Opposition by Religious Leaders, Churches, and Religious Individuals to the Trump Administration’s Family Separation Policy; News Stories and Commentary

compiled by Roger W. Smith

April 2020

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Reform Jewish Leader Decries Missing Children, Family Separation, and Mistreatment of Minors

press release

Religious Action Center (RAC)

May 28, 2018

https://rac.org/reform-jewish-leader-decries-missing-children-family-separation-and-mistreatment-minors

WASHINGTON – In response to widespread reported mistreatment of minors detained by border patrol and customs agents, including the separation of children from their parents, and the government being unable to account for approximately 1,500 immigrant children separated from their families while being detained, Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, issued the following statement on behalf of the Union for Reform Judaism, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and the wider Reform Movement:

“The policy of separating migrant children from their parents is unconscionable. That about 1,500 children are now unaccounted for is the tragic result of the immoral decision to use the threat of family separation as a ‘deterrent’ to immigration combined with gross incompetence by those charged with overseeing immigration enforcement.

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“The reported physical mistreatment of minors, including pregnant teens and those who have recently given birth, as well as the separation of children as young as 18 months old from their parents, is horrific.

“Our Jewish tradition calls on us to welcome the stranger, to treat immigrants fairly, and to empathize with the widow, the stranger, and the orphan because we ourselves were strangers in the land of Egypt. The inhumane treatment of migrant children and parents is a clear indication that the U.S. government has fallen far short of this standard. We all need to do better, lest this shameful chapter in our nation’s history come to define our future.

“The practice of separating migrant children from their parents must stop. Those at the highest levels of the Trump administration are responsible and must provide the public a clear explanation of how this happened and how these families will be reunited. The President, as well as Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Secretary of Homeland Security is Kirstjen Nielsen, and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly owe the American people answers.”

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Statement from the Most Rev. Daniel E. Flores, Bishop of Brownsville, on the Separation of Immigrant Parents and Children

June 8, 2018

http://stmoside.org/statement-from-the-most-rev-daniel-e-flores-bishop-of-brownsville-on-the-separation-of-immigrant-parents-and-children/

Please take time to read this statement from Bishop Flores who is the Bishop of Brownsville, Texas, a border Diocese to Mexico. His message represents the feeling and perspective of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

When we rip children out of the arms of their parents, we are ripping out the heart and soul of our Nation. Is this how we are making America great again?

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-- Rev. Michael Ratajczak

The systematic separation of immigrant parents and children at the border is simply cruel. A nation has a right to secure its sovereign border, but that does not mean that it may use any means available to deter immigrants who seek to ask for asylum.

By jailing parents on what is usually a misdemeanor charge, parents who cross the border with their children are being separated from them. Thus, the government itself is creating the children’s status as “unaccompanied.” Lawyers and public defenders tell me that parents are not being told where their crying children are being taken.

This nation, for the sake of its soul, must learn to weep with these children, and all the children who are being instrumentalized and commodified in our midst. I urge the Catholic faithful of the Diocese of Brownsville, and all persons of good will to write to the President, the Attorney General, and members of Congress, to insist that this manner of enforcement come to an end. I also ask that we as a community pray for families and children affected by this enforcement policy, and that our country’s laws be crafted and administered with human compassion.

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A Statement from Daniel Cardinal DiNardo

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

June 13, 2018

http://www.usccb.org/news/2018/18-098.cfm

Fort Lauderdale, FL--"At its core, asylum is an instrument to preserve the right to life. The Attorney General's recent decision elicits deep concern because it potentially strips asylum from

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any women who lack adequate protection. These vulnerable women will now face return to the extreme dangers of domestic violence in their home country. This decision negates decades of precedents that have provided protection to women fleeing domestic violence. Unless overturned, the decision will erode the capacity of asylum to save lives, particularly in cases that involve asylum seekers who are persecuted by private actors. We urge courts and policy makers to respect and enhance, not erode, the potential of our asylum system to preserve and protect the right to life.

Additionally, I join Bishop Joe Vásquez, Chairman of USCCB's Committee on Migration, in condemning the continued use of family separation at the U.S./Mexico border as an implementation of the Administration's zero tolerance policy. Our government has the discretion in our laws to ensure that young children are not separated from their parents and exposed to irreparable harm and trauma. Families are the foundational element of our society and they must be able to stay together. While protecting our borders is important, we can and must do better as a government, and as a society, to find other ways to ensure that safety. Separating babies from their mothers is not the answer and is immoral."

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Catholic bishops call Trump’s asylum rules ‘immoral,’ with one suggesting ‘canonical penalties’ for those involved

By Michelle Boorstein

The Washington Post

June 13, 2018

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2018/06/13/catholic-bishops-call-trumps-new-asylum-rules-immoral-with-one-suggesting-canonical-penalties-for-those-involved/

Leading U.S. Catholic bishops on Wednesday escalated their criticism of the Trump administration’s immigration policies, calling new asylum-limiting rules “immoral” and rhetorically comparing the crackdown to abortion by saying it is a “a right-to-life” issue.

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One bishop from the U.S.-Mexico border region reportedly suggested “canonical penalties” -- which could refer to withholding the sacrament of Communion -- for Catholics involved in implementing the Trump policies.

The comments came as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops -- the organizing body of bishops -- gathered for a biannual meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The topics of migration and asylum have long been a focus for the U.S. church; more than 50 percent of U.S. Catholics under the age of 30 are Latinos.

The statements, including by the conference’s president, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston, came two days after Attorney General Jeff Sessions ruled that fear of domestic violence or gang violence aren’t clear grounds for seeking asylum in the United States. Sessions said asylum claims have expanded too broadly.

But the bishops said the ruling this week came on top of other Trump White House moves that they oppose. Those include ending a program that protected from deportation the “dreamers,” young undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, and reducing significantly the number of refugees allowed into the United States.

“At its core, asylum is an instrument to preserve the right to life. The Attorney General’s recent decision elicits deep concern because it potentially strips asylum from many women who lack adequate protection. These vulnerable women will now face return to the extreme dangers of domestic violence in their home country. This decision negates decades of precedents that have provided protection to women fleeing domestic violence,” said a statement Wednesday by DiNardo in his capacity as USCCB president.

The statement also condemned the “continued use of family separation at the U.S./Mexico border as an implementation of the Administration’s zero tolerance policy. Our government has the discretion in our laws to ensure that young children are not separated from their parents and exposed to irreparable harm and trauma. Families are the foundational element of our society and they must be able to stay together.”

The bishops’ statement came a day after representatives of the biggest Protestant group in the United States -- the Southern Baptist Convention -- voted for a resolution that calls for protection of U.S. borders along with a “pathway to legal status” and an emphasis on protecting family units.

According to the Religion News Service, Tucson Bishop Edward Weisenburger raised the possibility of implementing canonical penalties for Catholics “who are involved in this,” referring to children being separated from their families at the border. Canonical penalties can range from denial of sacraments to excommunication, though Weisenburger did not specify what he intended beyond referring to sanctions that already exist for “life issues,” RNS reported.

“Canonical penalties are there in place to heal,” Weisenburger said. “And therefore, for the salvation of these people’s souls, maybe it’s time for us to look at canonical penalties.”

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Efforts to reach Weisenburger for details were not immediately successful late Wednesday.

Some activists noted that it was rare for bishops to even talk about spiritual penalties in a political context, aside from warnings from some bishops to politicians who support abortion rights. John Gehring, a former USCCB staffer who is now a progressive faith advocate at Faith in Public Life, tweeted that “it’s hard to overstate” the significance of Weisenburger’s remarks.

I don't support denying people Communion and weaponizing the Eucharist, which happened in the 2004 presidential election. But it's hard to overstate how significant it is for a Catholic bishop to even raise this possibility outside of the context of abortion.

-- John Gehring (@gehringdc) June 13, 2018

Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, RNS reported, “proposed that a group of bishops be sent to the border to inspect the detention facilities where children are kept as a ‘sign of our pastoral concern and protest against the hardening of the American heart.’ Bishop Oscar Cantú of Las Cruces, N.M., suggested ‘public gestures’ such as prayer vigils in front of federal courthouses.”

Also on Wednesday, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, a confidant of Pope Francis who heads the Boston archdiocese, released a statement saying that while immigration policy is complex and must respect a variety of national and security needs, it is at its core “about people, young and old, alone or in families, often fearful and abandoned. Immigration policy is a moral question that cannot be separated from decisions of what it is right and wrong, of justice and injustice. It is about respecting and reverencing the dignity of the human person.”

The new U.S. immigration policies, O’Malley said, “fail to communicate a willingness to address the reality of widespread human suffering, and in many cases imminent danger, with compassion and care.”

“As a Catholic bishop, I support political and legal authority. I have always taught respect for the civil law and will continue to do so. But, I cannot be silent when our country’s immigration policy destroys families, traumatizes parents, and terrorizes children. The harmful and unjust policy of separating children from their parents must be ended.”

