News & Views

Advocacy Round-Up: September/October 2020

Are you interested in advocating for immigrants, but don’t know where to start? Check out our resources on how to advocate for immigrants’ rights in the United States.


New DHS Proposed Rule Would Store Private Biometric Data Indefinitely

What’s happening: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has published a proposed rule that will massively expand the collection of private information and biometric data the Department collects on immigrants and U.S. citizens.

What you can do: Write a comment opposing this proposed rule. Comments are due by 11:59PM on October 12th. Stay tuned for comment-writing party information.


USCIS Naturalization Delays Prevent Thousands of Would-Be Citizens from Voting on November 3rd

What’s happening: Delays in the citizenship process and postponed naturalization oath ceremonies due to the pandemic and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) slowdown and huge backlog of applications could mean thousands of would-be citizens will be denied the right to vote in the November 3rd election.

What you can do: Watch our Facebook Live Ask Me Anything: Naturalization and Voting for New Americans from Wednesday, September 16th, to learn more.


Current Administration Proposes Suspending Refugee Program for FY2021

What’s happening: The current Administration is – instead of establishing a new refugee admissions cap – considering suspending the refugee program. The cap for fiscal year 2020 was 18,000 refugees; in 2016, the cap was 85,000 refugees.

What you can do: Sign this petition from the International Rescue Committee asking for the Administration to set the cap to 95,000.


“Public Charge” Rule Keeps Hundreds of Thousands of Immigrants from Public Benefits

What’s happening: The injunction against the “Public Charge” rule now only applies to immigrants within New York, Connecticut, and Vermont, preventing hundreds of thousands of immigrants from applying for benefits such as unemployment and housing relief.

What you can do: Ask Congress to include ALL immigrants in the next stimulus bill.


Children are Being Held at the Border and Deported Without Families’ Knowledge

What’s happening: Under Title 42, children are being held in hotels at the border and deported without due process or alerting their families.

What you can do: Share HIAS Pennsylvania’s Title 42 Flier – Spanish and Title 42 Flier – English to help families know what to do if their children are in this situation.


Asylum-seekers are Being Prevented from Applying for Work Authorization

What’s happening: There are two new rules in place affecting asylum-seekers’ ability to apply for work authorization, leaving those individuals unable to support themselves as they await decision on their asylum claims.

What you can do: Contact your legislator and ask them to support asylum-seekers’ rights.


What else should I know?

TONIGHT (4/20) - Join us ONLINE at the 2023 Golden Door Awards!

Join us ONLINE at 6:45PM TONIGHT, Thursday, April 20th, for HIAS PA's 2023 Golden Door Awards: United for Immigrants!

Happy Passover from HIAS Pennsylvania!HIAS PA is closed in observance of the Jewish holiday of Passover

HIAS Pennsylvania will be closed in observance of the Jewish holiday of Passover from 1PM on Wednesday, April 5th through Friday, April 7th, and on Wednesday, April 12th and Thursday, April 13th.

Join us at the 2023 Golden Door Awards!United for Immigrants

The Golden Door Awards is HIAS Pennsylvania's annual fundraiser. Your generous support helps us serve low-income immigrants from all over the world as they build new lives in our community.

Building closed until further noticeHIAS PA remains open!

HIAS PA’s physical offices at 600 Chestnut Street are CLOSED until further notice due to a burst pipe in the building.

Our organization remains open, and HIAS PA staff continue to work remotely at this time.

Please call (215) 832-0900 with any questions.

Building closed until further noticeHIAS PA remains open!

HIAS PA’s physical offices at 600 Chestnut Street are CLOSED until further notice due to a burst pipe in the building.

Our organization remains open, and HIAS PA staff continue to work remotely at this time.

Please call (215) 832-0900 with any questions.

TONIGHT: Join us at the table!Join us for Thankful Together!

Thankful Together, formerly known as Refugee Thanksgiving, is happening TONIGHT at 6PM!

Register here to join us tonight: https://hiaspa1.wpengine.com/event/thankful-together-2021/

Celebrate our volunteers who make this all possible!Click here at 11:45AM to join our Annual Meeting!

Click here to join our virtual Annual Meeting!

The Annual Meeting starts at noon, but join us at 11:45AM for an informal chat before the event!

POSTPONED! Speed Advocacy: Afghanistan

Today's Speed Advocacy: Afghanistan Facebook Live event has been postponed due to a worldwide Facebook outage. We will update you as soon as possible about rescheduling the event.