Assia Serrano is a Panamanian immigrant survivor of manipulation and abuse. After spending 15 years incarcerated for actions she took as a young person under the coercive influence of her abuser — her then-partner, a man 20 years older than her — Assia’s sentence was shortened under the Domestic Violence Survivors’ Justice Act. But instead of being released to reunite with her family in the U.S. (including her two children), New York State handed her directly over to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE then moved quickly to deport Assia before she had a fair hearing on her right to remain in the United States. Now, she has almost no pathway back to the US to reunite with her family without a full and unconditional pardon. But if the Governor pardons Assia, she has numerous pathways to come back and secure permanent status here with her family and loved ones. Assia belongs at home with her community and loved ones, not in Panama where she hasn’t been since she was 15. ICE is intent on making Assia’s already prolonged family separation permanent and destroying Assia’s dreams for her family and future. Indeed, while Assia was incarcerated, she has worked as: a translator; a caregiver in the Children’s Center caring for people during pregnancy (an issue she is especially passionate about because she was pregnant when she was arrested), as well as for their children; and as a teacher in classes focused on prenatal care and sex. She remains actively involved in her own children’s life, despite her abusive ex-partner’s attempt to withhold access to their children, and despite the fact that she has now been deported. You can read more about Assia and other detained immigrant domestic violence survivors here: https://prismreports.org/2021/07/16/immigrant-domestic-violence-survivors-are-re-victimized-by-the-state/ You can also read more about how ex-Governor Cuomo's gender based violence includes his failure to free imprisoned survivors, a legacy that Governor Hochul now has the chance to undo: https://truthout.org/articles/cuomos-gender-based-violence-includes-his-failure-to-free-imprisoned-survivors/ Please take action by demanding that Governor Hochul use her discretionary power as Governor to grant Assia's pardon application and end ICE transfers in NY.

We know all too well that it’s not enough for our political leaders to identify as people of faith if they actively fight against economic and racial justice. Many congressional leaders have done that over the years. Instead, we need to see faith in action. Faith without works is dead! We stand by leaders like Senators Warnock and Ossoff, who have committed to infuse new moral leadership into our national politics. As Warnock said in an MSNBC interview after his election, “I was [inspired] by the ways in which [Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.] used his faith to bring people together to solve big problems in the public square.” We the undersigned stand with Rev. Warnock and other political leaders who, grounded in justice and love for all, are committed to doing the same. (photo source: Jon Ossoff [@ossoff] Twitter)

To: Secretaries of State More than 222,000 Americans have died from COVID-19. We are faith leaders who face this election with the gravity of burial rites, sitting virtual shiva, and praying the Janazah for our people. Before this pandemic began, we were wary of the death toll. Nearly 700 people a day were dying of poverty before the pandemic. 133 million Americans with pre-existing conditions teeter on the edge of losing health insurance now. 140 million Americans, and growing, are low-income or poor. In 2016, over 1 million voters were denied their right to vote because of systemic racist voter suppression laws. As of today, the Senate has failed to renew the Voting Rights Act for 2,680 days. We cannot face this election season without their voices and stories within us. We cannot silently bury another member of our church, mosque or synagogue. We know who we are voting for this election season—every one of the 222,000 forever silenced. Every one of the 1 million-plus disenfranchised from voting. Every one of the 133 million, of the 140 million. Every one of us. Among our spiritual ancestors are those who endured violence and intimidation at every turn in order to vote: Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, Sister Antona, the Rev. James Reeb, and Jimmie Lee Jackson. Protecting our democracy and the right to vote is our sacred duty. We call on you now drawing from our collective moral center to insist that you fulfill your duty to execute a fair and just election that protects our democracy. We implore you to count every vote and ensure that voters are free of intimidation and harassment. As faith leaders in communities, we know that people are scared. We implore you to ensure voter safety in your states. It is our collective sacred duty to ensure a just democracy. In his famous line which has echoed across generations, the English poet John Donne wrote that we should “never send to ask for whom the bell tolls / it tolls for Thee.” When he wrote those words, church bells in an English village were used to call the community together for funerals. This year, as more than 7 million Americans have contracted covid-19 and over 222,000 have died, we have used bells, pots and pans to mark the evening shift changes by honoring the frontline healthcare workers who risk their lives every day to care for the sick. They do not have to ask for whom the bells toll. They toll for everyone who has stepped up to do their part in the midst of this global crisis. On November 3rd, in each of the 50 states, faith leaders and their communities will ring the bells, cast votes and publicly pray for a just democracy. We petition you to fulfill your role in this Election Season by ensuring all votes are counted and the election is free of intimidation and harassment. In the abiding Spirit of Love and Justice, Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II President, 
Repairers of the Breach Co-Chair, Poor People’s Campaign: 
A National Call for Moral Revival 
 Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis 
Executive Director, Kairos Center Co-Chair, Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival 
 
Rev. Dr. Iva Carruthers 
General Secretary, Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference Rev. Dr. Alvin O’Neal Jackson, D. Min. National Executive Director, Poor People’s Campaign Min. Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove School for Conversion Rev. Abhi P. Janamanchi Senior Minister, Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church Bethesda, Maryland Rev. Dr. Beth Johnson Minister, Palomar UU Fellowship Vista, California Rabbi Rick Jacobs President, Union for Reform Judaism Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner Director, Religious Action Center Senior Vice President, Union for Reform Judaism