IMMIGRATION
Here are our Calls to Action, Guides, and Explainers on issues related to immigration and immigrant rights. Interested in helping us track legislation and policy on this topic at the state or federal level? Take action with us.
MAINE LEGISLATURE ROUNDUP: Read about the bills we tracked in our Legislature Wrapup!
We tracked more than 65 bills during the 130th Maine Legislature, which adjourned in the evening of May 9. QUICK ACTION: Learn more about the bills we tracked and helped pass this session!
BLOCK EXTREMIST & UNQUALIFIED JUDGES: No Zealots in Lifetime Positions
We’re tracking the most concerning nominees to lifetime judicial appointments, in partnership with other progressive groups. Justin Walker, a nominee to the DC Court of Appeals, opposes the ACA, unions, and civil rights and is the latest in a long line of extremist, unqualified nominees.
QUICK ACTION: Learn more about Walker’s extremist record and tell Collins and King to vote NO on his confirmation.
Journal From the Southern Border
A member of our admin team is volunteering for two weeks at Annunciation House in El Paso, Texas, one of the organizations running respite shelters for people seeking entry and asylum at the southern border. Read an account of her time there for an up-close view of this humanitarian crisis and the organizations and volunteers working to address it.
NO FAMILY DETENTION: Maine vigils against Trump’s internment camps
More than a dozen groups around Maine took part in the Lights for Liberty vigil on July 12, a national protest of Trump’s inhumane immigration policies and his internment camps for immigrant families. Hundreds turned out in 12 towns around the state, joining thousands of others in more than 700 cities around the U.S. ACTION: See the image galleries below from the Maine vigils, volunteer at one of Maine’s immigrant advocacy organizations, and tell your members of Congress to take action.
#SaveTheCensus: No citizenship question on the 2020 Census
The fight against adding an untested, unnecessary, and likely unconstitutional citizenship question to the 2020 Census has been hard to follow. Bottom line: There will be no citizenship question, but Trump is still hoping to help Republican-controlled state governments move forward with plans to gerrymander districts in favor of Republicans. Read more.
WELCOME NEW MAINERS: Support asylum seekers at the Portland Expo Center
More than 170 asylum seekers have arrived in Portland in recent days, and more will be arriving in the near future. The families will have temporary shelter at the Portland Expo, and efforts to coordinate volunteers and donations are under way. QUICK ACTION: Learn more and sign up to volunteer and donate.
17 Reasons Why We Don’t Need a Wall
When Congress rebuffed his border wall demands for a third time, Trump made an end-run around them by declaring a national emergency. While all lawmakers agree that we can improve our border security, the case for wasting billions of taxpayer dollars on an ineffective vanity project steeped in racial animus is as thin as tissue paper. We’ll show you why.
#FakeEmergency: Tell Congress to Override Trump’s Veto
Trump’s #FakeEmergency attempts to snatch Congress’s power of the purse, funding from military construction projects, and citizens’ private land, despite evidence that no emergency exists. Both the House and Senate have passed a bill to repeal the emergency declaration.
QUICK ACTION: Thank our Maine MoC for voting to uphold Congress’s constitutional authority, and ask them to urge more fellow legislators to join them in overriding Trump’s expected veto.
PUBLIC CHARGE RULE: Oppose Trump’s Anti-Immigrant Regulation
Trump proposed a new rule seeking to limit U.S. entry as well as visa and green card applications by low- to moderate-income immigrant families and immigrants with disabilities.
QUICK ACTION: Submit a public comment by midnight, Monday, Dec. 10 opposing this new rule.
#FamiliesBelongTogether: Oppose Inhumane Immigration Policy
While more than 100 children have yet to be reunited with their parents, Trump is radically changing asylum rules, moving thousands of unaccompanied children into internment camps, and deporting the family members who come to claim them.
QUICK ACTION: Keep the pressure on your MoC to demand investigations and oversight, block Trump’s nominee to lead ICE, and give to the organizations providing direct legal support.
Suit Up Maine is an independent, all-volunteer grassroots progressive group that seeks to build a more informed and engaged electorate in Maine. Founded in 2016, Suit Up Maine is run by and for Mainers, and is not engaged in fundraising of any kind. Representing thousands of constituents across Maine’s 16 counties, Suit Up Maine raises awareness of and advocates for policies and legislation that promote equity and equality in civil rights, social justice, health care, the environment, education, the economy, and other areas that affect the lives of all people. Suit Up Maine is beholden to issues and action, not parties or politicians.
