Washington, DC – For over two weeks, interfaith partners and human rights advocates joined together for “Heal Not Harm” advocacy days to demand Congress restore access to asylum. By driving daily calls to congressional offices, members and constituents of over 25 faith-based and immigrant rights organizations echoed asylum seekers’ demands to put an end to asylum-blocking Title 42—a message that’s been repeated by advocates since the policy’s inception.
This week, the Senate will take up critical climate and healthcare budget reconciliation legislation—the Inflation Reduction Act—which will be open to any and all amendments through a process called “vote-a-rama.” Senators have agreed not to include an immigration title in the bill package, including desperately needed pro-immigrant provisions. Despite this agreement, it is expected that some Senators will try to bog down the much-needed legislation with harmful anti-immigrant amendments—including extending the enforcement of Title 42.
With Title 42 already kept in place by federal court rulings, there is no need to legislatively extend the policy. Bills and amendments that claim to temporarily extend Title 42 not only drive harmful, xenophobic rhetoric, but also impose such unattainable requirements that they would make seeking asylum virtually impossible. Nearly 290 organizations raised these concerns and more in a letter to Congress this week opposing all anti-immigrant amendments, including the extension of Title 42.
The member organizations of the Interfaith Immigration Coalition (IIC) remain unequivocal in their faith-rooted support of vulnerable people that have been forced to flee their homes, and in the legal and human right to seek asylum. In closing out their “Heal Not Harm” advocacy days, the IIC urges Senators to vote NO on any amendment that would harm immigrant communities and derail this important and historic bill that the nation so desperately needs.
IIC members and partners issued the following statements:
Sister Áine O’Connor, Member of Institute Leadership Team, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, said, “Anti-immigrant amendments do not belong in this bill, and using immigrants as pawns to score political points denies their essential dignity, belonging, and ultimately our own realization of our common humanity and need for one another. Immigrants are also critical contributors to our economy, and the dangerous fear-mongering against immigrants costs lives. We need only reflect on today’s third anniversary of the racist and violent mass shooting in El Paso to see the results of such fanning of white nationalism and anti-immigrant rhetoric. We call on Senators who try to ‘blame the victims,’ immigrants, to instead acknowledge that decades of failed US foreign policies in Latin America have contributed to the root causes of migration, creating the spiraling inequality and violence from which people are fleeing for their lives.”
Katie Adams, Interim Chair of the IIC and Domestic Policy Advocate for the United Church of Christ said, “The right to seek asylum is a well established international legal right, and more to the point, it is our moral duty to offer asylum to those who seek it. We urge Senators to vote no on any amendments to the Inflation Reduction Act that are anti-immigrant. It is both crass and cruel to attach anti-asylum amendments to an important piece of legislation aimed at addressing climate change and helping make healthcare more affordable for millions. It is a deliberate pitting of vulnerable groups against each other and we must continue to advocate for a welcome for immigrants, care for creation, and love of our neighbor. These things are not mutually exclusive, and as people of faith we pray our legislators embrace the grace and imagination to seek abundance and a future of real justice for all.”
“Addressing climate change, healthcare, taxes, and inflation is important and desperately needed progress – that’s why the Senate must not set up the Inflation Reduction Act to fail by adding in destructive anti-immigrant amendments,” said Melina Roche, #WelcomeWithDignity Campaign Manager. “If the Senate adopts extremist amendments—like codifying Title 42—to the budget reconciliation bill, the #WelcomeWithDignity campaign will oppose its passage. For far too long, Title 42 has harmed countless migrants and people seeking protection, including those who are especially vulnerable such as Black, Indigenous, and LGBTQ asylum-seekers. Furthermore, this policy has only benefitted nefarious actors seizing on the desperation of people fleeing for their lives.”
“Anti-immigrant amendments to the Inflation Reduction Act must not pollute this moment for many on healthcare, taxes, and even climate. It would be a toxic and hollow victory if the Senate permits the codification of Title 42,” said Pablo DeJesús, Executive Director, Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice. “Such amendments are a deplorable effort to set one community against another, perpetuating wrongheaded, injurious policy. As Unitarian Universalists we find this circumstance antithetical to our belief that the sacred holds us all in love, charging each of us to value the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Congress has a moral duty to uphold a well-functioning and compassionate asylum system; we, therefore, ask Senators to vote no on any such anti-immigrant amendments.”
