Faith leaders urge Rep. Jared Golden to support Registry Act for Immigration Reform

August 28, 2024

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Photos: Faith Leader Registry Act Press Conference

Faith leaders and supporters gathered outside Rep. Jared Golden’s Lewiston office on Wednesday to urge him to voice his support for updating theRegistry Act for Immigration Reform.

The Registry Act, originally created in 1929, hasn’t been updated since 1986, at which time it was amended to grant a pathway to permanent residency for any immigrant who has lived in the U.S. prior to 1972. Updating the registry would remove this cut-off date and open the Registry Act to immigrants who have resided in the U.S. for at least seven years. Bills to update the Registry Act are currently before the House and Senate—H.R.1511 (read here), S.2606 (read here).

Rev. Dr. Jodi Cohen Hayashida (she/her), an organizer with Multi-faith Justice Maine, said, “Right now, immigrants, advocates, and people of faith are making a very simple ask of our Congressional leaders—change the registry date. If Congress made this one modification, a modification they have made four times already in the nearly 100 years the Registry Act has existed, nearly 8 million immigrants who have been living in limbo would have access to a clear and legal path to permanent residence.” 

Golden’s D.C. staff met with new Mainers and Maine People’s Alliance staff earlier this month to hear their stories and discuss why the registry should be updated. Hayashida said it’s time to move beyond conversations: “Rep. Golden has been a leader on immigrant rights in the past and we need him to be such a leader again by publicly supporting and advocating for the registry date to be changed.”

Rev. Sara Bartlett (she/her), a pastor at the Second Congregational Church of Norway, said updating the Registry Act is a question of morality and doing the right thing. 

“So often in our culture, we like to divide up those who are worthy of our help, and those who are not. We justify our feelings by othering people, making them the outsiders of our society. Immigrants are part of those whom we too often have cast aside and called ‘outsiders of our community.’ We give them cruel names, separate families, and we deny any of our responsibility for the underlying issues which have caused the trauma and unrest in many of the countries our new Americans are coming from.” 

Bartlett called on Golden to “pass legislation which respects the dignity of all human beings, shows our responsibility for the trauma which caused people to leave their own country, to help those who have lived here, contributing to our culture and society for years. Everyone deserves to be helped. No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey.” 

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Maine People’s Alliance (MPA) was founded in Lewiston in 1982 and has grown to be the largest community organization in Maine, and one of the largest in the country. MPA is a powerful grassroots network of more than 32,000 members who work together on issues that include but are not limited to climate change, toxics use reduction, health care access, affordable housing, racial justice, and immigrant rights.

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Contact: Kate Gardner, [email protected]