It wasn’t clear what leverage the bishops might have with the Trump administration, whose faith advisory council is composed exclusively of evangelicals.

“When you have a social crisis of this magnitude, you have to look with two levels,” said the Rev. Bryan Hehir, secretary for social services and health care for the Boston archdiocese. “You want to affect the policy, to make a counter-argument. Secondly I think from a historical perspective people will look back on this period of time and ask: ‘Who said what?’”

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Trump administration’s immigration policies are ‘immoral’, say leading Catholic bishops

Bishops have escalated their criticism of the Trump administration and suggested that Catholics involved in implementing its policies could face 'penalties'

Michelle Boorstein

The Independent

June 14, 2018

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/trump-immigration-catholic-bishops-moral-us-mexico-border-a8399016.html

Migration is an important topic for the U.S. church because more than 50 per cent of U.S. Catholics under the age of 30 are Latinos (Rex Features)

Leading U.S. Catholic bishops have escalated their criticism of the Trump administration’s immigration policies, calling new asylum-limiting rules "immoral" and rhetorically comparing the crackdown to abortion by saying it is a "a right to life" issue.

One bishop from the U.S.-Mexico border region reportedly suggested "canonical penalties" - which could refer to withholding the sacrament of Communion - for Catholics involved in implementing the Trump policies.

The comments came as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops - the organising body of bishops - gathered for a biannual meeting in Fort Lauderdale. The topics of migration and asylum have long been a focus for the U.S. church; more than 50 per cent of U.S. Catholics under the age of 30 are Latinos.

The statements, including by the Conference's president, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston, came two days after Attorney General Jeff Sessions ruled that fear of domestic violence or gang violence aren't clear grounds for seeking asylum in the United States. Mr Sessions said asylum claims have expanded too broadly.

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But the bishops said the ruling this week came on top of other Trump White House moves that they oppose. Those include ending a program that protected from deportation the "dreamers," young undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, and reducing significantly the number of refugees allowed into the United States.

"At its core, asylum is an instrument to preserve the right to life. The Attorney General's recent decision elicits deep concern because it potentially strips asylum from many women who lack adequate protection. These vulnerable women will now face return to the extreme dangers of domestic violence in their home country. This decision negates decades of precedents that have provided protection to women fleeing domestic violence," Cardinal DiNardo said in a statement in his capacity as USCCB president.

The statement also condemned the "continued use of family separation at the U.S./Mexico border as an implementation of the Administration's zero tolerance policy. Our government has the discretion in our laws to ensure that young children are not separated from their parents and exposed to irreparable harm and trauma. Families are the foundational element of our society and they must be able to stay together."

The bishops' statement came a day after representatives of the biggest Protestant group in the United States - the Southern Baptist Convention - voted for a resolution that calls for protection of U.S. borders along with a "pathway to legal status" and an emphasis on protecting family units.

According to the Religion News Service, Tucson Bishop Edward Weisenburger raised the possibility of implementing canonical penalties for Catholics "who are involved in this," referring to children being separated from their families at the border. Canonical penalties can range from denial of sacraments to excommunication, though Mr Weisenburger did not specify what he intended beyond referring to sanctions that already exist for "life issues," RNS reported.

U.S. attorney general Jeff Sessions to Oakland mayor: 'how dare you' expose immigration raid

"Canonical penalties are there in place to heal," Mr Weisenburger said. "And therefore, for the salvation of these people's souls, maybe it's time for us to look at canonical penalties."

Efforts to reach Mr Weisenburger for details were not immediately successful late on Wednesday.

Some activists noted that it was rare for bishops to even talk about spiritual penalties in a political context, aside from warnings from some bishops to politicians who support abortion rights. John Gehring, a former USCCB staffer who is now a progressive faith advocate at Faith in Public Life, tweeted that "it's hard to overstate" the significance of Mr Weisenburger's remarks.

Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, RNS reported, "proposed that a group of bishops be sent to the border to inspect the detention facilities where children are kept as a 'sign of our pastoral

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concern and protest against the hardening of the American heart.' Bishop Oscar Cantú of Las Cruces, New Mexico, suggested 'public gestures' such as prayer vigils in front of federal courthouses."

Cardinal Sean O'Malley, a confidant of Pope Francis who heads the Boston archdiocese, released a statement saying that while immigration policy is complex and must respect a variety of national and security needs, it is at its core "about people, young and old, alone or in families, often fearful and abandoned. Immigration policy is a moral question that cannot be separated from decisions of what it is right and wrong, of justice and injustice. It is about respecting and reverencing the dignity of the human person."

The new U.S. immigration policies, Cardinal O'Malley said, "fail to communicate a willingness to address the reality of widespread human suffering, and in many cases imminent danger, with compassion and care."*"As a Catholic bishop, I support political and legal authority. I have always taught respect for the civil law and will continue to do so. But, I cannot be silent when our country's immigration policy destroys families, traumatises parents, and terrorises children. The harmful and unjust policy of separating children from their parents must be ended."

It wasn't clear what leverage the bishops might have with the Trump administration, whose faith advisory council is composed exclusively of evangelicals.

"When you have a social crisis of this magnitude, you have to look with two levels," said the Rev. Bryan Hehir, secretary for social services and health care for the Boston archdiocese. "You want to affect the policy, to make a counter-argument. Secondly I think from a historical perspective people will look back on this period of time and ask: 'Who said what?”*t

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Conservative Religious Leaders Are Denouncing Trump Immigration Policies

By Laurie Goodstein

The New York Times

* Quoted in “Catholic bishops call Trump’s asylum rules ‘immoral,’ with one suggesting ‘canonical penalties’ for those involved,” The Washington Post, June 13, 2018.

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June 14, 2018

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/14/us/trump-immigration-religion.html

Conservative religious leaders who have long preached about the sanctity of the family are now issuing sharp rebukes of the Trump administration for immigration policies that tear families apart or leave them in danger.

The criticism came after recent moves by the administration to separate children from their parents at the border, and to deny asylum on a routine basis to victims of domestic abuse and gang violence.

Some of the religious leaders are the same evangelicals and Roman Catholics who helped President Trump to build his base and who have otherwise applauded his moves to limit abortion and champion the rights of religious believers.

The Rev. Franklin Graham, a son of the famed evangelist the Rev. Billy Graham and an outspoken defender of President Trump, said in an interview on Tuesday on the Christian Broadcasting Network, “I think it’s disgraceful, it’s terrible to see families ripped apart and I don’t support that one bit.”

He quickly made it clear that this had not dimmed his enthusiasm for Mr. Trump, adding, “I blame the politicians for the last 20, 30 years that have allowed this to escalate to where it is today.”

Leaders of many faiths -- including Jews, Mainline Protestants, Muslims and others -- have spoken out consistently against the president’s immigration policies. What has changed is that now the objections are coming from faith groups that have been generally friendly to Mr. Trump.

A coalition of evangelical groups, including the National Association of Evangelicals and the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, sent a letter to President Trump on June 1 pleading with him to protect the unity of families and not to close off all avenues to asylum for immigrants and refugees fleeing danger.

The Southern Baptist Convention, a conservative evangelical denomination that is the nation’s largest Protestant church, passed a resolution on Tuesday at its meeting in Dallas calling for immigration reform that maintains “the priority of family unity.” The measure called for both securing the nation’s borders, and providing a pathway to legal status for undocumented immigrants living in the country. It passed on a near unanimous vote of the thousands of delegates in the room.

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“We declare that any form of nativism, mistreatment, or exploitation is inconsistent with the gospel of Jesus Christ,” the resolution said.

The Rev. Alan Cross, a Southern Baptist minister from Montgomery, Ala., who works on immigration issues, and attended the meeting, said, “It was motivated by what is happening at the border with parents and children being separated, and messengers were affected by that and submitted resolutions.”

“It was a really strong statement,” he said. “We’re saying we love these people, they’re made in God’s image, we should care for them, we don’t want families to be separated.”

The resolution also called for elected officials, especially those who are Southern Baptists, “to do everything in their power to advocate for a just and equitable immigration system,” and for Southern Baptist churches to reach out and serve immigrant communities. This is not a new initiative for Southern Baptists, but it comes at a time when white evangelicals, according to polls, are strongly supportive of President Trump’s moves to limit immigration.

A White House representative did not respond to a request for a comment.

When Vice President Mike Pence addressed the Southern Baptists on Wednesday, his speech hailing the accomplishments of the administration received only a mixed reception.

On the same day, the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops, opened their meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., with a strong statement from the group’s president that cast asylum as a “right to life” issue -- language usually applied only to issues like abortion and euthanasia.

