Over the past couple of months, I have worked with a polarizing issue that our nation faces today — immigration policy. Legislation can be introduced and voted down within a matter of days andnegotiations become complex discussions of morality and compromise between parties and ideologies.
In our nation’s current political climate it is easy to feel hopeless. I have believed in the power that people have to influence our lawmakers and still believe that to be true. However, recently it has seemed like Congress has been listening less and less to the people. This makes it easy to feel a bit helpless in this line of work. However, I have found so much joy in working with the team at Mennonite Central Committee (MCC).
I have learned so much about what it truly takes to work with legislation in these past few months I have worked in the city. Most days consist of researching legislation and being in contact with constituents, with bi-weekly meetings on Capitol Hill for environmental and immigration policy working groups. I have realized that turning a bill into law is a series of zig-zagging patterns of negotiations and amendments that are anything but simple.
Right now it is a time of uncertainty of what will happen with DACA and other immigration policies, but it feels like we are making small bits of progress with Congress. MCC and other groups have been making calls, sending letters, and visiting offices in order to try to lobby for a “clean” Dream Act that will ideally keep more families together. Putting a face to the policies really helps put them into context and emphasize just how important the work that we are doing is. When working with policy, it is easy to separate the bills from the countless lives they impact. The families that could be split up by deportation and the lives that could be jeopardized are sometimes forgotten. These stories are often discouraging but also motivating when working with organizations like MCC and other faith advocacy groups that aim to humanize the U.S. immigration system.
It is imperative now to remember to use our voices. Legislators do genuinely want to hear from their constituents. The change comes from grassroots participation — stories and feedback to those in power. The power of advocacy at its different levels remains a point of hope for me that there is still positive change possible in the face of what feels like a hopeless debate.
