Active AIW - We Declare and Affirm: Immigrants Are People Who Have Inherent Worth and Inalienable Rights

General Assembly 2025 GA Business
,
1

Update 6/17: This AIW was selected to be added to the final agenda. See full AIW ballot results.

Updated 6/9 to include changes from feedback session

Proposing Delegate: Rev. Abhi Janamanchi, Cedar Lane UU Congregation, MD
Collaborators: The Rev. Dr. Beth Ann Johnson & Charlotte Jones-Carroll

Brief Description: Unitarian Universalists affirm the inherent worth and inalienable rights of all people, including immigrants, and are called by faith to uphold justice, dignity, and compassion. Recent authoritarian actions in the U.S.—such as mass deportations, family separations, and the erosion of due process—represent moral and democratic failures that demand a bold and faithful response. In light of these injustices, the 2025 UUA General Assembly should commit to personal, congregational, and advocacy actions, including public witness, community partnerships, and legislative engagement. Unitarian Universalists are called to rise with courage, solidarity, and love, embodying justice through action and refusing to be silent in the face of oppression.

We Declare and Affirm: Immigrants Are People Who Have Inherent Worth and Inalienable Rights

Grounding

As Unitarian Universalists, we affirm the sacredness of every human being and our shared humanity across lines of culture, experience, and theology. Our faith compels us to uphold the inherent worthiness and dignity of all people, including immigrants, and to insist they be treated with love, compassion, and justice. We reject policies and practices that deny immigrants their basic human rights - especially the right to due process protected under the U.S. Constitution and international law.

Our UU values affirm that justice demands fairness and equal protection of all. Due process – a cornerstone of democracy – guarantees that no one is deprived of life, liberty, or property without a fair hearing. When immigrants are denied these rights, we are called to respond with moral clarity and courageous action.

The Crisis

Immigration is the first policy arena that the U.S. government has chosen to test the extent to which people are willing to “look the other way” as it escalates the use of authoritarian and autocratic measures to carry out its agenda. In recent months, we have witnessed escalating authoritarian and autocratic actions, including:**

  • Arrest of public leaders, like the Mayor of Newark, for supporting immigration justice, seemingly to chill dissent

  • Mass arrests, detentions, and deportations

  • Cancellation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and humanitarian parole

  • Family separations and prolonged child detentions

  • Use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to detain migrants and send them to foreign prisons without a court hearing

  • Dismantling Congressionally funded refugee and asylee resettlement programs

  • Abandonment of refugees and asylees already approved for entry

  • Militarization of the border and criminalization of migration

These actions dehumanize immigrants, refugees, and asylees and undermine foundational democratic principles. They betray our nation’s long history of immigration and the essential contributions of immigrants to its culture, values, and spirit.

People migrate for many reasons: war, violence, persecution, climate disruption, and economic devastation. Many flee because they love their families too much to stay. They deserve compassion, not criminalization and dignity, not detention.

Resolved:

We, the delegates of the 2025 UUA General Assembly, commit to the following actions in support of justice for the immigrants who are our friends, neighbors and valued members of our communities.

Personal Actions

  • Learn: Attend Know Your Rights, Know Your Risks, and Accompaniment trainings.

  • Support: Donate to and volunteer with national or local immigrant support groups, such as UURISE, NILC, CLINIC, CASA, and Resistencia en Accion NJ.

  • Speak Out: Write letters to the editor, contact media outlets to promote accurate coverage, and push back on anti-immigrant narratives.

  • Amplify: Post truthful, supportive content on social media to counter misinformation and oppose the criminalization of immigrant populations.

  • Show Up: Accompany migrants to court hearings and administrative meetings—offering transportation, emotional support, and language interpretation as needed.

  • Document: Take notes, make audio or video recordings of ICE-Immigrant interactions, particularly those that demonstrate the trauma the immigrants experience or excessive use of force or abuse.

Congregational Actions

  • Educate through worship services, training sessions on immigration justice, and seminars with speakers from immigrant-led organizations who can share their stories.

  • Partner with local migrant and refugee organizations to support individuals and families in need.

  • Fundraise to support local immigrant legal aid and services.

  • Coordinate with other congregations to build long-term, multifaith networks of resistance

Advocacy

  • Contact the Administration and members of Congress to oppose the huge increases in funding needed for mass roundups and detentions, mass deportations, and the new facilities to house tens of thousands of additional detainees.
  • Amplify calls to action from UUSJ, UUSC, and interfaith and secular partners in advocacy.
  • Participate in organized visits to Congressional offices to advocate for humane immigration laws and policies.