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the United States Catholic bishops’ conference and archbishop of Galveston-Houston, denounced a recent decision by Attorney General Jeff Sessions that women fleeing domestic violence and families fleeing gang violence are not eligible for asylum.

“At its core, asylum is an instrument to preserve the right to life,” said Cardinal DiNardo in a statement he read aloud to the bishops.

The Catholic church has long advocated for the rights of immigrants and refugees, and while the bishops have criticized Mr. Trump’s immigration policies before, this letter amounted to their strongest censure yet.

“Families are the foundational element of our society and they must be able to stay together,” the Cardinal wrote. “Separating babies from their mothers is not the answer and is immoral.”

Bishop Edward Weisenburger of Tucson, Ariz. suggested to the meeting that “canonical penalties” be imposed on Catholics “who are involved” in the policies of family separations, though he did not specify what he meant. Canonical penalties can involve denial of the eucharist or even excommunication. His suggestion was not adopted.

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But they did take up a suggestion by Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark that a delegation of bishops go to the border to inspect the detention centers where children are being held. The visit would be, he said, “a sign of our pastoral concern and protest against the hardening of the American heart.”

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'It's Disgraceful': Franklin Graham Rebukes Immigration Policy on CBN Drawing National Attention

by Heather Sells

CBN News (Christian Broadcasting Network)

June 14, 2018

http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2018/june/its-disgraceful-franklin-graham-rebukes-immigration-policy-on-drawing-national-attention

Humanitarian Franklin Graham's rebuke of an immigration policy that separates families at the border surprised many who watch the immigration debate, and it may indicate a growing unease among evangelicals over the policy.

Graham, the head of Samaritan's Purse and a strong Trump supporter, made the comment during an interview with CBN News on Tuesday. "It's disgraceful. It's terrible to see families ripped apart and I don't support that one bit," he said.

Graham, however, didn't call out the president but pointed the finger at lawmakers. "I blame politicians for the last 20, 30 years that have allowed this to escalate to the point where it is today," he said, referring to the need for comprehensive immigration reform that Congress has punted on for years.

Matt Soerens, U.S. director of church mobilization for World Relief, said he was grateful for Graham's condemnation of the policy. "His voice carries a lot of weight for the many Americans who admire him and his ministry, so I'm hopeful it might help compel our elected officials to resolve this situation," he said Thursday.

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New York Times religion correspondent Laurie Goodstein tweeted about Graham's comment saying "when Franklin Graham calls it 'disgraceful' that's a change worth noting."

Goodstein was referring to a growing chorus of evangelical voices speaking out against the policy.

The latest: Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), a former Baptist pastor, who tweeted Thursday that he's asking the White House "to keep families together as much as we can."

Other voices include the Southern Baptist Convention which offered an immigration resolution at its annual meeting this week. The resolution called for immigration reform that would provide a path to legal status with "appropriate restitutionary measure" and maintain "the priority of family unity."

The Evangelical Immigration Table (EIT) wrote the president earlier this month, asking him to reverse the so-called "zero-tolerance" policy. Samuel Rodriguez, one of the president's faith advisors, signed the letter.

The Trump administration is struggling with yet another influx of immigrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border. More than 50,000 people, many of them families and children, came in May.

In the past, immigrants with no serious criminal records were released from custody while they worked towards asylum or refugee status. But under the new "zero-tolerance" policy parents who are criminally charged with illegally entering the country are separated from their children while in custody. The children are typically released to other family members.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions says the policy of separating families is aimed at deterring illegal border-crossings. In a recent speech in Montana, Sessions said, "If you bring a child, it is still an unlawful act." He added, "You don't get immunity if you bring a child with you. We cannot have open borders for adults with children."

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ABCUSA General Secretary Sends Letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions

American Baptist Churches USA

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June 15, 2018

http://www.abc-usa.org/2018/06/16/abcusa-general-secretary-sends-letter-to-attorney-general-jeff-sessions/

VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 6/16/18)--A letter has been sent to Jeff Sessions, in response to his remarks which cited Romans 13 as justification for practices such as separating children from their parents in immigration cases. After discussion with the Board of General Ministries at its meeting in Green Lake, Wis., June 13-15, Dr. Lee B. Spitzer, ABCUSA General Secretary, wrote to Mr. Sessions. The text of the letter follows.

Mr. Jeff Sessions, Attorney GeneralU.S. Department of JusticeWashington, DC

Dear Attorney General Sessions

I am writing to you today on behalf of the 5,000 congregations and 1.3 million members of the American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA). As General Secretary, I serve as the national pastor of the denomination. ABCUSA has a long and distinguished record of service in welcoming immigrants and refugees to communities throughout the United States

The American Baptist family would like to communicate our deep concern over the unjust immigration policies of the United States government, and in particular, the unconscionable separation of children from their parents on our southern border. As a fellowship of Christ-followers who recall the trials of the child Jesus and his parents, who fled from persecution in their homeland to another country (Matthew 2 :13 - 18), we adamantly oppose separating children from their relatives. A just society can fulfill its fidelity to its own laws and border security without resorting to such unwise and harmful practices; instead, we urge that compassion, fairness and family - affirming policies characterize our response to the plight of families on our borders. We note that destructive practices such as the separation of children from parents place a serious burden on our law enforcement agents and officials, who in carrying out such policies find their own consciences ethically compromised and troubled.

Furthermore, we strongly disagree with your erroneous appropriation of the New Testament (in particular, Romans 13) to justify inhumane and unjust governmental actions. No responsible Christian theologian would assert that Romans 13, or any other passage in the Bible, supports the

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horrific separation of children from parents that we are witnessing at the present time. In fact, both the Old and New Testaments call those who believe in God to welcome refugees and immigrants with open arms and friendship, with loving care and concern, and with the willingness to assist others in enjoying the prospects of a future based on hope and opportunity.

Accordingly, American Baptists wish to express our sincere hope that the separation of children and parents will immediately cease. We urge Congress and the President to approve and implement without delay more compassionate and just immigration policies and procedures. As the leading law enforcement official of our government, it is your privilege and responsibility to lead such an effort. Thank you for considering our position.

Sincerely,

Rev. Dr. Lee B. SpitzerGeneral SecretaryAmerican Baptist Churches USA

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Cardinal Dolan slams Trump immigration crackdown as ‘unbiblical’

By David K. Li

New York Post

June 15, 2018

https://nypost.com/2018/06/15/cardinal-dolan-slams-trump-immigration-crackdown-as-unbiblical/?utm_source=maropost&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nypdaily&utm_content=20180616&mpweb=755-7062488-719095908

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Cardinal Timothy Dolan blasted the Trump administration’s policy of separating kids from their parents on Friday night, calling it “un-American and unbiblical.”

The White House got into holy hot water this week when Attorney General Jeff Sessions and press secretary Sander Huckabee Sanders both referenced scripture to claim the administration has the moral authority to forcibly take kids away from parents if they cross the southern border illegally.

“I mean, that’s just unjust. That’s un-American and unbiblical,” Dolan, leader of New York City’s 2.8 million Catholics, told CNN on Friday night.

Sessions specifically cited the Apostle Paul who in Romans 13 reminded Christians to honor and obey authority.

Dolan said the AG might need a Sunday School refresher.

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COB Statement RE: Condemning Immigrant Family Separation (Council of Bishops of the African Methodist Episcopal Church)

AME Church condemns use of scripture by Attorney General Sessions to separate immigrant families

June 15, 2018

https://www.ame-church.com/news/cob-statement-re-condemning-immigrant-family-separation/

From Lies to Liberation: the of Scripture to Justify Injustice

The recent statement of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and the attempt by White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders to use biblical text of Romans 13: 1, to justify and condone the U.S. government’s separations of immigrant children from their parents, in addition to being sad and sinful, shows a deep misunderstanding of the transforming truth of scripture.

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We have heard much about the political cult of Mr. Donald Trump over the past few days. Students of cults understand that they abuse and misuse the truth of religious documents to control people and to bend their will. This practice of using “proof text” – scriptural text out of context to achieve some wicked end – is as ancient as the temptation of Jesus by Satan in the Wilderness (Luke 4). The founders of this nation used the same tactics to enslave our African forebears by lifting from the writings of the Apostle Paul passages to condone slavery and to break their spirit. It was only after hearing the true liberating message of the Gospel that they could sing with resolve, “Before I’ll be a slave, I’ll be buried in my grave, and go home to my Lord and be free.”

The statement by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Press Secretary Huckabee Sanders is a reminder of the recurring themes of the Trump Administration on African nations and immigrants to America. The Bible does not justify discrimination masked as racism, sexism, economic inequality, oppression or the abuse of children. Jesus, who was an immigrant who had to leave the place of his birth and immigrate to Egypt because of an oppressive leader and system, admonishes all that the poor, children, the elderly, widows, and widowers should have a special place of justice and compassion in every nation. (Matthew 24) The Bible says that we are not to envy our oppressors or to choose their ways. (Proverbs 3: 31) “Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12: 2)

Why are so many white evangelicals deafeningly silent on the need to find a positive resolution to the Dreamer’s situation? Why are Black and Brown immigrants living in America with fear that the American Dream has become a nightmare for the least, the last and the left out?

