An image of the shared border between the United States and Mexico. Immigrants are on the Mexico side of the border waiting to cross into the United States.

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Support Humane U.S. Immigration Policies

Defend Dignity: Support Humane U.S. Immigration Policies

Catholic social teaching affirms the inherent dignity of every human being and the moral duty to protect the vulnerable. Immigration policy must be targeted, proportional, and humane—focused on those who pose real threats, not on those fleeing persecution or building stable lives.

Jesuit Refugee Service/USA urges you to raise your voice in defense of these principles.

What Has Changed

On July 4, 2025, the President signed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (H.R. 1) into law. In the months since, its provisions—together with new budget actions—have begun to reshape immigration policy in ways that threaten human dignity and safety.

These changes:

  • Stripped legal status from certain long-term residents with humanitarian protections, including individuals from Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, placing thousands at risk of deportation.

  • Expanded third-country deportation agreements, allowing removal of asylum seekers to countries where they face uncertain or unsafe conditions.

  • Imposed excessive application fees for asylum, humanitarian parole, and other protections, following USCIS implementation in August 2025. Applications missing updated fees are now being rejected outright.

  • Defunded refugee and humanitarian aid programs through the FY 2025 rescissions law, while the Administration seeks to expand these cuts further under its FY 2026 budget proposal.

  • Increased vetting and enforcement without proportional funding for adjudication, worsening backlogs and keeping families from stability, work authorization, or lawful status.

What’s at Stake

Group/Area Impact
Families Face separation and prolonged uncertainty as enforcement ramps up while legal pathways shrink.
Asylum seekers Risk deportation without due process, undermining America’s historic role as a place of refuge.
Faith-based & community organizations See resources stripped even as demand for their services grows.
Refugees & humanitarian parolees Caught in limbo by fee hikes, rescissions, and political fights that erode legal protections.

Take Action

Policies that punish families, restrict due process, and abandon humanitarian values are not just harmful—they are unjust. Urge the White House and Congress to:

  • Reject harmful provisions of H.R. 1 and rescission attempts that target humanitarian aid.

  • Fully restore refugee resettlement, asylum, and protection programs consistent with Catholic and humanitarian values.

  • Ensure affordable, accessible immigration processes, including fair application fees.

  • Invest in due process, funding immigration courts and asylum adjudications to reduce backlogs and uphold justice.

  • Create permanent legal pathways for long-term undocumented residents with good moral character.

At this moment of crisis, let us defend human dignity and ensure U.S. immigration policy remains humane, compassionate, and just.