“Jesuit Refugee Service/USA urges all Senators to oppose any effort to limit access to asylum during upcoming legislative proceedings,” said Joan Rosenhauer, Executive Director. “Providing protections for those seeking asylum is a universally recognized human right that must not be undermined and is a critical part of who we are as a nation. Welcoming our brothers and sisters seeking protection and safety is also fundamental to JRS’s Christian and Catholic values, and is a commitment shared by many faith traditions. We must ensure that our nation responds to the biblical call to ‘welcome the stranger’.”
Fran Eskin-Royer, Executive Director of the National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, said, “NAC urges the U.S. Senate to avoid attaching disingenuous amendments on immigration and refugees to the Inflation Reduction Act. These possible anti-immigrant amendments would further damage our failing immigration system and further harm the innocent men, women and children who are escaping dangerous homelands in search of safety and welcome. Our Statue of Liberty and American values embrace all. So should we welcome all, grounded in the knowledge that each and every one of us is endowed with dignity given to us by God.”
“Congress must take action on pressing issues of the day through the Inflation Reduction Act. However, the United Methodist Church calls on Congress to act consciously and refuse any amendments that would be anti-immigrant in tenor and practice,” said Rev. Kendal L. McBroom, Director of Civil and Human Rights for the United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society. “We believe in the inherent dignity, value, and worth of all people, including immigrants and asylum seekers. As such, we encourage Congress not to enshrine Title 42 as law and to provide the necessary protection and resources for those in this community.”
“Congress has a historic opportunity to improve the lives of families across the country,” said Mary J. Novak, Executive Director, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice. “Now is not the time to play politics. The Inflation Reduction Act will address the threat of climate change, lower healthcare costs, and support hardworking families—and no poison pills should get in the way of its passage.”
“The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 includes important climate change and health care provisions and is far too important to be derailed by anti-immigrant, anti-asylum amendments,” stated Barbara Weinstein, Director of the Reform Jewish Movement’s Commission on Social Action. “A vote-a-rama with little opportunity to scrutinize language for harmful or unintended consequences is not the place to make changes in immigration policy. Time and again, the Jewish people have experienced the consequences of harsh policies and indifference to the suffering of the world’s most vulnerable people. It is this history that inspires us to encourage all Senators to vote no on any anti-immigrant amendments to the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.”
“Congress has the opportunity to help American families and our planet by passing the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Unfortunately, some see this legislation as an opportunity to advance an anti-immigrant, anti-human rights agenda and seek to amend this legislation,” said Christy Gleason, Vice President for Policy, Advocacy, and Campaigns at Save the Children. “Save the Children believes that all children, regardless of where they are from, deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. We call on Congress to stop playing politics when the lives and safety of children are at stake, and reject efforts to use reconciliation to advance anti-immigrant measures.”
“I urge the U.S. Senate to remember that we don’t have to sacrifice one set of values for another,” said Marisa Limón Garza, senior director for policy and advocacy at Hope Border Institute. “By maintaining the focus of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 on the core challenges it was originally designed to address, then we retain its integrity, best help the American people, and stand in our values.”
“Franciscan Action Network strongly urges Senators to oppose any amendment to the Inflation Reduction Act that would attempt to codify Title 42,” stated Sister Mare Lucey, Associate Director of FAN. “Our faith and Franciscan values call us to heal—not harm—migrant sisters and brothers who seek access to the asylum process. Congress must work to repair this country’s broken immigration system so that it treats asylum seekers with respect and dignity, and recognizes the desperate situations that compel them to risk seeking safety in the United States.”
“As the Senate votes on the Inflation Reduction Act, we urge lawmakers to reject any anti-immigrant amendments that could derail this important legislation,” said Alison Kahn, Policy Staff at the American Friends Service Committee. “Guided by the Quaker belief in the divine light within each person, we will continue to advocate for a humane and welcoming immigration system that protects, respects, and upholds the human rights of all migrants. We urge all Senators to reject any amendment which would codify Title 42, impede access to humanitarian protections, or further militarize our borders and communities.”
“This is an important moment for Senators to stand with all communities to pass this historic bill without any poison pill amendments that would harm immigrant and refugee communities,” said Elissa Diaz, Associate Director of Policy and Advocacy at Church World Service. “Church World Service urges Senators to embody bold and courageous leadership by rejecting any anti-immigrant amendments including amendments seeking to codify the dangerous and discriminatory Title 42 policy, which has caused irreparable harm to asylum seekers and the communities who have stood ready to welcome them. Our country is at its best when we live up to our moral and legal obligations to welcome individuals and families seeking safety. As a faith-based organization, we believe in the inherent dignity of all people and we urge lawmakers to oppose measures that would undermine this core value and focus on passing a clean bill that will benefit communities across the country for years to come.”
The Interfaith Immigration Coalition is made up of over 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
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