The Bishops of the African Methodist Episcopal Church reiterate our support for the “Faith Leaders Statement on Family Separation” signed with our ecumenical partners and join with the United States Catholics Conference of Bishops and other concerned bodies of faith who decry these statements and the abuse of scripture.

We join with the members of both parties in calling for a just policy for these children and their parents. We challenge Speaker Paul Ryan, the Republican majority, and Democrats to join in reprimanding Attorney General Sessions, and then work together to bring justice to these children and their parents.

Finally, we close with the words of Deuteronomy 10: 18-19, “God executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and loves the strangers (immigrants)… You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”

The Council of Bishops of the African Methodist Episcopal Church

Clement W. Fugh, PresidentMcKinley Young, Senior BishopReginald T. Jackson, Secretary

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Vashti M. McKenzie, President of the General BoardFrank M. Reid III, Chair of Social Action

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The policy has cracked Trump’s usually united conservative base, with a wide array of religious leaders and groups denouncing it. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Southern Baptist Convention issued statements critical of the practice.

The Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, who delivered a prayer at Trump’s inauguration, signed a letter calling the practice “horrible.” Pastor Franklin Graham of Samaritan’s Purse, a vocal supporter of the president’s who has brushed aside past Trump controversies, called it “terrible” and “disgraceful.” …

The biblical underpinnings have been challenged by religious leaders.

“There’s definitely a groundswell of opposition from virtually every corner of the Christian community,” said Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. “People are able to understand immediately the drive of parents to protect their child and to understand the horror of splitting up vulnerable children from their parents.”

-- “Trump cites as a negotiating tool his policy of separating immigrant children from their parents,” The Washington Post, June 15, 2018

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Statement from The Most Rev. Daniel E. Flores, Bishop of Brownsville [Texas] on The Separation of Immigrant Parents and Children

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June 16, 2018

http://sacredheartchurch-mcallen.org/separation-of-immigrant-parents-and-children/

The systematic separation of immigrant parents and children at the border is simply cruel. A nation has a right to secure its sovereign border, but that does not mean that it may use any means available to deter immigrants who seek to ask for asylum.

By jailing parents on what is usually a misdemeanor charge, parents who cross the border with their children are being separated from them. Thus, the government itself is creating the children’s status as “unaccompanied.” Lawyers and public defenders tell me that parents are not being told where their crying children are being taken.

This nation, for the sake of its soul, must learn to weep with these children, and all the children who are being instrumentalized and commodified in our midst. I urge the Catholic faithful of the Diocese of Brownsville, and all persons of good will to write to the President, the Attorney General, and members of Congress, to insist that this manner of enforcement come to an end. I also ask that we as a community pray for families and children affected by this enforcement policy, and that our country’s laws be crafted and administered with human compassion.

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Cardinal Dolan blasts Trump administration policy of separating families at US border

By Spectrum News NY1

June 16, 2018

https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2018/06/16/cardinal-dolan-blasts-trump-administration-policy-of-separating-families-at-us-border

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Cardinal Timothy Dolan blasted the Trump administration's policy of separating families at the U.S. border in an interview Friday.

Dolan called the practice "un-American and unbiblical."

It comes after Attorney General Jeff Sessions referenced scripture to claim the administration had the moral authority to forcibly take kids from their parents if they cross the border illegally.

Dolan told CNN anchor Chris Cuomo he thinks the attorney general might need a Sunday School refresher.

"If they want to take a baby from the arms of his mother and separate the two, that’s wrong," Dolan said. "I don’t care where you’re at, what time and what condition, that just goes against, you don’t have to read the Bible for that. That goes against human decency. That goes against human dignity. That goes against what’s most sacred in the human person."

Numbers from the Department of Homeland Security show nearly 2,000 minors have been separated from their families at the U.S. border over the six-week period between April 19 and May 31.

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Cardinal Dolan: There is no Bible passage to justify family separation

By Jennifer Hansler

CNN

June 16, 2018

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/16/politics/cardinal-dolan-family-separation-cnntv/index.html

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, a prominent Catholic leader in the United States, said Friday there is no biblical defense for separating families, condemning the practice as "unjust" and "un-American."

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"If they want to take a baby from the arms of his mother and separate the two, that's wrong. I don't care where you're at, what time and condition, that just goes against -- you don't have to read the Bible for that. That goes against human decency. That goes against human dignity. It goes against what's most sacred in the human person," Dolan told CNN's Chris Cuomo on "Cuomo Prime Time" Friday.

On Friday, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that at least 2,000 children had been separated from their parents since the implementation of the Trump administration's "zero-tolerance" immigration policy.

Dolan suggested Attorney General Jeff Sessions incorrectly applied scripture in quoting Romans 13 to defend the policy on Thursday.

"I appreciate the fact that Attorney General Sessions refers to the Bible," he said. "The quote that he used from St. Paul might not be the best."

"For one, St. Paul always says that we should obey the law of the government if that law is in conformity with the Lord's law. No pun intended, but God's law trumps man's law," he explained.

"I don't think we should obey a law that goes against what God intends that you would take a baby, a child, from his or her mom. I mean, that's just unjust. That's un-biblical. That's un-American. There could be no biblical passage that would justify that," he said.

Dolan said that while the U.S. has "the right to secure and safe borders," the government should apply any immigration policy prudently.

"You can have secure and safe borders ... while still maintaining that grand American heritage of welcome of the immigrant and refugee," the New York archbishop said. "That's just part of America and I don't want to see that spoiled."

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops released a statement earlier this week condemning family separation. Dolan said a group of bishops may head to the border to provide spiritual and emotional support.

Dolan, who gave a prayer at Donald Trump's inauguration, said he hopes the President can work with both parties in Congress to find an immigration solution.

"Enough of blame. Enough of retribution. Enough of accusation. We need to get together and say, 'Let's make this work,'" Dolan said.

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Faith Leaders Oppose Trump's Immigration Policy Of Separating Children From Parents

Sasha Ingber

NPR

June 16, 2018

https://www.npr.org/2018/06/16/620651574/faith-leaders-oppose-trumps-immigration-policy-of-separating-children-from-paren

A Trump administration policy of separating children from their parents on the U.S. border has prompted a crescendo of criticism among religious leaders.

They span different faiths, denominations and ages. Some of them have also helped the president gain support for his base.

About 11,000 children are in shelters, according to the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Nearly 2,000 children were removed from the care of their parents and taken into federal custody between April 19 and May 31, an immigration official said Friday.

That practice effectively "weaponizes" children, Archbishop of Miami Thomas Wenski told NPR's Weekend Edition on Saturday. "Basically the administration has, in deciding to separate children from their parents, [tried] to weaponize children, using them as a leverage against the parents applying for their asylum applications."

He said that border agents and administration should "use their conscience," while policymakers should do some "soul searching."

Evangelical leader Franklin Graham, son of "America's pastor" Billy Graham and a prominent Trump supporter, told the Christian Broadcasting Network on Tuesday, "It's disgraceful, and it's terrible to see families ripped apart and I don't support that one bit."

His words follow an April survey by the Public Religion Research Institute, which found that 75 percent of white evangelicals held favorable views of Trump.

Tony Suarez, a Latino pastor who has informally advised Trump, tweeted, "God have mercy on those who seem so nonchalant to the plight of children being separated from their parents."

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Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and archbishop of Galveston-Houston in Texas, said in a statement, "Separating babies from their mothers is not the answer and is immoral."

Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, called it "unconscionable," saying, "Those at the highest levels of the Trump administration are responsible and must provide the public a clear explanation of how this happened and how these families will be reunited."

Embers of disapproval were stoked when Attorney General Jeff Sessions cited scripture on Thursday in defense of the administration's tough immigration policies.

"I would cite you to the apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13 to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained the government for his purposes," he said.

Historians and faith leaders were quick to point out that such passages were also used to justify slavery. "The founders of this nation used the same tactics to enslave our African forebears by lifting from the writings of the Apostle Paul passages to condone slavery and to break their spirit," the African Methodist Episcopal Church stated. It called Sessions’ remarks "sad and sinful."

Jentezen Franklin, a member of Trump's evangelical council, told CNN, "It's a very dangerous route to go when you begin to take selections of scriptures and say, 'The Bible was written to justify political standings. The Bible was never written as a political road map.' "

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who in March said that the "big tent of the Democratic Party now seems a pup tent," called the breaking up of families "un-American and unbiblical."

In an interview on Friday with CNN, he said, "If they want to take a baby from the arms of his mother and separate the two, that's wrong. I don't care where you're at, what time and what condition ... That goes against human decency."

