Rev. McCullough: “Unified families bring stability; erecting barriers to reunification is wrong”
Evans: “In the US, we value family of all kinds; Trump’s vision is not our vision”
Washington, DC – During his Rose Garden speech on immigration tomorrow, President Trump will reiterate his demand for Congress to give him billions more tax dollars for deportations and immigration detention; dismantling the asylum process so that people seeking protection are turned away; militarizing our border communities; and keeping families apart.
Anticipating this, Katie Adams, Policy Advocate for Domestic Issues, United Church of Christ, and co-chair of the Interfaith Immigration Coalition said: “Whether it’s decimating the inviolable nature of family unity; banning refugees, asylum seekers, and our Muslim siblings from the United States; incarcerating and deporting our neighbors, including entire families; or running roughshod over border communities, the Trump administration has already mismanaged billions of federal tax dollars and undermined U.S. moral leadership – with fatal consequences. This administration should not be given one more dollar to carry out these cruel, harmful, and un-American policies.”
During the speech, President Trump will share his latest anti-immigrant scheme: making it harder for American citizens and permanent residents to reunite with their family members who have been waiting – for years or even decades – to live together again. A look at the details of the plan that have been shared so far make it clear that these ideas are designed to harm families and deny safety to the most vulnerable.
“Proposals to curtail or end family-based immigration or asylum protections are part of a dangerous narrative seeking to dehumanize our immigrant neighbors,” said CWS President and CEO, Rev. John L. McCullough. “In fact, unified families bring stability to individual households and strengthen neighborhoods and communities. Family members help one another navigate a new culture, pursue job opportunities, start businesses, and prosper economically, socially, and spiritually. As faith communities, we know that every family deserves stability and security. Erecting even more barriers to family reunification would simply be wrong.”
“In the United States, and as a faith community, we value family relationships–whether those relationships were formed at birth or forged throughout life,” said Hannah Graf Evans, policy lead for immigration at the Friends Committee on National Legislation (Quakers). “The administration’s harmful ‘vision’ for immigration is not a vision we share. We reject the type of social engineering that commodifies individuals and denies protection to the ‘least of these.’ This is not the first time the administration has proposed policies to lock people of color out of our country. This is a racist proposal, plain and simple,” she said.
Resources:
- Letter to Congress from thirty-one national religious groups of diverse denominations, calling on federal appropriators to recognize the moral aspect of their immigration funding decisions
- Op-ed in The Hill by Katie Adams: how the administration is using immigration scare tactics to “justify” increased funding
- Op-ed in The Hill by CLINIC: ways the Trump administration is destroying the US asylum system and risking human life
- AILA policy brief on family-based immigration
The Interfaith Immigration Coalition is made up of 52 national, faith-based organizations brought together across many theological traditions with a common call to seek just policies that lift up the God-given dignity of every individual. In partnership, we work to protect the rights, dignity, and safety of all refugees and migrants.
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