Washington, DC – On Thursday, May 22, the U.S. The House of Representatives voted to advance a reconciliation bill that increases funding for immigration enforcement while significantly reducing support for programs that serve vulnerable people. The Interfaith Immigration Coalition (IIC) members are deeply disappointed by the House’s passage of the reconciliation bill. As it stands, it represents a grave threat to the moral fabric of the nation. If passed, the legislation would fundamentally reshape our communities by diverting unprecedented sums to detention, deportation, and border militarization while cutting essential health and food assistance programs that make our communities stronger.
We urge the Senate to provide the moral leadership this moment demands by rejecting this reconciliation bill and its harmful provisions. Our faith traditions call us to welcome the sojourner, love our neighbor, and protect the vulnerable. This bill undermines the common good as it slashes essential human need programs and paves the way for the mass deportation of our neighbors–all while we continue to bear witness to grave unfairness and due process violations throughout the nation.
“One consistent theme throughout the Bible is God’s concern for those who are marginalized or vulnerable in their society.” said Rev. Adam Russell Taylor, President, Sojourners. “The House’s budget reconciliation bill is deeply immoral in the way it imposes particular burdens on migrant people seeking shelter from persecution, violence, and economic crisis, while rewarding society’s wealthiest people and corporations. We appeal to the conscience of our lawmakers in the Senate to reject this immoral budget and replace it with legislation that reflects our core civic and religious values of economic opportunity, justice, and dignity for all.”
“This bill abandons the American legacy of being a sanctuary for the persecuted and a home for the hopeful, paving the way for the mass deportation of our neighbors without due process. As people of faith and conscience, we urge our senators to reject this bill and instead stand in solidarity with keeping families together and building a healthy, thriving community rooted in our nation’s legacy of welcome.” said Kristyn Peck, Chief Executive Officer, Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area (LSSNCA).
“We Franciscans are more than disappointed in the House Reconciliation Bill. We feel moral outrage that a funding bill is used to attack and harm migrants and the most vulnerable people in this country,” said Sister Marie Lucey, Associate Director of Franciscan Action Network. “The bill flies in the face of the gospel of Jesus Christ, Catholic Social Teaching, and our Franciscan values. We call on the Senate to reject this reconciliation bill and work on a bill that promotes the common good, with special attention to the needs of our most vulnerable people and which assures due process for migrants. We keep these lawmakers in prayer, and pray that they will do the right thing, the moral and just thing, for the people they represent.”
Fran Eskin-Royer, Executive Director of the National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, stated: “The National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd calls on the U.S. Senate to overhaul this misguided budget reconciliation bill. Senators should lead by redirecting copious amounts of money from detention and deportation operations to children who are food insecure. Senators should focus on women and vulnerable populations who are falling through America’s tattered safety nets. Senators should support struggling families who can’t afford quality health care. This is the calling and purpose of Congress.”
“This bill stands in violation of our deeply held Christian values of generosity and hospitality,” said Rev. Michael Neuroth, Director of the UCC Office of Public Policy & Advocacy, “It funds President Trump’s aggressive deportation program by harming some of the most vulnerable in our nation. If passed, it would kick 2 million children in mixed-status families off of the Child Tax Credit program and cut food stamp benefits, school meals, and summer meal assistance for 2 million children. This is simply unacceptable, and I pray the Senate finds the moral and political courage to oppose this egregious bill.”
Rev. Kendal L. McBroom, Director of Civil and Human Rights, The United Methodist General Board of Church and Society, stated, “As United Methodists, we believe in the sacred worth of every person and the biblical mandate to welcome the sojourner, care for the poor, and seek justice for the oppressed. The reconciliation bill passed by the House threatens these core values by prioritizing detention and deportation over human dignity and by slashing essential support for families in need. The United Methodist Church stands with the Interfaith Immigration Coalition in opposing this legislation. We call on the Senate to reject these harmful provisions and instead champion policies that reflect compassion, equity, and the common good.”
“It is shameful that we have lost our moral compass as a nation.” said Jean Stokan, Justice Coordinator for Immigration, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas. “The Reconciliation bill voted in the House last week is scandalous with its exorbitant increases for the Pentagon and a mass deportation apparatus that has been cruelly tearing families apart, disappearing our neighbors, and denying immigrants due process. It is outrageous that elected officials would vote to strip health care coverage and food stamps for millions of families, already suffering, to enable tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy. Elected officials who fail to stand up to this administration and its demonizing of immigrants must be held accountable for this cruelty.”
Pablo DeJesús, Executive Director of Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice, stated: “The House budget Reconciliation bill marks a sweeping and generational shift in how our nation allocates resources, power, and legal protections, threatening fundamental rights and human dignity. As Unitarian Universalists, we reject this approach to governance and policy. We are deeply concerned about the harm to programs that meet human needs and support vulnerable communities—programs grounded in compassion and justice. We will not stand by while families are denied healthcare and nutrition or while billions are funneled to the wealthy through tax cuts. We will not be silent as immigrants, migrants, refugees, and asylees face an intensified enforcement regime that disregards constitutional norms and due process. Nor will we condone more funding for border militarization, detention, and deportation. Our faith calls us to act for justice, equity, and the inherent worth of every person.”
Nicole Pressley, Director of the Side With Love Organizing Strategy Team at the Unitarian Universalist Association stated: “This budget reconciliation bill is a moral failure. It prioritizes detention, deportation, and tax breaks for the wealthy over the basic needs of children, families, and the most vulnerable among us. As Unitarian Universalists, we believe every person has inherent worth and dignity—and that belief demands we speak out when our government abandons compassion for cruelty, and chooses private interests over the common good. Cutting food assistance, healthcare, and the Child Tax Credit for millions, is not fiscal responsibility—it is violence cloaked in policy. We call on the Senate to reject this bill and instead choose a path of justice, care, and collective thriving.”
Giovana Oaxaca, Senior Government Relations Advocate on Immigration at NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice said: “A budget that channels unprecedented funds into immigration enforcement and border militarization, while enriching private corporations and cutting safety net programs, is not an expression of ‘love our neighbor’ nor does is suit the real challenges facing struggling families. If this bill is passed by the Senate, lawmakers will be supporting family separations, prolonged detention of families with children, and the large-scale deportation of people who have been our good friends and neighbors in our communities for decades. NETWORK is committed to advocating for a future where everyone belongs and will be urging Senators to do right by our communities.”
Danilo Zak, Director of Policy at Church World Service said: “Church World Service urges Senators to reject the transfer of billions of dollars from children and families to dramatically expand detention and deportation. If passed as written, the bill would also render tens of thousands of refugees and other humanitarian arrivals ineligible for Medicare and SNAP benefits. Depriving our immigrant neighbors of food and health care is an abdication of our commitments to welcome those fleeing persecution with open arms. Senators have a moral imperative to heed the call of our nation’s diverse faith traditions by strengthening the programs that help our communities thrive and flourish.”
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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