TO: Vermont news editors, reporters, and columnists
FROM: Interfaith Immigration Coalition
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.
Matthew 25:35 NIV
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.
Mark 12:30-31 NIV
As Congress continues to work on federal appropriations bills for Fiscal Year 2020, the Interfaith Immigration Coalition applauds Senator Patrick Leahy’s leadership as Vice-Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Recently, he and Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member John Tester (D-MT) offered a series of amendments to better align federal immigration enforcement spending with moral and religious values. Unfortunately, those amendments were rejected on party lines.
Said Katie Adams, Co-Chair of the Interfaith Immigration Coalition and Policy Advocate for Domestic Issues with the United Church of Christ: Instead of feeding the Trump administration’s insatiable appetite for family separation, deportation, and detention, we support funding for immigration policies and programs that protect children, keep families together, welcome refugees, and treat all human beings as we would God.
That is why we consider Senator Leahy to be a champion for immigrants and refugees. Congress has the power to check the Trump administration’s massive spending on divisive walls and policies designed to cut us off from the rest of the world. We applaud Senator Leahy’s efforts and encourage him to keep working to enact meaningful protections in the law.
This memo includes: asylum and detention; refugee resettlement; indiscriminate deportations; and more resources.
Restricting Asylum, Detaining Children and Migrants
More than thirty national, faith-based organizations—including several Catholic organizations, Senator Leahy’s religion—sent a letter to Congress calling for a reduction in “the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) budget for deportation, detention, and border militarization.”
Rather, they urge support for programs that include “community-based alternatives to detention, mitigation of the root causes of forced migration, and meaningful reforms that would reunite families permanently and allow our communities to flourish.” Alternatives to detention are cost-effective, functional, and humane; read about them here.
Eviscerating Our Nation’s Commitment to Resettling Refugees
Faith leaders and faithful Americans are devastated about the dramatic cuts to the U.S. Refugee Resettlement program that put men, women, and children in harm’s way. Vermont Public Radio hosted an important discussion on this topic after the President’s 2020 refugee numbers were announced—the lowest numbers in history.
As Rev. Terri Hord Owens, General Minister & President, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) said: “Reducing U.S. resettlement numbers to less than one fifth of our nation’s historic average is a moral travesty and offense to the sacred and repeated calls of our scriptures to welcome the vulnerable. Consequences upon refugee families already approved and awaiting travel are cruel. In this moment, our hearts mourn for families seeking hope, and faith partners which have been a backbone of the bi-partisan, public-private partnerships that have sustained the U.S. refugee program will not stop voicing our belief in the benefits of refugees to our communities and congregations.”
Deporting Long-Term Vermont Residents, Instead of Reforming the Law
Americans of faith and goodwill are also concerned about the government’s approach to the status of long-term U.S. residents who are immigrants. Deportations are being carried out without regard to the impact on children, families, communities, and human lives. No longer is the government considering an individual’s positive contributions before insisting on deportation.
Long-time Vermonter Carl Ronga came to the United States from Kenya on a student visa, completed his undergraduate degree, and got a job at IBM. Twelve years ago he met Rebecca, and six years later their daughter Rehema was born. Now Carl, who was a church deacon and the primary caregiver for Rehema, has to stay in touch with his daughter through messaging apps, separated by thousands of miles. “Emotionally, it’s been very tough and very rough. You know, not being able to put my daughter to bed or bring her to school, or see … her to go to school for the first time,” he said.
Sometimes, the law is not just and needs to be fixed. Sometimes, too, the law needs to be carried out with the addition of common sense and compassion. Ronga and his American wife and child would benefit from both.
By continuing to fund expansions in detention and the number of deportation agents, Congress has allowed these separations to continue. We support Senator Leahy’s efforts to protect immigrants, refugees, and children in FY 2020 spending bills, and encourage you to write columns and articles that lift up the moral choices at stake.
Resources
View immigrants’ economic contributions in Vermont and demographic traits in this data from New American Economy.
Read this memo on border policy recommendations and this backgrounder on how federal appropriations can reflect our values by Interfaith Immigration Coalition.
To interview Vermont faith leaders, contact Interfaith Immigration Coalition (media@interfaithimmigration.org).
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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