Earlier in the week, the Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution affirming that immigrants be treated "with the same respect and dignity as those native born." It emphasized border security but also "a pathway to legal status with appropriate restitutionary measures, maintaining the priority of family unity."

Beyond politicians, pediatricians have also denounced the practice of tearing children away from their parents, saying it can disrupt brain development and harm long-term health.

The president attempted to cast the blame away from his administration Friday morning, tweeting, "The Democrats are forcing the breakup of families at the Border with their horrible and cruel legislative agenda."

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No federal law requires family separation. The policy is part of the Justice Department's clampdown on immigration.

House Republicans plan to vote next week on a pair of immigration bills, including one that would end the controversial practice of separating children from their mothers and fathers.

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Why is Jeff Sessions quoting Romans 13 and why is the bible verse so often invoked?

Emily McFarlan Miller and Yonat Shimron

Religion News Service

June 16, 2018

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/06/16/jeff-sessions-bible-romans-13-trump-immigration-policy/707749002/

Attorney General Jeff Sessions defended the Trump administration’s policy of separating immigrant children from their families at the border this week by citing a passage from the Apostle Paul’s epistle to the Romans:

“I would cite you to the Apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13, to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained them for the purpose of order,” Sessions said. “Orderly and lawful processes are good in themselves and protect the weak and lawful.”

Later, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders summed up the same idea: “It is very biblical to enforce the law.”

But is it? Does the Bible really preach to obey the laws of government? If so, was Sessions right to use this passage to defend the government’s actions?

What does Romans 13 say?

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Sessions appears to be referring to the first half of the chapter. The first two verses in the popular NIV translation read:

“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.”

It goes on to say that those who do right will be commended and those who do wrong should be afraid, describing rulers as “God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.” It also includes a plug for paying taxes.

Why is Jeff Sessions quoting it?

It’s no secret the government’s policies of tearing families apart -- as well as denying asylum to victims of domestic abuse and gang violence -- has come under sharp criticism from many Christian leaders. Among them are the very ones who have championed Trump’s policies in the past, namely conservative evangelicals. Evangelist Franklin Graham called the policy “disgraceful,” and the Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution calling for immigration reform that maintains “the priority of family unity.”

Sessions was replying directly to “church friends” when he made his comments, suggesting the administration’s policies were perfectly justified by appealing to a higher set of principles, God’s principles.

How do Christians feel about his exegesis?

Well, that depends who you ask. CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network) News’ chief political correspondent, David Brody, shared a screenshot of Romans 13:1-7 on Twitter Thursday (June 14) saying Sanders was “right” to say enforcing laws is biblical and encouraged members of mainstream media outlets reporting on Sanders’ and Sessions’ comments to read the Bible.

But many Christian leaders and institutions tweeted or issued statements critical of Sessions’ use of Scripture. They include the African Methodist Episcopal Church; Friends Committee on National Legislation (Quakers); the Rev. Randolph Marshall Hollerith, dean of Washington National Cathedral; and the Rev. James Martin, editor at large of America magazine. Johnnie Moore, one of President Trump’s most influential unofficial evangelical advisers warned against “proof texting,” or selectively using a Bible passage to prove a point.

“While Sessions may take the Bible seriously in this situation he has demonstrated he is no theologian,” Moore said.

Even talk-show host Stephen Colbert took time to address Sessions’ remarks on “The Late Show” Thursday, reading what came a few verses later in Romans 13: “Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”

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How does this fit into how Romans 13 has been used historically?

Romans 13 played a critical role in the American Revolution, writes George Mason University historian Lincoln Mullen. For obvious reasons, loyalists who favored obedience to King George III of England liked to quote Romans 13; revolutionaries also used it to argue that Paul never meant to justify despotic rulers.

Prior to the Civil War, after Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, the passage was cited again. The act, which allowed slaves who had escaped to freedom in the North to be forcibly returned to their owners in the South, was employed this time to rein in anyone who would challenge the lawfulness of slavery.

The passage was used once again in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. famously made a point about it in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” as he explained that Christians should subject themselves to the governing authorities as they do good, not evil:

"One may well ask: “How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?” The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws."

Does Sessions’ use of the passage match its original context?

The Apostle Paul wrote that passage while living under the brutal Roman Empire. Paul, a convert to Christianity who went around evangelizing people, was a known troublemaker, said Douglas Campbell, a professor of New Testament at Duke Divinity School. His preaching had caused riots in Ephesus and Jerusalem. These public disturbances earned Paul disfavor with Roman administrators who greatly feared any incitement to revolution.

“He was in legal trouble so he had to cover himself,” Campbell said.

Paul wrote this letter to the church in Rome before he had met its recipients. Many Jewish followers of Jesus were returning to Rome under the emperor Nero years after the previous emperor had expelled a number of Jews, according to Lynn Cohick, chair of the Wheaton Center for Early Christian Studies at Wheaton College in Illinois.

Cohick describes the passage as an introduction, as well as instructions: “After five years, how are they going to reintegrate?” she said. Chapters 12 to 15 deal with that question, with Paul echoing Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in lines like, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil” and “Bless those who persecute you.”

“He’s framing all of this in their context of, ‘We want you to be a good citizen as much as you are able. You’re not going to be able to offer sacrifices to the emperor. … If that’s the law then

26

you’re just going to break the law and go to jail. In terms of the government raising funds through taxes, that’s just what you do,” Cohick said.

That’s where that plug for taxes comes in.

But the fact Paul himself was imprisoned by governing authorities several times and eventually executed shows “You don’t follow the government at all costs,” she said.

“That’s not what Paul was saying.”

*****************************************************

Religious Groups Criticize Trump Immigration Policies

NPR

June 16, 2018

https://www.npr.org/2018/06/16/620611526/religious-groups-criticize-trump-immigration-policies

This week, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops criticized the Trump administration's immigration policies. NPR's Scott Simon asks Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski for his reaction.

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

The Trump administration's policy of separating children from their parents as they try to cross the border without documentation is the subject of growing criticism including this week from America's Roman Catholic bishops. Thomas Wenski is the archbishop of Miami and joins us now. Excellency, thanks so much for being with us.

THOMAS WENSKI: Thank you, Scott, for having me on.

SIMON The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops this week called that order immoral. Why?

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WENSKI: Well, it's - it goes against the values of our nation and the values of helping families stay together. Separating a child, a toddler, for example, from his mother or father is traumatic to this child and should only be done under the most grave of circumstances. And basically the administration has - in deciding to separate children from their parents, are trying to weaponize children, using them as a leverage against the parents applying for their asylum applications, a right that they have both under the national law and under our own United States laws. People have a right to petition for asylum and go through the legal process. And they should not have their children be used as an incentive for them not to apply, which is what is behind this.

SIMON: Archbishop, let me - I'm sure you are familiar with what Attorney General Sessions said this week. He had a Bible lesson.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JEFF SESSIONS: And I would cite you to the Apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13 to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained the government for his purposes.

SIMON: So let me ask the archbishop of Miami, how is his Bible scholarship?

WENSKI: Well, (laughter) I'm a Catholic priest, and the Catholics, we don't believe that the individual has a right to interpret scripture on his own. We think that Luther was wrong about that. But more to the point, he is trying to instrumentalize the scripture to promote an agenda. And this has been done in the past many, many times by people with nefarious motives. It was used - scripture was used to justify slavery. It was used to justify murder as Jesus himself was confronted by these Pharisees that told him that this woman caught in adultery was to be stoned, according to the Scriptures. And Jesus had a different interpretation of that. So I think his - he should go back to Bible study, and he would find that that's not the case. And the Scriptures talk about the injustice done to the poor as crying out to heaven for avenge - vengeance. So the Scriptures do not comfort the powerful. They are usually meant to us to afflict the comfortable and to comfort the afflicted. And he was using it in the opposite way.

SIMON: Archbishop, we've got about a minute left. Let me ask you - do you believe that, let's say, border agents and administration officials who are tasked to enforce the laws that you and the bishops have called immoral have a moral responsibility to refuse to do that?

WENSKI: I think they have certainly to play - use their conscience. You know, there have been laws that are unjust laws, and people have defied unjust laws. Rosa Parks refused to sit in the back - in the back of the bus, breaking the law. And oftentimes, you know, people will resign rather than do something that goes against their conscience. So there's something to be said for that. But generally, I think the Border Patrol people are attempting to do their job. They are following orders. They're following orders that are often legitimate.

But I think this calls for a soul-searching, not on the part of the people down on the line but on the policymakers. And I think they have to make the policy a little bit more humane, a little bit

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more just and a little bit more in accord to the values of our country. And as I've said so many times, we can make America great again, but we won't make America great by making America mean.