Urge the Administration to:

  • Halt indiscriminate raids, detentions, and deportations
  • End family separations
  • End violations of Sensitive Locations and Private Areas such as schools, hospitals, and places of worship

Urge Congress to:

  • Create pathways to permanent residency or citizenship for Dreamers, Afghan and Ukrainian refugees, TPS holders, and agricultural and essential workers
  • Increase funding for asylum officers and immigration courts to ensure fair and timely hearings
  • Resume efforts on legislation for comprehensive immigration reform
  • Reassert Congressional authority over immigration under Article 1 of the Constitution

Public Witness

  • Attend and promote vigils, protests, and rallies led by frontline and faith-based communities
  • Speak publicly as people of faith, who are committed to immigrant justice, and share our public witness
  • Wear UU “Side With Love” symbols to signal and sharpen our denominational presence.
  • Discern when to move beyond protest to nonviolent direct action and peaceful non-cooperation, as modeled by the US Civil Rights Movement, India’s Satyagraha Movement, and South Africa’s Anti-Apartheid Movement.

Now is the time to rise—to be the moral voice, the loving hands, and the brave hearts our world needs.

Let us not be bystanders to injustice.
Let us not offer thoughts and prayers where action is required.
Let us not forget that history is watching—and so are the generations to come.
Let us remember that the arc of history bends toward justice—but only when we bend it.

We are Unitarian Universalists. We side with love. We act in faith. We choose justice. And we will not be moved.

Supplemental Information

The Crisis

Judge scolds DOJ over Newark mayor arrest

US removes hundreds of Venezuelans to El Salvador despite court order to turn back deportation flights

Why U.S. citizen children sent with their deported moms can’t come back easily

Personal Actions

Know Your Rights Toolkit | Immigrant Legal Resource Center | ILRC

Know-Your-Rights-Risks-for-Immigrants-Allies-English.pdf

JusticePower – How-to Guide: Accompaniment | Justice Power

Accompaniment | Love Resists | UUA.org

Affiliate Directory | Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC)

The National Immigration Law Center: Home

American Immigration Lawyers Association

Congregational Actions

We Are Casa – WE HELP BUILDING POWER AND IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN LOW-INCOME IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES

RAICES – Invest in the U.S. We Envision Together

Global Refuge | Welcome & hope since 1939

Public Witness

United We Dream | The Largest Immigrant Youth-Led Network

Home - Interfaith Immigration Coalition

Contact Congress

Senators Phone Numbers | senatecontact.com

Contact Representatives - Contact Representatives

Immigrant Led Justice Organizations

Alianza Americas | Network of Latin American and Caribbean Migrant-Led Organizations

UndocuBlack Network | Justice Power

National Immigrant Justice Center: Legal Services for Immigrants, Refugees & Asylum Seekers

Immigrant Justice: 12 Organizations to Support and Seek Support From - Mental Health Therapy Blog Post By Melody Li

Feedback session recording:

5 Likes
3 
A powerful and timely call to protect immigrants from the multiple abuses they are being subjected to by the current, authoritarian regime in the US. 
This includes ways to resist locally - how to come to the aid of immigrants at risk in your area or to support local governments that want to help. Alliances to create or nurture.
2 Likes
4

Thank you! It’s a wonderful AIW and it’s needed.

3 Likes
5

This builds on immigration work we have done in the past. Here in New Jersey, Newark’s mayor was recently arrested when accompanying Congressional Representatives on their inspection of a private detention center recently reopened, apparently without proper documents. Those charges were dropped, but one of the Representatives was charged instead. This administration is off the charts in inhumanity; we must fight back.

1 Like
6

Excellent proposal. However, I wonder if there is a way to more clearly state your focus in the AIW title. With how many people and groups are being shafted by the current administration (the trans community, government workers, etc.), “All People” could refer to any of those groups… or really, anyone, given the broad shift away from DEI initiatives. You all want to emphasize the value of immigrants specifically.

It’s a little like the difference between saying “black lives matter” and “all lives matter.” Yes, everyone matters. But the point of saying BLM is uplifting a specific group that so often gets implicitly overlooked in these discussions. If you propose we take action on behalf of immigrants, then say so outright—it’s easier to tackle an issue when you know the parameters. Hope I’m making sense here.

3 Likes
7

A good overall statement. I sense that much time, anguish and late nights might have come to pass to fulfill this effort. I am particularly grateful to see the possible necessity of direct action, good trouble as it is sometimes now called, stated in the Public Witness section.
We may be experiencing the worst challenge our constitutional democracy has ever faced. This extraordinary challenge will require extraordinary courage by extraordinary people. Who best to answer this attack? Among others, Unitarian Universalists.

2 Likes
8

Was this feedback session rescheduled, or was it previously in conflict with another session, now cancelled? If it was moved, please move it back. If not, disregard this and I will try to get to everything!

9

https://www.uua.org/action/process - a list of the feedback sessions, which are all upcoming.

