concerned about families living in Sanctuary in our area for way to long. I am calling to let you know that as your constituent I support and urge your office to introduce a private bill and pressure USCIS to approve Ms. Apolonio Hernadez U-visa application. We know that members and supporters of New Sanctuary Movement along with Carmela and her lawyer have already meet with your office and have submitted signed waivers. What are you waiting to act? We are asking you to reach out to AAO (Administrative Appeal Office) to push them to approve Ms. Apolonio’s U-Visa Appeal which has already surpassed by over 200 days of the 180 days’ time where the AAO is supposed to respond. What it’s the next steep you are going to take? When can I call back again to hear about the action that your office has taken and the outcomes? Thank you for your time and concern." (and then mark your calendar and call back again!)

Tips for when you call:
Staff may say: Oh ok, we are happy to help, please have Carmela sing waivers because we need her to authorize us to talk about her case
Caller Should say: We know that her Lawyer David Benion and New Sanctuary Movement already meet with your office and sent the waivers
Staff may say: Carmela is not living in our district, she should reach out to the legislator in her district
Caller Should say: We are reaching out to Congressman Evans as well, but as your constituent I am asking you to take action as well. I am calling to ask what you need to take action
Staff  may say: A private bill will not pass in congress due to the legislature landscape
Caller Should say: We know that the private bill may not get Carmela free, but by taking the action of introducing it and mobilizing your colleagues, it  will send an strong message to ICE that she has strong support from her legislators. It will also send a message that if ICE retaliates against Carmela or anyone living in Sanctuary there will be strong support to push back. (Nine women in Sanctuary have recieved up to half million fines by ICE)
3. ORGANIZE your congregation or neighboring congregations to, call their Congress Reps, visit Carmela to learn more about them and find ways you can support. Call 215-279-7060 if you have questions.
4. RECORD a 1-minute video for the pressure campaign led by Carmela's kids! All you need is your family or friends, a phone, and 1 minute. View the launch video here: http://bit.ly/ActionCarmelaLibre
 
Congressman Bob Casey
Harrisburg Office:
Phone: (717) 231-7540
Washington, D.C. Phone:
(202) 224-6324

Congressman Cory Booker
Camden Office
Phone: (856) 338-8922Washington Office
Phone: (202) 224-3224

Congressman Dwight Evans
Philadelphia Office
Phone: (215) 276-0340
Washington, DC
Office Phone: (202) 225-4001

Congresswoman Elizabeth Warren Washington DC
Phone: (202) 224-4543

Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon
East Lansdowne Office (610) 626-1913Washington, DC
Office (202) 225-2011

Congresswoman Madeleine Dean
Norristown District Office
Phone: 610-382-1250Washington, DC Office202-225-4731

Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick
Langhorne, PA 19047
Phone: (215) 579-8102
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-4276

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CARMELA FAMILY’S  STORY
The Apolonio Hernandez family had taken the hard, but bold step to enter Sanctuary to protest immoral and unjust immigration policies. They turned themselves at the border escaping violence and followed the arbitrary process of asylum. The family lost their asylum case despite strong proof their life will be at risk if they return. They are only some examples of the millions of people who have been affected by the Trump Administration’s extremist anti-immigrant agenda. Separating children from their parents at the border, ending TPS for many countries, increasing enforcement and arrests, and changing asylum rules to exclude victims of domestic violence and gang violence are some of the policies that devastate immigrant communities here in Philadelphia and across the country. It also shows that the Trump Administration separating families does not just happen at the border, but everywhere in the country when people are detained or deported. This is a moral crisis. The three families currently living in Sanctuary have been living in New Jersey and Philadelphia for years until they were ordered deported with the threat of leaving their families behind. In taking Sanctuary, they step into a tradition thousands of years old that confronts immoral and unjust laws.
 
Working in partnership with New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia (NSM) Germantown Mennonite Church and all NSM member congregations, we all stand together to stop the deportations, challenge violent immigration policies, and build a broad and diverse movement to build a more welcoming and just city and country.  To do this, we are working to broaden support from legislators, organizations and congregations, and we need your support.

• Carmela, and her children have been confined to the four walls of a church. Carmela entered Sanctuary on December 2017. If they leave the premises of the church to return to NJ or Philadelphia, ICE will send them back to their death in Mexico. Their children would lose their mother.
  
  

ICE is doing everything in their power to defeat the legal options Carmela has available. Carmela’s U Visa petition was recently denied by USCIS, and we believe ICE may have improperly intervened in that decision. If decisions about humanitarian visa applications like Carmela’s are being made based on the political objectives of the Trump administration, that means the government is not following the laws. This makes a mockery of the “rule of law” that Trump and his supporters always reference to justify separating families like Carmela’s.

• Carmela with many other families around the country and their supporters are looking for champions in Congress who will support their family and deliver results. We need all PA Representatives and Senators to put high pressure to get these cases resolved and create long lasting change on this Broken Immigration system. The Congress representatives from Pennsylvania and New Jersey can show their commitment to the immigrant community by fighting for Carmela and other cases in Sanctuary, not just with words but with deeds. They can visit them and their children in sanctuary to meet them in person and hear their story.

1. They can visit Carmela and other Families in Sanctuary to learn the struggle directly from the families themselves or meat supporters working with the families
2. They can introduce a private bill
3. They can support with investigation on ICE retaliation
4. Push USCIS - AAO (Administrative Appeals Office) to approve Ms. Apolonio’s Appeal
5. Help explore other paths so families can leave Sanctuary to live fear free of deportation
6. Organize your colleagues in PA to take the actions above
7. Fix the broken asylum system