UPDATE on #CallCampaign to #FightbackVBGate
When you call, if you are asked to send an email, please make sure that you use the template provided in the newsletter and also include this link to provide some background on the issue. Do NOT send emails without first talking to staffers. Emails without speaking or meeting with the staffers or policymakers are ineffective and get treated as SPAM.
URGENT Action Item
Dear Friends,
We write to you with a follow-up Action Item to push for a restoration of the September 9th Visa Bulletin. Thank you for participating in the October 1 flower campaign. It helped us attract attention to the Visa Bulletin Fiasco. We were told that Secretary Jeh Johnson was made aware of our Flower Campaign and that everyone in the DHS leadership is now aware of the Visa Bulletin Fiasco. Even if you are not directly impacted, the October Visa Bulletin fiasco will result in delaying the timeline when you and your family will file for Adjustment of Status.
Therefore, it is time to press the accelerator so all of us are directly involved in making our voices heard. Members of Congress (both Senators and Representatives of the House) have the ability to reach out to the Legislative Affairs office at the White House. The purpose of this action item is to persuade your representatives in Congress to reach out to their legislative point of contact at the White House and advocate on your behalf. If the legislative affairs office at the White House gets enough calls from Members of Congress, the matter will be escalated to a level from where an order to reinstate the September 9th Visa Bulletin can be issued.
Here is a broad script you could either personalize or use as-is. This is just a sample and we suggest you take the time to re-write and personalize this for your situation. You will be using your script at-least three (3) times – for your Representative in the House and two (2) Senators from your State. When you do personalize this message, the main theme is “Adjustment of Status” and how the inability to file Adjustment of Status caused by the reversal of visa bulletin change has affected you. Just filing for Adjustment of Status confers many benefits (including EAD-AP) to those with “approved immigrant petition” and we want you to use a clear message to let Hill staffers know that you feel let-down and cheated for being denied the legitimate opportunity to file for Adjustment of Status after years of waiting.
Visit https://www.opencongress.org/people/zipcodelookup to look up your Members of Congress (in Senate and House of Representatives)
Here is a sample message:
Hi, I am ________ and I am calling from ________(city), ___________(state) and I am a member of Immigration Voice. I would like to speak with the Legislative Assistant handling Immigration. When transferred to the Immigration Legislative Assistant (or their voice mail), tell them (or leave a voicemail) which says: Hi, my name is ________, I am a member of Immigration Voice calling from ________(city), ________(state). I have an approved Immigrant petition since ______ and I am calling to share with you the effects of the recent unprecedented reversal of Visa Bulletin by the State Department. This Visa Bulletin reversal [prevents me from filing Adjustment of Status] OR [has caused a delay in my timeline when I will be able to file for Adjustment of Status] – something my employer and I have already paid thousands of dollars. Filing Adjustment of Status will allow me to change jobs, invest, and/or start a business, save many children from aging out and having to leave the country. Filing Adjustment of Status will also allow my dependents to benefit from in-state tuition and let my family buy a house to put down roots to live our American Dream. I am calling to request you to please reach out to your Legislative point of contact at the White House to ask them about the real reason for the reversal of the visa bulletin by the State Department – and when the Administration plans to fix this Visa Bulletin, just as it was done in July-2007 so that my family and I can file for Adjustment of Status.
It is also very important that all Immigration Voice members actively participate in this Action Item to call their Senators and Representatives. We have been promised specific fixes by the Administration of which this Visa Bulletin modernization was supposed to be a significant part. We have been let down for this supposedly most easy fix and we need to be vocal about it – or we run the risk of losing or watering down our other upcoming fixes. Everyone waiting in backlogs is directly or indirectly impacted by the Visa Bulletin Reversal.
Therefore, it is important we all fight against this injustice together to restore the September 9th Visa Bulletin.
Thank you for your active participation!
Immigration Voice
PS: Encourage your family & friends to actively participate in this #callcampaign to #FightbackVBGate
