The El Paso shooting, other white supremacist attacks, and the administration’s ongoing cruelty toward poor people, immigrants, children, and the infirm, underscored the importance of leadership and how much work remains to ensure justice for all.
When Congress returns to DC this month, they’ll be working on funding the federal government for the coming fiscal year. The Constitution gives the “power of the purse” to Congress and with that comes the power to direct how federal monies are spent. Yet also over August recess, the Trump administration saw fit to raid FEMA’s budget to fund additional immigration jails while Hurricane Dorian was threatening the southeastern coast.
Said Faith Williams, Senior Manager of Government Relations at National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) and Co-Chair of the IIC: “We urge our representatives in Congress to recognize that appropriations decisions are moral choices. Follow the actions of our interfaith religious community. Stand on the side of love, not hate; compassion, not repression.”
Following are updates on religious activity over the August “break”:
Jewish organizations held events across the country on Tisha B’Av, a traditional day of mourning, in solidarity with U.S. immigrants and refugees. The effort was lead by T’ruah, the National Council of Jewish Women, Bend the Arc, the Religious Action Center, Torah Trumps Hate, HIAS, and J Street, with sixty locations represented. More information available here.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) declared itself a national “sanctuary church body” and condemned white supremacy. During the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Milwaukee, hundreds of church members and leaders also taped 9.5 “theses” in support of immigrants and refugees—in keeping with Martin Luther’s 95 theses—to the doors of the local ICE office.
Never Again Action shut down ICE offices and demanded an end to human concentration camps in the United States. In August alone, events were held outside of ICE offices in Milwaukee, Portland (OR), St. Louis, Seattle, and Nashville; and at detention centers including the Butler County Jail (OH), Howard County Jail (MD), Southwest Key Detention Center in Houston, and Wyatt (RI) Detention Center. Groups also targeted businesses profiting from immigration enforcement, at an Amazon store in New York and GEO Group Headquarters in Los Angeles and Broward County, FL.
Solidarity Walk for Immigrant Justice called on all Presidential candidates to commit to ending detention and deportation in their first 100 days in office and for current Members of Congress to cut funding for ICE and CBP. The walk took place Aug 19-Aug 24 ending at the Strafford County House of Corrections (Immigrant Detention Center) in Dover, NH. Hundreds of clergy, immigrants, and lay leaders walked a total of 290 miles across MA, VT, ME, and NH to demand moral leadership from elected leaders and all presidential candidates. People of faith walked to bare witness to a broken system that uses black and brown bodies for profit, dehumanizes Muslims, cages children, and causes death. The walk was organized and led by Faith in Action federations- Essex County Community Organization (ECCO), Massachusetts Communities Action Network (MCAN), Granite State Organizing Project (GSOP), Vermont Interfaith Action (VIA) and the New Hampshire Council of Churches and other local partners.
A massive outpouring of support for refugees issued in three separate letters. More than 500 religious leaders and faith-based organizations in one letter; 172 organizations in another; and 167 national, state, and local Jewish organizations in a third called on the administration to admit at least 95,000 refugees in FY 2020.
“Rise for Refuge” meetups called on Congress to protect the asylum process and maintain a robust refugee resettlement program in the United States, despite the administration’s threats to cut numbers even further. Refugee advocates attended dozens of town halls, rallies, and other local events to express their opposition to eliminating our country’s commitment to protecting people fleeing violence and persecution.
HIAS recruited 1,500+ Jewish clergy members to sign a letter calling on Congress to take urgent moral leadership for the protection of asylum seekers. The letter was signed by Rabbis and Cantors representing 48 states and every movement of Judaism. It was delivered on Capitol Hill by a delegation of Rabbis and asylum experts. HIAS also engaged Jewish communities around the country in our largest-ever district advocacy effort, comprised of more than 100 meetings with Members of Congress. The effort was cosponsored by T’ruah, JCPA, ADL, and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association.
