Over a dozen leaders on Capitol Hill, and over 150 faith-based organizations, urge Members of Congress to vote no
Meetings with Schumer, Johnson, Garabarino
WASHINGTON, DC – Faith leaders and hundreds of organizations are urging Congress to vote no on the budget reconciliation bill.
“It seems some lawmakers are willing to overlook the rising cost of living, and the erosion of the social safety net, just to throw billions more taxpayer dollars at the Trump administration’s chaotic, cruel, and deadly immigration policy,” said Giovana Oaxaca, Senior Government Relations Manager, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, Co-Chair of Interfaith Immigration Coalition. “But people of faith are using their voices to tell Congress this is not what we want.”
This immoral equation brought faith leaders to Capitol Hill to meet with lawmakers and urge them to vote no on the pending bill. They represent multiple Christian denominations, Unitarian Universalists, Jewish organizations, the Quaker tradition and several interfaith organizations. To interview participating faith leaders, contact [email protected]. A list of participants appears below.
Also, 151 faith-based organizations — representing national groups and 28 states including the District of Columbia — sent a letter to House and Senate leadership urging rejection of the bill. They point out that people in the United States are struggling financially, and that “Congress’s cuts to the social safety net have weakened institutional supports that provide stability and protect families against poverty.”
What’s more, they explain, U.S. Americans already have grave concerns about the way immigration enforcement is being carried out after Congress appropriated an additional $170B in tax dollars to the agencies involved. Instead of using taxpayer money to ease the financial pain, the current draft of the reconciliation bill would actually create more pain for American families. The letter reads:
The consequences of sweeping federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) actions could not be starker: agents have taken people — both citizens and non-citizens — from their homes and from the streets. In detention centers, detainees have been denied access to worship, legal representation, and medical care, creating conditions that are deeply dehumanizing and deadly.
Said Rev. Julio Hernández, Executive Director, Congregation Action Network, “Dedicating $70B in new funding for immigration enforcement, while further eroding programs to uplift our common well-being, will continue the trajectory of harm we have been on since last year. This reconciliation bill doesn’t address the American people’s priorities. We want affordable gas, housing, and groceries. We want to be treated with dignity and respect on the job and by police. Instead, this bill is bloated with more funds for immigration agencies that are, quite frankly, out of control and deadly. The American people don’t want more people to die on our streets, at the hands of ICE, or in detention centers. They want a rational and humane immigration policy that respects our constitutional rights. Congress must reject this offensive reconciliation bill and focus squarely on our mutual well-being.”
On Monday, the group met with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). “People of many faiths act on the belief that we should be welcoming the stranger, feeding the poor, and healing the sick,” said Kimiko Hirota, Associate Director of Policy at Church World Service. “Tens of billions of dollars more for immigration enforcement—to separate families, return victims of persecution to danger, and raid schools, houses of worship, courthouses and hospitals—flies in the face of our shared values. We thank Minority Leader Schumer for standing up for our communities and the new Americans who enrich them. The latest budget bill distracts from the affordability crisis and rampant abuse of the rule of law. Any American tax dollar that further funds ICE and CBP is a dollar taken away from food pantries, public health programs, and communities in need.”
Faith leaders also met with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA/4). Said Jeanné Lewis, CEO of Faith in Public Life Action, “We asked Speaker Johnson to exercise his leadership and find creative ways to collaborate across the aisle to provide healthcare for vulnerable populations and protections for sensitive locations, rather than funneling more money into immigration enforcement. We are urging all elected leaders to find common ground and invest in programs that truly make our communities more safe and secure.”
Rabbi Jonah Pesner, Heidi Segal, Laurie Carafone, Rev. Michael Neuroth, and Rev. Adam Taylor met with Rep. Garbarino (R-NY/2). Said Rev. Michael Neuroth, Director of the Office of Public Policy & Advocacy with United Church of Christ, “As a diverse group of faith leaders representing Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant traditions, we met with Rep. Garbarino’s office on Monday to press upon him the moral urgency of this moment. We called on him to vote NO on any budget reconciliation bill that would send $70 billion to DHS, and specifically ICE/CBP, at a time when our communities and congregations are living in fear from ICE’s terror raids across our nation, combined with the failure to protect ‘sensitive locations’ that include our churches, temples, and synagogues from such raids. This is morally unacceptable and runs counter to all of our faith traditions. They call us to love our neighbor — not detain, deport, and terrorize them.”
Read the full letter and list of signatories here.
Participants in Faith Leader Meetings on Capitol Hill
- Heidi Segal — Board Chair — Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
- Marianne Comfort — Director — Sisters of Mercy
- Alan Yarborough — Director of Government Relations — Episcopal Church
- Laurie Carafone — Executive Director — Network Lobby
- Michael Neuroth — Director of the Office of Public Policy & Advocacy — United Church of Christ
- Kimiko Hirota — Associate Director of Policy — Church World Service
- Pablo DeJesús — Executive Director — Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice
- Adam Taylor — President — Sojourners
- Jeanné Lewis — CEO — Faith in Public Life Action
- Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner — Director — Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
- Julio Hernandez — Executive Director — Congregation Action Network
- Amy Reumann — Senior Director — Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
- Tammy Alexander — Director of National Peace & Justice Ministries — Mennonite Central Committee U.S.
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The Interfaith Immigration Coalition (IIC) is a partnership of 56 faith-based organizations committed to enacting fair and humane immigration reform that reflects our mandate to welcome the stranger and treat all human beings with dignity and respect. Coalition members work together to advocate for just and equitable immigration policies, educate faith communities, and serve immigrant populations around the country.