Washington, DC — Today, faith leaders from multiple faith traditions gathered on a virtual press event to reaffirm the importance of treating immigrants and refugees with dignity and respect and to call for policies that align with these core values.
Speakers also addressed the recent lawsuit filed on behalf of over two dozen Christian and Jewish religious denominations and associations in response to the rescission of the DHS “sensitive locations” policy that had previously restricted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from conducting immigration raids, arrests, and other enforcement actions at houses of worship. Among the speakers:
Mark Hetfield, President of HIAS, said: “Refugees and immigrants are a blessing, not a burden, to this country. The Trump Administration has destroyed, without notice, decades old partnerships with faith based agencies to provide a safe, legal and welcoming pathway for refugees to immigrate to the United States. Trump may have broken the US government’s promises to us, but faith-based organizations like HIAS will keep our promises to new Americans – that we welcome them here.”
Rev. William H. Lamar IV, Pastor, Metropolitan AME Church, Washington, DC, said: “There are mothers who are afraid to go to the grocery store and children who are afraid to go to school, men afraid to work. Hardworking, taxpaying siblings of ours made the image of the likeness of God have been gripped by fear and not an irrational fear, but a fear rooted in a politics of hatred, fascism, and white supremacy.”
Rev. Gabriel Salguero, Pastor, The Gathering Place and President, National Latino Evangelical Coalition, said: “Regrettably, there has been a lot of heat and not enough light on immigration and refugee policies. For me, and the pastors and congregations of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, this is a pastoral issue beyond partisanship. We are calling for bipartisan immigration reform that respects the rule of law and treats immigrants with the God-given dignity they deserve. We can deal with safety while respecting religious liberty and pastoral ministry to immigrants and refugees. In the meantime the Church will continue to be the Church.”
Bishop Mark Seitz, Bishop of El Paso, Texas, said: “The actions that we have seen from this administration are not oriented for sensible solutions; they are not oriented to any solutions at all. They are a betrayal of our values. They are an attack on our families, and they risk weaponizing the law against the vulnerable. There is no denying that the rhetoric on this issue, the actions that seal the border to the vulnerable, the rolling back of humanitarian aid programs, and the actions that bring us each day closer to realizing the administration’s goal of mass deportations are deeply rooted in intolerance … I choose a different path, people of faith across the country choose a different path.”
Jim Simpson, Executive Director of the Center on Faith and Justice at Georgetown University, said: “The enforcement actions at places of worship interfere with religious activities and the ability of people of faith to fulfill their religious mandates to welcome and serve immigrants, as we’ve heard from our other speakers, I think across all faith traditions, but certainly within Judaism and Christianity, we are called without exception to treat everyone, who are all made in God’s image, with welcome, care, and protection, and especially the stranger, as this is lifted up in both the Old and the New Testaments.”
Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice, moderated the event and said: “One month into the Trump presidency and the consequences of the cruelty and scapegoating of immigrants are evident for all to see. This includes the tragic and unspeakable bullying and death by suicide of Jocelyn Rojo Carranza an 11-year-old from Gainsville, TX, who was tormented by her peers with deportation threats. This Administration and its policies are responsible for the atmosphere of hate, fear, and retribution we are seeing play out across our country. Their anti-immigrant obsessions undermine our values and come at a high cost to America’s soul and the American people.”
- Access a recording of today’s virtual event HERE