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June 18, 2018

Methodists sign a formal denominational complaint against Sessions for his role in causing the separation of families.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/Website_Properties/news-media/documents/A_Complaint_regarding_Jefferson_Sessions.pdf

Monday, July 18, 2018

Dear Rev. Boykin and Rev. Wines,

We, the undersigned laity and clergy of the United Methodist Church, issue a formal complaint against fellow United Methodist layperson Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, by our understanding a lay member of Ashland Place United Methodist Church, in Mobile, AL, and an active participant in Clarendon United Methodist Church, Arlington, VA. While we are reticent to bring a formal complaint against a layperson, Mr. Sessions’ unique combination of tremendous social/political power, his leading role as a Sunday School teacher and former delegate to General Conference, and the severe and ongoing impact of several of his public, professional actions demand that we, as his siblings in the United Methodist denomination, call for some degree of accountability.

We write to you, Mr. Sessions’ pastors, copying his District Superintendents and Bishops, in the hopes that you will, as members of our connectional system, dig deeply into Mr. Sessions’ advocacy and actions that have led to harm against thousands of vulnerable humans. As members of the United Methodist Church, we deeply hope for a reconciling process that will help this long-‐time member of our connection step back from his harmful actions and work to repair the damage he is currently causing to immigrants, particularly children and families.

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Pursuant to Paragraph 2702.3 of the 2016 United Methodist Book of Discipline, we hereby charge Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, Attorney General of the United States, a professing member and/or active participant of Ashland Place United Methodist Church (Mobile, Alabama) and Clarendon United Methodist Church (Alexandria, Virginia), with the chargeable offenses of:

• Child Abuse (examples: advocacy for and implementation of documented practices that indefinitely separate thousands of young children from their parents; holding thousands of children in mass incarceration facilities with little to no structured educational or socio-‐emotional support)

• Immorality (examples: the use of violence against children to deter immigration; advocating and supporting the separation of children from their families; refusal of refugee/asylee status to those fleeing gang or sexual violence; oppression of those seeking asylum or attempting to enter the United States with refugee status; directing employees and staff members to kidnap children from their parents)

• Racial discrimination (examples: stopping investigations of police departments charged with racial discrimination; attempting to criminalize Black Lives Matter and other racial justice activist groups; targeting incarceration for those engaged in undocumented border crossings as well as those who present with requests for asylum, with a particular focus on those perceived as Muslim or LatinX)

• Dissemination of doctrines contrary to the standards of doctrine of the United Methodist Church (examples: the misuse of Romans 13 to indicate the necessity of obedience to secular law, which is in stark contrast to Disciplinary commitments to supporting freedom of conscience and resistance to unjust laws)

While other individuals and areas of the federal government are implicated in each of these examples, Mr. Sessions -‐as a long-‐term United Methodist in a tremendously powerful, public position -‐is particularly accountable to us, his church. He is ours, and we are his. As his denomination, we have an ethical obligation to speak boldly when one of our members is engaged in causing significant harm in matters contrary to the Discipline on the global stage. Several Bishops and other denominational leaders have spoken out about this matter, urging Methodists to contact Mr. Sessions and for these policies to change, but we believe that the severity of his actions and the harm he is causing to immigrants, migrants, refugees, and asylees calls for his church to step into a process to directly engage with him as a part of our community. We look forward to entering into the just resolution process with Mr. Sessions as we seek to journey with him towards reconciliation and faithful living into the gospel.

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From pulpits across America, sermons condemn separation of immigrant families

By Julie Zauzmer

The Washington Post

June 19, 2018

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2018/06/19/from-pulpits-across-america-sermons-condemn-separation-of-immigrant-families/?utm_term=.28bdf7d77404

We asked religious leaders: How are you talking to your congregations about the separation of immigrant parents from their children on the U.S.-Mexico border?

Dozens told us about the sermons they delivered in their churches on Sunday, and at their synagogues this Shabbat. Many said they typically avoid politics in their preaching, but this week they felt compelled to speak out.

Here is a selection of their responses, ranging across the country and many denominations.

Pastor Robert Franek preached at Faith Lutheran Church, a mainline Protestant church in Galesburg, Ill.: “In just six weeks from mid-April through May, some 2,000 children have been separated from their parents and placed in detention centers. This immoral and unconscionable policy is being justified by a twisting of scripture by those who know neither the biblical imperative to treat the foreigner with compassion and love nor the Constitution that protects the basic human rights of all people. Asylum seeking is not a crime. … This barbaric practice of taking a nursing infant out of her mother’s embrace should alarm us all. There is no defense for this, not in the Bible, the Constitution, or international law. … Look around. Christ is present in the stranger who comes to our country. Look around. Christ is present in the eyes of the innocent children. Look around. The kingdom of God is here!”

Pastor Stan Cardwell preached at Community United Methodist Church, a mainline Protestant church in Crofton, Md.: “Make no mistake – no matter where you stand on immigration, what we are doing to children and families in the name of the law is evil. And we, as Christ followers, have a moral responsibility to speak and stand against evil. You cannot remain silent.”]

Chris Scott preached at The Exchange, a Mennonite church in Winchester, Va.: “As people of faith, we are bound to the law of love. What is legal is not always what it moral. And what is

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moral is not always what is legal. … What does love require of us? Love does not require that families be torn apart, with babies yanked from their mothers. We must follow love. I am so saddened by the faith that I hold to and the Bible that I cherish being used to support causes so clearly outside the law of love and the way of Christ.”

Rabbi Eliott Perlstein preached at Ohev Shalom, a synagogue in Richboro, Pa.: “As a rabbi, it is not in my purview to comment on Mr. Sessions’s usage of his verse from Romans. I would choose to quote from Deuteronomy 16:20 which Jews and Christians share in common: ‘Justice, Justice shall you pursue.’ Who can claim that taking an innocent child from a parent’s arms is just? The great prophets of Israel spoke truth to power, as did the prophet Nathan even to King David when necessary. … We Jews have too often been the victim of unjust governments and laws. We have a special responsibility to heed the words of the Prophet Isaiah ‘to be a light unto the nations.’ ”

The Rev. Douglas Koesel at Blessed Trinity Catholic Church in Cleveland, said: “We will be asking our congregation to call Senator Rob Portman’s office to denounce from the Senate floor the inhumane, illegal, emotionally harmful and cruel abuse of children for political ends. We will give them five possible office numbers to call and will wait while everyone calls.”

Pastor Terry Yasuko Ogawa preached at Congregational Church of Pinehurst, a mainline Protestant church in North Carolina: “America is you and me. This is being done in our name. But if yanking families apart to incite fear of seeking a better life is being done in our name, then God give us the strength to say ‘Not in our name!’ and arise to speak God’s truth of love to power. Lord, this is a season where it would be so easy to shrink back in fear, throw our hands up, say the world is going to hell. But only if we let it. The world is made up of people like you and me. We have the ability to speak up in the name of justice, to love, to nurture, to bridge difference.”

Pastor Constance Day preached at New Day Lutheran Church, a mainline Protestant church in Idaho Falls: “I don’t really want to get political in church, but when politicians use our holy book to justify evil acts--quoting the parts of the Bible that they want to, and conveniently leaving out the parts they do not want to hear--it’s appropriate for us to speak up and say that they are wrong…. It’s not hard to find the many admonitions in the Bible about treating foreigners fairly, and loving neighbors as oneself. It’s not hard to find the heart of the Bible, and the heart of God.”

Rabbi David Siff at Temple Torat Emet in Boynton Beach, Fla., emailed his congregation: “The Torah wants us to help people find refuge, and help them create thriving, dignified lives. It is disturbing to me as both a scholar and religious leader when ‘Bible’ is used to justify insensitivity and cruelty. May our leaders find ways of helping all humans around the world create safe, dignified lives.”

The Rev. Joe Genau preached at Edgewood Presbyterian Church, a mainline Protestant church in Birmingham, Ala.: “Our government cannot justify the way these families are being treated, and for people of faith, resistance must be given. And when our leaders use my tradition’s holy scriptures to do so, a stern rebuke is in order.”

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Rabbi Asher Knight preached at Temple Beth El, a synagogue in Charlotte: “We are also a people of immigrants, and a people who have held high the value of intact families. This is not an abstract matter for us. Our Jewish story is fundamentally an immigrant story. We know, too well, what it was like for our children to be ripped from our hands and put into camps. No matter how many generations we have been here – no matter how many thousands of years ago the Exodus took place – the timeless call to care for the stranger still compels us. We have a choice on how we want to be remembered. Do we want to stand at the border, rip children from their parents, and tell the families to turn around and go into a burning building? Or do we want to value people as humans, reject the hostile attitude in which one generation of immigrants would slam the door securely shut behind themselves, and from behind that closed door make self-righteous and hateful pronouncements about what America stands for? Xenophobic hatred, cloaked in a veneer of warped pseudo-biblical patriotism, makes a mockery of American and Jewish values both.”