2 Likes
10

Search and delete the word “Other”. This reveals we are possibly not yet sensitive to “Othering”, segregating, creating one up one down relationships.

Using the word “other” is a distraction. How easy it is to “other”. Othering - implies Segregation - implies inequality and works in contradiction to the title.

Proposed changes

  • Support: Donate to and volunteer with immigrant support groups (e.g., UURISE, NILC, CLINIC, CASA, Resistencia en Accion NJ, and local partners).
    Existing Copy
  • Support: Donate to and volunteer with immigrant support groups (e.g., UURISE, NILC, CLINIC, CASA, Resistencia en Accion NJ, and [other] local partners).

" Coordinate with Congregations…
vs original copy…
Coordinate with [other] congregations to build long-term, multifaith networks of resistance

11

We’ve let the authors know that we don’t have the hyperlinks to these intact. This I’m sure will be fixed when the final draft is submitted. All the AIWs are in the time period right now where they can still make changes and submit a final draft before the vote.

12

I disagree; this is common usage; a bunch of groups that are not fully defined include more groups, that is , these and others. I agree that “othering” as a verb has a meaning that we would not want to use, but this is not that. The word by itself is not a curse or slur, it is just distinct, not the ones already listed. To me, this suggestion creates or looks for a problem where one does not exist. I am more concerned with other issues*, such as the title being clearer that this is about the weaponization of immigration policy by the current administration.

*Yes, I caught that as I typed it, paused, and went ahead, as it is to me another [there it is again!] benign example.

2 Likes
13

This in today from the ACLU People Power campaign:
64 People Power volunteers joined the ACLU of Colorado and called 625 Coloradans – mobilizing crucial support for SB25-276, a major bill to strengthen constitutional rights protections for immigrant families. The result? It passed, and Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed it into law.
That’s the power of grassroots action, amplified.

14

Hi the writers did a superb job. I am glad you have a chance to share your disagreement with my idea… that the word Other is not value added. Words have cultural & symbolic meaning.

I am glad that you are not concerned to protect UU’s from appearing to Other and the concern raised is not a problem for most or “others” would have raised it. How many people are not signing up to be UU’s because their ideas are dismissed or we are not showing concern about “othering”. I unfortunately know too many who have left the coalition for pattern of concern not being addressed. I suggest that while we are building coalition, we take “Othering” seriously. I wish you all the best in building coalition.

15

Is there a recording of the Monday discussion session? Where will these (recordings) be posted? I’m unable to attend them all.

16

The sessions were/will be recorded. Apparently it takes a couple of days to get them posted, not sure where. The later session recordings seem to me to be more time-sensitive, just as those writers will not have as much time to do revisions before pre-voting deadline.

17

There is a recording. I’m not sure how fast the very busy UUA will post it up, but I would guess it’ll be available by early next week at the latest! They may be waiting to post all of them at once, and the last session is 6/8.

18

I get how busy folks are, but nobody else from my society has attended either of the 2 sessions I got to, and I missed the session on Tuesday, so being able to catch up and share with fellow members in time for them to watch and get back to me with their recommendations, ideally before voting starts on the 11th, would be important to me. I will be travelling on the 15th, so the day or two before that will be final packing/prep, etc., so I will want to be able to get feedback from my membership and vote relatively early.

19

Feedback session recording is available:

1 Like
20

The Commission on Social Witness will be in booth #413 in the GA Exhibit Hall. Each of the AIW and CSAI proposals has a time slot that they will be present at the booth so answer questions and tell you about their proposal. Here is the current schedule (subject to change!):

AIWs:
Bringing a Feminist and Womanist Lens to Resistance and
Activism- Friday, June 20 at 11:00 a.m.

Defending LGBTIQ Freedom Amid Funding Crisis: A Call for Global Solidarity
Saturday, June 21 at 11:00 a.m.

Faithful Defiance of Authoritarianism: Reaffirming Our Covenants for Democracy and Freedom- Friday, June 20 at noon

Voter Justice, Racial Equity, and Local Autonomy = DC Home Rule and Statehood for the Citizens of the Nation’s Capital- Friday, June 20 at noon

We Declare and Affirm: Immigrants Are People Who Have Inherent Worth and Inalienable Rights- Friday, June 20 at 4:00 p.m.

CSAIs:
Abolition, Transformation, and Faith Formation - Thursday, June 19 at 9:30 a.m.
Fat Liberation: Building Justice and Inclusion for Larger Bodies- Thursday, June 19 at 11:00 a.m.
Housing: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion- Wednesday, June 18 at 7 p.m.

21

I note that a couple of these are at the same time; I e., they are booked for the same time, so one would not be able to attend both. I guess that was necessary, but it is unfortunate.