Call for Humane, Just, Compassionate Response to Immigration Crisis

Call for humane, just, compassionate response to immigration in the United States.

We call for the establishment of a comprehensive immigration system that recognizes the richness and value that immigrants have historically brought and continue to bring to our country, and that offers an accessible pathway to legal status.

The Congregation of the Dominican Sisters ~ Grand Rapids joins the call for a humane, just, and compassionate response to the immigration crisis in the United States. Women religious from across the Midwest have endorsed this statement. Read full statement below.

“When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.” (Lev. 19:33-34)

As people of faith, the love of God unites us as we stand together in our desire for a more humane, just and compassionate response to the immigration crisis we are witnessing in our country. We are appalled and broken-hearted by the immense suffering being inflicted on our migrant sisters and brothers. Scripture calls us to lament and to respond. Therefore, we call for an end to:

Violence being used by masked federal immigration agents against migrants and peaceful protestors;
The dehumanization and racial profiling of people of color and different ethnic backgrounds and the disregard for their human rights;
The cruel separation of families with children being ripped away from their parents who are detained and/or deported;
Mass incarcerations of migrants in overcrowded, unsanitary prisons and detention centers and to the denial of access to pastoral presence.
Mass deportations without due process, especially to third party countries; and
Wholesale bans on accepting migrants, refugees and asylum seekers based on their country of origin or homeland.

These practices are the direct result of a deeply flawed and immoral belief that all migrants are criminals to be feared and deported. The violence currently directed at migrants is being done in the name of the American people with impunity and without congressional oversight. We call for an end to these lawless, unconstitutional actions.

We believe in the rights of all people (citizens and non-citizens alike) enumerated in the Constitution, particularly freedom of speech, the right to assemble and protest peacefully, the right to protection from unlawful search and seizures and due process under the law. We will continue to work with all those who believe that every human being is endowed with God-given dignity. Rooted in Jesus’ proclamation of the two great commandments: love of God and love of neighbor without distinction, we are dedicated to the promotion of a society based on truth, love and compassion rather than fear, hatred and division.

We call for the establishment of a comprehensive immigration system that recognizes the richness and value that immigrants have historically brought and continue to bring to our country, and that offers an accessible pathway to legal status.

We urge our federal legislators to withhold all funding for the Department of Homeland Security (with the exception of FEMA) pending a complete overhaul of current operational policies of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection and to reject any additional funding that would result in the expansion of this massive unjust system that is operating without meaningful accountability to Congress or the American people.

We believe that prayer and contemplation, both personal and congregational, bring before each one of us the invitation to conversion, to a change of heart. We invite all people to join us in prayer and action that will lead to a transformation of our hearts and our world.

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