These are the words of Anne C. Richard, the former Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration who became an unlikely but powerful protester yesterday. She and seventeen other leaders were arrested in a compelling action designed to draw attention to the Trump administration’s evisceration of the life-saving refugee resettlement program.
In Newsweek, Richard explains:
I decided to take this bold stand because the Trump Administration seeks to destroy not just a Federal program, but an American tradition of serving as a sanctuary for the threatened and persecuted that stretches back to the Pilgrims. If the Administration succeeds, it harms some of the most vulnerable people on earth—and the rest of us, too.
She describes meeting refugees who had already been screened and approved to build a new life in the United States, but are now thrust into a state of limbo by Trump:
I’ve met some of those refugees awaiting safety. I know some of those mothers waiting to hold their children again. I can’t continue to read story after story of people who are suffering – some even dying – because this administration has unilaterally decided we are done being a nation of refugees and immigrants.
Also today, the resettlement agency and IIC member, HIAS, staged a creative action at National Airport in Washington, D.C. along with twelve partner organizations to “welcome” refugees who will not arrive in the U.S. during the next year because of the Trump administration’s historically low refugee admissions ceiling. The participants stayed in the airport terminal for a symbolic 95 minutes, holding signs and balloons to call attention to the plight of tens of thousands of people who have been prevented from finding safety in our country.
Watch the action here, and read more on the HIAS blog. Read Richard’s column 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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