A message from the Rev. Vicki Kemper
Dear friends,
We continue to feel profoundly grateful to each of you and your faith communities for all they ways you lift up and support Lucio Perez and his family in sanctuary. Our fight against his deportation continues and we again ask your help.
Many of you were part of our Day of Prayer in February. This Day included writing a letter of support for Lucio, which we mailed to ICE in hopes that they will consider granting him a Stay while his case is pending at the Bureau of Immigration Appeals. Throughout March and April, Lucio's lawyer and the office of Rep. Jim McGovern have been trying to secure an in-person meeting to review his case and request the Stay. To date, they have not been granted a meeting.
We would like to increase the power of this request by asking each of you to please call the ICE Hartford Office to ask that they meet with Lucio's lawyer. Please inform them that you are a faith leader, and that you support Lucio.
Please call ICE at the number below (suggested script included), and then please click here to tell us that you made the call. This googleform will time-stamp your entry, so we will have a sense of who called when. Should the meeting still not be granted, we will ask the broader community (5,000+ supporters) to join in calling.
Please note, these calls are often somewhat confusing and the person who answers the phone may try to ask for Lucio's A-number or tell you to tell his lawyer to call. That's fine! We just want them to hear that there is pressure from diverse faith leaders to release Lucio and to grant this meeting--whatever they say back to you doesn't matter as much as you making the call.
Thank you for your hard work. Please let us know after you have made the call. We ask that you please call directly instead of someone calling on your behalf. Phone number and potential script here:
ICE Deportation Office: (860) 240-3012
"Hello, my name is ________ and I am/at (title and name of your faith community).
I would like to speak with you about the case of Lucio Perez, birthday March 2, 1981.
I am calling to ask that Lucio's ICE officer please return the call to Lucio's lawyer, to set a time to meet together.
Lucio is an amazing person and loving father to his children. My congregation and I do not want him to be deported away from them. We encourage you to consider his case, and we hope his officer at your office will be in touch with Lucio's lawyer soon."
(If the conversation continues, tell more about why you like Lucio!)
Thank you for considering making this call.
In peace, solidarity, faith, and hope,
Lucio Perez
The Rev. Vicki Kemper, First Church Amherst, UCC
The Rev. Margaret Sawyer, Pioneer Valley Workers Center
(and again, please just let us know here that you made the call)
Rev. Vicki Kemper, pastor
First Congregational Church, UCC
165 Main Street
Amherst, MA 01002
413-253-3456
www.firstchurchamherst.org
Photo shown from the United Church of Christ
Dear friends,
We continue to feel profoundly grateful to each of you and your faith communities for all they ways you lift up and support Lucio Perez and his family in sanctuary. Our fight against his deportation continues and we again ask your help. Many of you were part of our Day of Prayer in February. This Day included writing a letter of support for Lucio, which we mailed to ICE in hopes that they will consider granting him a Stay while his case is pending at the Bureau of Immigration Appeals. Throughout March and April, Lucio's lawyer and the office of Rep. Jim McGovern have been trying to secure an in-person meeting to review his case and request the Stay. To date, they have not been granted a meeting.
We would like to increase the power of this request by asking each of you to please call the ICE Hartford Office to ask that they meet with Lucio's lawyer. Please inform them that you are a faith leader, and that you support Lucio.
Please call ICE at the number below (suggested script included), and then please click here to tell us that you made the call. This googleform will time-stamp your entry, so we will have a sense of who called when. Should the meeting still not be granted, we will ask the broader community (5,000+ supporters) to join in calling.
Please note, these calls are often somewhat confusing and the person who answers the phone may try to ask for Lucio's A-number or tell you to tell his lawyer to call. That's fine! We just want them to hear that there is pressure from diverse faith leaders to release Lucio and to grant this meeting--whatever they say back to you doesn't matter as much as you making the call.
Thank you for your hard work. Please let us know after you have made the call. We ask that you please call directly instead of someone calling on your behalf. Phone number and potential script here:
ICE Deportation Office: (860) 240-3012
"Hello, my name is ________ and I am/at (title and name of your faith community).
I would like to speak with you about the case of Lucio Perez, birthday March 2, 1981.
I am calling to ask that Lucio's ICE officer please return the call to Lucio's lawyer, to set a time to meet together.
Lucio is an amazing person and loving father to his children. My congregation and I do not want him to be deported away from them. We encourage you to consider his case, and we hope his officer at your office will be in touch with Lucio's lawyer soon."
(If the conversation continues, tell more about why you like Lucio!)
Thank you for considering making this call.
In peace, solidarity, faith, and hope,
Lucio Perez
The Rev. Vicki Kemper, First Church Amherst, UCC
The Rev. Margaret Sawyer, Pioneer Valley Workers Center
(and again, please just let us know here that you made the call)
Rev. Vicki Kemper, pastor
First Congregational Church, UCC
165 Main Street
Amherst, MA 01002
413-253-3456
www.firstchurchamherst.org
Photo shown from the United Church of Christ
Contact Information
Vicki Kemper
413-253-3456