Five-Year Bar Week of Action 2023
The five-year bar has been denying immigrant families access to the health and social services safety net for more than 25 years. But, because it was enacted so long ago, many lawmakers have never even heard of the five-year bar. That’s why we organized a five-year-bar week of action May 1-5.
Commit to Taking Action
We’re encouraging partners to schedule meetings with their congressional representatives during the week of May 1. Partners may also wish to tag lawmakers in social media posts, educate local journalists, or take other actions. You can use this simple form to let us know what actions you can commit to taking during our week of action.
Partner Toolkits
We’re sharing two toolkit to help partners participating in the week of action. Both offer a wide range of resources – talking points, op-eds, WhatsApp images, and more.
The five-year bar toolkit is designed for partners who want to educate lawmakers about the threat posed by the five-year bar but are concerned about lobbying. The LIFT the BAR Act toolkit is for partners who are comfortable encouraging lawmakers to support legislation to repeal the five-year bar and lower other barriers facing immigrant families.
Office Hours
We are hosting office hours to help you set-up and prepare for a meeting with your congressional office. Office hours will cover one main topic (see details below) but devote substantial time to open questions and answers.
- April 10th, 12pm ET, Storytelling as Advocacy
- April 12th, 1pm ET, Storytelling as Advocacy
- April 17th, 1pm ET, 5 Year Bar Talking Points to Review
- April 19th, 2pm ET, 5 Year Bar Talking Points to Review
Endorse the LIFT the BAR Act
Representatives Jayapal and Cárdenas will reintroduce the LIFT the BAR Act later this spring.
More than 750 national state and local organizations endorsed the bill in the 117th Congress (2021-2022). But with the new Congress this year, we need to rebuild the broad, diverse list of supporting organizations.
We will circulate a sign on letter which will be another opportunity for groups to engage and show their support. But for now, we encourage you to use this short google form to let the bill’s sponsors know you support their work. We would love to see a strong list of endorsing organizations at introduction.
The form will send your endorsement directly to Representative Jayapal’s office. PIF will not collect information from the form, but if you want to add your organization in advance to PIF’s LIFT the BAR Act sign-on letter, please click here.