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Religious Leaders Condemn Family Separations--but Not Necessarily Trump

His “zero-tolerance” policy has been called “traumatic” and “cruel.” But his most stalwart supporters are sticking with him.

by Bob Allen

The Atlantic

June 19, 2018

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/06/why-religious-conservatives-are-calling-out-trump-on-family-separation-at-the-border/563060/

33

Baptist leaders joined a chorus of voices criticizing U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions for using the Bible to defend the Trump administration’s practice of separating children from migrant parents at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Addressing criticism by church leaders of the administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy, the former Alabama senator cited the “clear and wise command” of the Apostle Paul in the 13th Chapter of Romans “to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained them for the purpose of order.”

“I have given the idea of immigration much thought and have considered the arguments of our church leaders,” Sessions said June 14 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. “I do not believe scripture or church history or reason condemns a secular nation state for having reasonable immigration laws. If we have them, then they should be enforced. A mere desire to benefit from entry to the nation does not justify illegal entry. And, there are of course adverse consequences to illegal actions.”

Suzii Paynter, executive coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, took exception to the attorney general’s use of the Bible in a statement June 18.

“The policy of ripping children from the arms of parents is outrageous, and quoting Scripture in its defense is heinous,” Paynter said. “While it is necessary to control the flow of immigrants and refugees into the country, the use of tactics meant to traumatize and inflict irreparable harm to children and their parents is un-American and certainly do not appear anywhere in the Bible I read.”

Lee Spitzer, general secretary of American Baptist Churches USA, called it an “erroneous appropriation of the New Testament.”

“No responsible Christian theologian would assert that Romans 13, or any other passage in the Bible, supports the horrific separation of children from parents that we are witnessing at the present time,” Spitzer said in an open letter to Sessions dated June 15. “In fact, both the Old and New Testaments call those who believe in God to welcome refugees and immigrants with open arms and friendship, with loving care and concern, and with the willingness to assist others in enjoying the prospects of a future based on hope and opportunity.”

Asked June 14 about whether the policy is moral, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said she had not yet seen Sessions’ comments.

“I can say it is very biblical to enforce the law,” said Sanders, daughter of former presidential candidate and one-time Southern Baptist pastor Mike Huckabee. “That is actually repeated a number of times throughout the Bible.”

American Baptist Home Mission Societies Executive Director Jeffrey Haggray criticized both Sanders and Sessions in a statement June 19.

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“Treating children as prisoners, depriving them of their basic right to be with their families, is not biblical in any way,” Haggray said. “American Baptist Home Mission Societies decries this absurd interpretation of Scripture. Since Jesus’ time it has been God’s intent to keep families together, despite insensitive governments.”

Two days before Sessions’ speech the Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution desiring “to see immigration reform include an emphasis on securing our borders and providing a pathway to legal status with appropriate restitutionary measures, maintaining the priority of family unity, resulting in an efficient immigration system that honors the value and dignity of those seeking a better life for themselves and their families.”

On Monday more than 600 clergy and lay leaders from the United Methodist Church accused Sessions of violating church law. The group urged Methodist churches in Alabama and Virginia where the attorney general attends to address his alleged violation of the denomination’s Book of Discipline.

In his original speech last week, Sessions requested that religious leaders criticizing the policy “also speak up strongly to urge anyone who would come here to apply lawfully, to wait their turn, and not violate the law.”

Asked a second time about the policy June 18, Sanders said, “I think any evangelical that -- or in any church for that matter -- that feels strongly, they should open up their doors and help facilitate some of these individuals.”

“I think that’s their calling, that’s the mission of the church, and they should certainly fulfill that,” the White House spokesperson said. “If they want to fix the immigration system, then they should call their members of Congress and ask them to join with us to do that.”

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Bishops Across U.S. Condemn Separation of Migrant Children

By Rhina Guidos

Catholic New York

June 20, 2018

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http://www.cny.org/stories/bishops-across-us-condemn-separation-of-migrant-children,17500

From New York to Denver, the country’s Catholic bishops have joined a chorus of organizations, institutions and high-profile individuals urging the Trump administration to stop separating children from their parents as they seek respite in the U.S. from dire conditions in their home countries, largely in Central America.

None have been more outspoken, however, than the bishops with dioceses on or near the border between the U.S. and Mexico, where many migrants, adults as well as children, are being held in detention centers in geographic areas where many of the prelates come into contact with families affected. Refugee children belong to their parents, not to the government or other institution. To steal children from their parents is a grave sin, immoral (and) evil,” said San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller June 14 via Twitter, the social media platform he has used to daily call attention to the situation.

“Their lives have already been extremely difficult. Why do we (the U.S.) torture them even more, treating them as criminals?” he continued.

In a June 5 interview with CBS News, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said: “If people don’t want to be separated from their children, they should not bring them with them,” meaning they shouldn’t bring them along when trying to cross the border, which many do as they seek asylum. The furor over the separation of children from a parent or parents had already started in late May, before Sessions used a Bible passage to justify the actions.

Bishop Daniel E. Flores of the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas, said via Twitter May 31 that “separating immigrant parents and children as a supposed deterrent to immigration is a cruel and reprehensible policy. Children are not instruments of deterrence, they are children. A government that thinks any means is suitable to achieve an end cannot secure justice for anyone.”

The outrage began in earnest after the June 14 speech to law enforcement officers in Fort Wayne, Ind., when Sessions said the practice of separating families is consistent with the teachings of the Bible because “persons who violate the law of our nation are subject to prosecution. I would cite you to the Apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13 to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained them for the purpose of order.”

The following day, Cardinal Dolan said during CNN’s “Cuomo Prime Time With Chris Cuomo” that while he appreciated Sessions quoting the Bible, the quote he used was not the best.

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“For one, St. Paul always says we should obey the law of the government if that law is in conformity with the Lord’s law, all right? No pun intended but God’s law trumps man’s law, all right?” he said.

“And St. Paul himself who gave the quote that the attorney general used, he wouldn’t obey Roman law when it said it was mandatory to worship the emperor,” the cardinal continued. “He wouldn’t obey that law. I don’t think we should obey a law that goes against what God intends that you would take a baby, a child, from their mom. I mean, that’s just unjust. That’s unbiblical. That’s un-American. There could be no Bible passage that would justify that.”

After Sessions’ Bible quote, Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, also used the Bible to make a point and compared Christ’s time as a refugee in the Holy Land to the migrants.

In a June 15 statement, he compared the distance from his diocese to other localities in Guatemala and Mexico, saying that “if Jesus of Nazareth returned, as at that time, from Galilee to Judea,...we dare say he would not get as far as Sacred Heart Church downtown (in El Paso) before being detained.”

Bishop Seitz announced a public prayerful procession “in solidarity with our sisters and brothers who continue to migrate to our border” planned for the evening of July 20 in El Paso. The U.S. bishops also are talking about the possibility of a delegation of prelates going to the detention centers where many children are being held.

In mid-June, The Associated Press said this year “nearly 2,000 children have been separated from their families at the U.S. border over a six-week period during a crackdown on illegal entries,” according to documents from the Department of Homeland Security, which operates Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Two prelates from Colorado, Denver Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila and Denver Auxiliary Bishop Jorge Rodriguez, repeated what other bishops have said in a June 18 statement, saying that while borders must be protected, the policy of separating families is “immoral” and urged that it be terminated immediately, saying those being detained are in need of protection.

“These children and their parents are often fleeing violence and our country should not add to the inhumanity of their situation,” they said.

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Dolan says President Trump should repent for family separations

Catholic Charities New York is providing free legal assistance to young immigrants separated from their parents.

By Ivan Pereira

amNEWYORK

June 28, 2018

https://www.amny.com/news/immigrant-children-separated-cardinal-dolan-1.19472970

Cardinal Timothy Dolan condemned President Trump’s now-rescinded border family separation policy on Thursday, while providing updates on the Archdiocese’s work to reunite children with their families.

Calling the policy “immoral and unbiblical,” Dolan urged the federal government to provide Catholic Charities, the city and other agencies with more information on the identities and whereabouts of the parents’ of at least 350 children residing in New York City. Dolan said Catholic Charities New York is providing free legal assistance for the young immigrants -- as well as foster care for a few dozen -- and asked Trump to apologize for putting them in this situation.

“In the Jewish and Christian outlook on apologies, there needs to be a firm purpose of repentance,” he said. “Not only do we apologize, but we make sure it doesn’t happen [again].”

Dolan met earlier Thursday with several separated children at the downtown offices of Catholic Charities New York and discussed the situation with the nonprofit’s legal team.

Msgr. Kevin Sullivan, the head of Catholic Charities New York, said it began noticing an uptick in unaccompanied, out-of-state minors seeking refuge in May due to Trump’s “zero tolerance” separation policy, which was rescinded by an executive order last week. He said there are about 60 separated children in the care of their facilities.