Thirty national faith-based organizations sent a letter to Congress urging them to increase federal spending on “human needs” not “immigration enforcement.” “We believe that our nation’s budget and the decisions made by Congress should be treated as a moral roadmap toward a world where every child of God is clothed, fed, safe, loved, and free,” they write. “As people of faith, our various traditions command us to love our neighbors and welcome guests as we would welcome God.”
In a video, “The Episcopal Church: Walking with Immigrants,” Presiding Bishop Michael Curry introduced five bishops whose dioceses are actively engaged in immigrant welcome. Each bishop shared ways individuals or groups can support this work. The intent was to inspire action and to highlight the many ways people can engage with and deepen their understanding of immigration issues. The Episcopal Church responds to the complex array of challenges facing immigrants across the United States, including support for children and other people seeking asylum at the U.S. southern border, assisting immigrants who are undocumented, advocating for comprehensive immigration reform, and resettling refugees through Episcopal Migration Ministries.
A Catholic Coalition of national advocacy organizations ramped up the campaign to ensure humane treatment of immigrant children and to end child detention. Building off a July 18th national action of 250 people in Washington, DC with 71 getting arrested in the Senate Rotunda, weekly actions were generated around the country in August. Plans are in the works for phase 2 of this campaign to take place on September 4 in Newark, NJ with Cardinal Tobin. It will include a prayerful direct action and another expression of civil disobedience to make visible the increasing willingness of Catholics to take more risks.
The Interfaith Immigration Coalition continued to speak out strongly about the violation of U.S. and moral values. The coalition issued statements denouncing the administration’s decision to cancel deferred action for medically-ill individuals and caregivers; reprogramming of FEMA funds for immigration jails; final rule on “public charge,” and attempt to gut the Flores settlement agreement.
Diverse religious leaders denounced the climate of hate infecting U.S. politics that is costing people’s lives. August was also a time of sorrow and mourning in the United States. Anti-immigrant and white supremacist sentiments were behind the tragic mass shooting in El Paso, the crashing of a truck into protestors in Rhode Island, and threats of violence targeting the Jewish Community Center in Youngstown, OH. These are only the latest, most publicized incidents of hate-filled violence inspired and encouraged by the President’s rhetoric.
As Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, National Council of Jewish Women, J Street, and Torah Trumps Hate wrote in a joint statement following the Rhode Island attack: “Jewish communities have seen the effects of bigotry, of scapegoating immigrants, and of dehumanization before. The video of this attack is a reminder that the agents carrying out this administration’s cruel agenda are willing to see groups of people, whether immigrant communities, Jewish protesters, or political opponents, as less than human. Never again means stopping this mass atrocity.”
“We grieve that again and again senseless violence, born in hatred and fueled by white supremacy, strikes in our communities. In the United States today, people are still being attacked and killed simply for existing,” said Katie Adams, Policy Advocate for Domestic Issues with the United Church of Christ and Co-Chair of the Interfaith Immigration Coalition (IIC). “Religious institutions and communities are faithfully taking action to extinguish this hate. We are calling on our fellow Americans to live up to the values we claim to hold as a country, and ensure Congress is doing the same.” The IIC issued a statement on the El Paso massacre and white supremacy here.
In a statement from the Christian Reformed Church in North America, denominational leaders boldly denounced rhetoric and violent acts motivated by hatred and white supremacy: “This is something that the Church should take very seriously. We know that words can fuel and affirm violent actions. Yet, all too often, we sit by and allow harmful words to be spoken, tweeted, and expressed without challenging them. We are at a moral turning point. As Christian Reformed people, it is our job not only to preach the gospel of Christ, but to challenge false gospels in society. We are called not only to see all of humanity as image-bearers of God, but to also help others see the world in this way.”
For more on the moral choices involved in federal funding decisions, see this letter to Congress from religious organizations, this memo, this backgrounder on cost-effective alternatives to detention, and this set of border policy recommendations from faith communities. Quotes from religious leaders are available here.
The Interfaith Immigration Coalition is made up of 53 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.
Follow us on Twitter @interfaithimm
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