Faith Leaders Commemorate World Refugee Day June 20, Urge U.S. to Restore Protections That Save Lives
“Our lives and rights are interconnected, and the racism that has gutted refugee resettlement is part and parcel to the hatred that harms and kills Black people in the United States”
Washington, DC – June 20th is World Refugee Day, a day in which we honor refugees, celebrate their contributions in their new homes, and hold the Trump administration accountable to rebuilding the resettlement program it has decimated. As faith leaders across traditions, we join in solidarity with our refugee neighbors, in the United States and abroad, recognizing their courage and resilience as they start new lives.
In the United States, refugees have joined with other Americans in the COVID-19 response, as health care professionals, community leaders, and other front-line personnel. However, U.S. refugee protection policies are in shambles. After the Trump administration acted on its xenophobia and slashed the number of refugees our country planned to resettle to a historic low, it co-opted the coronavirus crisis to further reject refugees and completely gut the asylum system.
On World Refugee Day and every day, Interfaith Immigration Coalition (IIC) member organizations urge all Members of Congress to support refugees by:
- Cosponsoring the bipartisan resolution that commemorates the 40th Anniversary of the Refugee Act of 1980 and celebrates the contributions of refugees over these many years (H.Res.902 / S.Res.545).
- Providing a supplemental $642 million for the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) in FY2020 through the Refugee and Entrant Assistance account, to ensure vulnerable populations such as refugees do not fall through the cracks and can receive housing, food, and the care they need.
- Holding the administration accountable to operating the refugee resettlement program in good faith and restoring both this program and asylum protections to historic norms; welcoming asylum seekers and stateless individuals; preventing family separation; and ending detention of asylum seekers and other vulnerable migrants, in favor of community-based alternatives.
- Joining the bipartisan Congressional Refugee Caucus, led by Representatives Lofgren (D-CA), Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Neguse (D-CO), and Chris Smith (R-NJ).
Following are quotes from IIC member organizations.
Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president & CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service
“While we seek to secure welcome and safety for refugees and asylum seekers, we are reminded that the work of building safe and equitable communities in the U.S. is ongoing. Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service joins with all communities in outrage over the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade and so many other Black lives. We pledge our support for racial justice and anti-racism. Our lives and rights are interconnected, and the racism that has gutted refugee resettlement is part and parcel to the hatred that harms and kills Black people in the United States.”
Sheila Katz, CEO, National Council of Jewish Women
“For over 125 years, the National Council of Jewish Women has worked to welcome refugees from across the globe fleeing violence and persecution. “This is a reflection of both our Jewish values and our nation’s ideals. In the face of the administration’s ongoing efforts to gut the refugee resettlement program, we declare today, on World Refugee Day, that refugees are valuable members of our communities and we welcome them with open arms.”
John L. McCullough, President and CEO of Church World Service
“This World Refugee Day marks a special moment in our nation’s history of welcoming the stranger. Forty years ago Congress passed the Refugee Act of 1980, a landmark piece of bipartisan legislation that sowed the seeds of compassion. Now, in the midst of an ongoing public health crisis, we are reaping the harvest. Whether serving in hospitals, clinics, or elder care facilities as doctors and nurses, working in factories to make sure the American people have what they need to stay safe, or doing what it takes to keep our grocery store stocked, refugees are making us stronger. Yet while we mark their contributions to our nation and fight to restore our once proud legacy of refugee resettlement, we must be mindful that the work of building safe and equitable communities for them to join is far from finished. The murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade and many other Black lives are a stain on our nation. So while we honor refugees on this day, we must also pledge our support for racial justice and anti-racism in word and deed. We are all one, we are in this together, and we have much to do.”
Melanie Nezer, Senior Vice President, HIAS
“On World Refugee Day, we take a moment to honor the resilience and contributions of refugees around the globe. It is also a day to reflect on who we are and what we stand for. In the years following World War II, the U.S. became the world’s humanitarian leader, with welcoming refugees at the core of our national identity and history. Yet on this World Refugee Day, there have never been more people seeking safety, and so few places willing to welcome them. At a time of so much heartbreak and transformation, we are hopeful that the United States will recommit to a strong refugee resettlement program, an asylum system that is humane and meets our obligations under the law, and welcome to those who seek safety and freedom for themselves and their children.”
Sister Marie Lucey, OSF, Associate Director, Franciscan Action Network
“As Franciscan Action Network celebrates World Refugee Day and honors the world’s 25 million plus refugees, half of whom are under 18 years of age, we deeply regret the backsliding of the United States on welcoming refugees. Once a beacon of safety and hope for children, women, and men who courageously flee violence, upheaval, and death threats in their home countries, in recent years the U.S. administration has continued to close doors to refugee resettlement, now using the pandemic as a false excuse to mask underlying racism. In our Christian faith tradition, we hold the memory of Joseph and Mary who fled to Egypt as refugees to save the life of their child, Jesus, from a jealous tyrant bent on killing him. Welcoming refugees is a humane, just, moral imperative, and refugees, once resettled, have made many valuable contributions to their adopted home.”
