Friends Committee on National Legislation - FCNL

On this day 161 years ago, June 19, 1865, enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned that they were free. Two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, Union soldiers brought the news to Texas. The Black community in Texas and throughout the South celebrated this as “Juneteenth” for years until, just in 2021, it became a federal holiday.

The day marks a consummation of a struggle for freedom. Since slavery began, people had been emancipating themselves, but this moment marked an end to slavery as an institution, enforced by the government.

Justice and peace broke into a corrupt and evil social system.

This wasn’t the end of Black Americans’ struggle for equality and justice. But it was a monumental step forward.

As FCNL’s Bridget Moix put it back in 2023, “Juneteenth is a reminder that none of us are free until all of us are free and that our country’s journey toward democracy and freedom for all continues.”

FCNL just reiterated our commitment to this journey in a new minute on our Anti-racism, Anti-bias, Justice, Equity, Diversity, & Integrity (AJEDI) principles. This is a difficult time to engage in the work of justice, and yet, as this minute claims, “The work of AJEDI is not ‘another issue’ among many, but integral to the preservation and promise of a multiracial democracy and the building of the Beloved Community.”

We are honored to be on this journey toward justice and peace with you. May we keep up the struggle, inspired by those who came before, until we achieve true freedom for all.On this day 161 years ago, June 19, 1865, enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned that they were free. Two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, Union soldiers brought the news to Texas. The Black community in Texas and throughout the South celebrated this as “Juneteenth” for years until, just in 2021, it became a federal holiday.

The day marks a consummation of a struggle for freedom. Since slavery began, people had been emancipating themselves, but this moment marked an end to slavery as an institution, enforced by the government.

Justice and peace broke into a corrupt and evil social system.

This wasn’t the end of Black Americans’ struggle for equality and justice. But it was a monumental step forward.

As FCNL’s Bridget Moix put it back in 2023, “Juneteenth is a reminder that none of us are free until all of us are free and that our country’s journey toward democracy and freedom for all continues.”

FCNL just reiterated our commitment to this journey in a new minute on our Anti-racism, Anti-bias, Justice, Equity, Diversity, & Integrity (AJEDI) principles. This is a difficult time to engage in the work of justice, and yet, as this minute claims, “The work of AJEDI is not ‘another issue’ among many, but integral to the preservation and promise of a multiracial democracy and the building of the Beloved Community.”

We are honored to be on this journey toward justice and peace with you. May we keep up the struggle, inspired by those who came before, until we achieve true freedom for all.

Faithful advocacy for Cuba! This week, we joined faith partners lobbying Congress for the Cuba Faith Advocacy Days, raising our collective voice to oppose war with Cuba and to end the immoral, cruel embargo that is causing so much suffering.

Cuban Friends have urged us all to “seek paths that foster dignity, openness, and life.” Congress can take leadership in moving U.S.-Cuba policy toward such a path.

Join us and add your voice! FCNL.org/Cuba

PT. 2: No ban on humanity! As we celebrate Immigrant Heritage Month, we are lifting up stories of immigrants and diaspora communities from countries impacted by President Trump's racist, immoral travel bans.

President Trump's sweeping bans target immigrants from 39 different African, Asian, Latin American, and Middle Eastern countries. At the same time, his administration has dismantled the U.S. refugee program, using it almost exclusively to admit white South Africans.

As we work to urge Congress to restore the refugee program, we are also proud to support the NO BAN Act to prohibit these discriminatory practices in our immigration system.

All of us deserve safety and belonging. And everyone, regardless of race, religion, or nationality, deserves to be welcomed with respect and dignity.

📣"A nation that prioritizes bullets and bombs over food and healthcare is not making itself stronger.”

- Rep. Jill Tokuda

"No one is an alien. Everyone is a neighbor."
- Ms. Rachel

A $70 billion blank check for ICE.

A $1.5 TRILLION budget for war.

All while so many of us are struggling to get by...

This is not how we build a safer or stronger country. ⬇️

https://www.fcnl.org/updates/2026-06/week-world-more-money-militarism-wont-make-us-safer

No ban on humanity! As we celebrate Immigrant Heritage Month, we are lifting up stories of immigrants and diaspora communities from countries impacted by President Trump's racist, immoral travel bans.

President Trump's sweeping bans target immigrants from 39 different African, Asian, Latin American, and Middle Eastern countries. At the same time, his administration has dismantled the U.S. refugee program, using it almost exclusively to admit white South Africans.

As we work to urge Congress to restore the refugee program, we are also proud to support the NO BAN Act to prohibit these discriminatory practices in our immigration system.

All of us deserve safety and belonging. And everyone, regardless of race, religion, or nationality, deserves to be welcomed with respect and dignity.

This week, we were outraged that Congress passed legislation to give ICE and CBP $70 billion more in funding -- without even a single accountability measure attached.

Pouring billions more of our tax dollars into lawless ICE cruelty at home and illegal, disastrous wars abroad is NOT making us safer. As FCNL's Bridget Moix wrote recently in RNS, this is not what real, just, lasting security looks like.