Sister Patricia McDermott, RSM, President, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas
“World Refugee Day takes on added significance this year as the world continues to reel from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the impact of climate change, ever more virulent racism, and the increasing animosity toward refugees. As followers of Jesus, we the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas reaffirm our commitment to stand in solidarity with refugees and migrants. Refugees are our sisters and brothers, created in the image and likeness of God. We recognize that our solidarity encompasses both direct service and efforts to bring about systemic change, which means challenging laws and policies which treat migrants and refugees as less than human. In his Message for World Day of Migrants 2020, Pope Francis reminds us, ‘Displaced people offer us this opportunity to meet the Lord, even though our eyes find it hard to recognize him: his clothing in tatters, his feet dirty, his face disfigured, his body wounded, his tongue unable to speak our language.’ May we encounter, serve, and walk daily in solidity with our refugee sisters and brothers.”
Lawrence E. Couch, director of the National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
“The year 2020 could be remembered as one of fear, isolation, violence, and a protectionist ‘me first’ policy. But we are only half way through. With World Refugee Day on June 20, let us initiate change within our communities and around the world through a return to welcoming refugees. We are called to move from nationalism to a recognition of the humanity of all people regardless of geography or race or culture. COVID-19 has dramatically shown us how interrelated we are, with many refugees and immigrants working on the front lines saving the lives of their new neighbors. God calls us to love our neighbor as ourselves. Our future depends on it.”
Rev. Jimmie Hawkins, Director of the Office of Public Witness, Presbyterian Church (USA)
“Knowing that Jesus himself entered this world as a refugee, faithful Presbyterians have been urging the welcome of refugees and demanding higher annual admissions into the United States since the refugee crisis of World War II. And, the Presbyterian Church is present in many of the countries from which refugees and asylum seekers are fleeing. Because we have a presence with people of faith and communities in these countries, we understand why these refugees are fleeing and are further committed to welcoming them.
“Thousands of Presbyterians across the U.S. have personally reached out to welcome refugees and asylum seekers. They have seen first hand the struggles and the determination of our new neighbors to rebuild their lives in dignity and the great contributions they have made to our society. Our nation has historically stood for hope and welcome for those fleeing war and persecution. We cannot turn our back on them.”
Rev. Mark Stephenson, Interim Director of the Christian Reformed Church Office of Social Justice
“When communities come together to welcome refugees, we see a foretaste of the kingdom of God. For over fifty years, the Christian Reformed Church in North America has been participating in this vision by working with and ministering among refugees, and in turn, being blessed by them. We honor these refugees and refugees around the world by celebrating our country’s historic commitment to refugees and asylum seekers as established by the Refugee Act of 1980. However, our refugee and asylum programs are now being continually dismantled while harmful xenophobic narratives are being perpetuated, resulting in significant harm towards our black and brown sisters and brothers, all of whom bear the image of God. Immigrants are a blessing not a burden, and as people of faith, we call on the administration to recognize this fact and restore our refugee and asylum programs to full capacity.”
Susan Gunn, Director of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
“On this World Refugee Day, we are especially aware of the tremendous suffering the pandemic and systemic racism put upon refugees,” said “People forced to flee their homes because of violence and persecution have to contend with a deadly pathogen they cannot see and an unwelcoming U.S. government that closes the door when it hears their cry. We urge the U.S. government to revitalize the refugee resettlement program and do its part on the world stage to respond to the needs of refugees, especially during the pandemic. Maryknoll missioners working with refugees in countries around the world call on the U.S. government to live up to the biblical call to ‘welcome the stranger’ by welcoming refugees.”
Rev. Dr. Sharon Stanley-Rea, Director of Disciples Refugee & Immigration Ministries
“Few ministries across our denomination have engaged congregations more broadly over decades than refugee resettlement–and never has it felt like a more critical moment to celebrate the lives and contributions of refugees as in this 40 year anniversary of the US Refugee Act of 1980! Refugee resettlement remains one of our nation’s most successful and bi-partisan public-private partnerships ever. Decimating this heritage by slashing resettlement goals from 95,000 to only 18,000 in recent years disregards how refugees have inspired our communities, grown our congregations and boosted our economies across the country. Further, recent gutting of the guarantees in the U.S. Refugee Act for the world’s most persecuted to have opportunity to seek asylum in our nation not only flies in the face of U.S. and international humanitarian law, but disregards both God’s calling to ‘uphold the rights of the afflicted and destitute’ (Psalm 82:3) and Jesus’ mission to ‘set at liberty the oppressed’ (Luke 4:18.)”
Ann Scholz, SSND, Associate Director for Social Mission, Leadership Conference of Women Religious
“Each year on June 20 we celebrate the resilience and giftedness of refugees around the world. This year we also mark the 40th Anniversary of the U.S. Refugee Act of 1980, landmark bipartisan legislation which created a formal process for welcoming refugees. Today, an unprecedented 70.8 million people have been forced to flee their homes. The COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying economic distress have added enormously to the vulnerability of the world’s refugees. Unfortunately, the United States seems utterly unwilling to protect those in need. The administration’s plans to defund international agencies that support people on the move, and severely limit U.S. refugee programs is unconscionable.
“Catholic sisters remain committed to welcoming refugees and have been blessed to be able to accompany and serve refugee communities. Our faith calls us to prioritize the safety and well-being of the most vulnerable and to honor the human dignity of all people. We are committed to ensuring that refugees have the support they need to care for themselves and their families particularly during this health crisis.”
The Interfaith Immigration Coalition is made up of 55 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