“While they are with us, we will make sure as New Yorkers . . . they will receive the best possible care,” he said.

Craig Longley, director of Catholic Guardian Services, the Catholic Charities New York’s agency that serves unaccompanied children, said its staff is trained to treat the mental trauma the children have suffered. They are also working with the city’s Administration for Children Services and Mayor’s Office of Immigration to provide additional services.

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The federal government still has not provided the city with details regarding how it will reunite the children with their parents, according to Longley. Mario Russell, director of Catholic Charities New York’s Immigrant & Refugee Services Division, said the process needed to happen quickly as the legal cases for those children could take months -- especially if they don’t have their parents.

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Bishops end border visit, call reunification of children urgent

By Rhina Guidos

Catholic News Service (CNS)

July 3, 2018

https://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2018/bishops-end-border-visit-calling-for-urgent-reunification-of-children.cfm

SAN JUAN, Texas (CNS) -- In less than 48 hours, a group of Catholic bishops saw the faces of triumph and relief from migrants who had been recently released by immigration authorities, but ended their two-day journey to the border with a more "somber" experience, visiting detained migrant children living temporarily within the walls of a converted Walmart.

During a news conference after the second and last day of their visit July 2, they stressed the "urgent" need to do something to help the children.

The separation for some of the children began shortly after U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced in early May that if migrants wanted to take their chances crossing the border illegally with their children, they faced the consequence of having them taken away -- and he implemented a policy doing so.

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Widespread outrage in the weeks following led to President Donald Trump essentially rescinding the policy in mid-June. But the stroke of the pen could not automatically reunite the children and parents who had been and remain apart.

"The children who are separated from their parents need to be reunited. That's already begun and it's certainly not finished and there may be complications, but it must be done and it's urgent," said Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles, USCCB vice president, celebrated Mass in Spanish with about 250 children, including some of those in question, at the detention facility on what once was the loading dock of the Walmart superstore.

"It was, as you can imagine, very challenging to see the children by themselves," Archbishop Gomez said during the news conference. "Obviously, when there are children at Mass, they are with their parents and families ... but it was special to be with them and give them some hope."

He said he spoke to them about the importance of helping one another.

The visit to the facility known as Casa Padre capped the bishops' brief journey to the border communities of McAllen-Brownsville near the southern border. Casa Padre, in Brownsville, gained notoriety earlier this year because it houses children separated from their families, as well as unaccompanied minors in a setting with murals and quotes of U.S. presidents, including one of Trump saying, "Sometimes by losing a battle you find a new way to win the war."

The facility is run by Southwest Key Programs, a nonprofit that operates it under a federal contract. In the afternoon, the bishops toured the Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border processing facility in McAllen, where children are also detained.

Bishop Joseph C. Bambera of Scranton, Pennsylvania, along with Auxiliary Bishop Robert J. Brennan of Rockville Centre, New York, also were part of the delegation July 1 and 2, led by Cardinal DiNardo, and were present at the Mass at Casa Padre.

The building houses about 1,200 boys ages 10 to 17, said Bishop Bambera, and though the care they receive seems to be appropriate -- it's clean, they have access to medical care, and schooling and recreational facilities -- it was clear that "there was a sadness" manifested by the boys, he said in a July 2 interview with Catholic News Service.

"We can provide the material environment to care for a person and it's provided there, but that doesn't nurture life. That takes the human interaction with the family or a caregiver," he said.

Though many of the boys held there are considered "unaccompanied minors," some were separated from a family member they were traveling with, said Bishop Bambera. And when you see them, "those boys bear clearly the burden of that" separation, he said.

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Bishop Bambera said the boys listened intently during Mass and seemed to have a particular devotion and piety, one not seen in children that age. During Mass, "I saw a few boys wiping tears," he said.

Cardinal DiNardo said at the news conference that the church supports the right of nations to protect their borders. But having strong borders and having compassion are not mutually exclusive, he said. A solution with compassion can be found, he said.

Bishop Daniel E. Flores, who heads the local Diocese of Brownsville, accompanied the delegation, which on its first day paid a visit to a humanitarian center operated by Catholic Charities.

Bishop Flores said there's a need to address the "push factors" driving immigration from Central America, a place where people are fleeing a variety of social ills, including violence, gangs and economic instability.

The U.S. border bishops have frequent communication with their counterparts in Mexico and Central America on variety of topics, he said during the news conference, but the problems driving immigration to the U.S. are complex.

He said he has spoken with parents in Central America about the danger of the journey but recalled a conversation with mothers in places such as Honduras and Guatemala who have told him: "My son will be killed here, they will shoot him and he's 16. What am I supposed to do?"

"These are extremely complex and difficult situations," he said. "This is a hemispheric problem, not just a problem on the border here."

Cardinal DiNardo said the church was willing to be part of any conversation to find humane solutions because even a policy of detaining families together in facilities caused "concern."

He said the bishops gathered had floated around ideas for possible solutions and one of them included what's known as family case management, which connects the family with a case manager and someone to provide legal orientation.

But almost exactly a year ago, the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement under the Trump administration ended such a program. Proponents had argued that it kept families together and had a great success rate in having adults show up to court dates.

Archbishop Gomez said the Catholic Church was willing to help speed along the process of getting children back to their parents and to stop it from happening to others.

"I think if we want something from the administration, (it) is family unity," he said, because "that's essential for the human person. Whatever it takes, we're willing to help."

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In an earlier interview with CNS, Cardinal DiNardo had said that no matter what the outcome, the bishops' delegation had started out with the simple goal of supporting and being a presence for the migrants and the communities along the border caught in the middle of drama.

"I'm not on a visit to indict," he said. "I'm not on a visit to solve all problems."

It was sentiment he repeated while closing up the news conference and the 48 hours that had clearly had an emotional effect on the bishops who participated. The bishops were not looking for villains during the trip, he said.

"Our visit is a pastoral visit. That has to be kept in mind," he said. "We have had a full two days and they've been a very beautiful two days, and, in some parts, painful, but very, very beautiful."

The bishops also had taken part in a mission, he said, handed on from the highest rungs of the church: to "share the journey" with migrants and refugees, referring to a campaign by Pope Francis and charitable Catholic organizations such as the U.S. bishops' Migration and Refugee Services calling on Catholics and others of goodwill to build bridges of understanding and hospitality with migrants and refugees.

"Pope Francis has invited us all on a journey with the migrant and refugee and we're glad we're part of the trip," Cardinal DiNardo said.

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Bishops across U.S. condemn separation, detention of migrant children

Archbishop Carlson, Cardinal DiNardo among those calling separation of children 'inhumane and morally unacceptable'

Catholic News Service (CNS)

July 10, 2018

https://www.archstl.org/bishops-across-us-condemn-separation-detention-of-migrant-children-931

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“Today, I join my brother bishops in the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in condemning the use of family separation at the U.S./Mexico border as an implementation of the administration’s zero tolerance policy. Along with my brother bishops, I understand the need to have secure borders and to ensure that our country remains safe. But, to forcibly separate children from their parents is inhumane, morally unacceptable, and ineffective to the goal of deterrence and safety.

As bishop and pastor to our immigrant community and local Church, I know that parents will do what is best for their children and family, especially in difficult circumstances. Indeed, our Catholic faith and principles teach us to do everything we can to keep our families together, healthy and safe. Our pastoral accompaniment with the immigrant community has taught us to recognize the root causes of migration, especially those associated with state-sanctioned violence, gang recruitment, poverty, and lack of educational opportunities. We know from our pastoral care and services with the immigrant community that unless governmental policies address these root causes of migration and work to repair our broken immigration system not much will be gained.

As faithful citizens and members of the Catholic community, we respect the rule of law and its commitment to fair treatment and due process; however, this current tactic being used against our immigrant families is contrary to our Christian principle of respect for the inherent dignity of people and the social responsibility to work for the common good. Furthermore, any policy or strategy that callously commodifies our children falls short of our American ideals and values. As a nation of immigrants, we have a long tradition of welcoming the stranger and the poor and the needy into our way of life. As a people of faith, we remain committed to our Gospel values that speak of compassion and solidarity (Matthew 25:31-46).

In our shared commitment to the common good, I ask the Catholics of this archdiocese and people of good will to write to the President, the Attorney General and members of Congress, to insist that this enforcement practice of separating families come to an end. In particular, I want to ask the Catholic community to pray for the families and their children affected by this enforcement policy, and to remain faithful to our Catholic commitment to welcome and serve our immigrant and refugee communities with the best of our resources.”

June 19, 2018

-- Most Reverend Robert J. Carlson, Archbishop of St. Louis

“Our government has the discretion in our laws to ensure that young children are not separated from their parents and exposed to irreparable harm and trauma. Families are the foundational element of our society and they must be able to stay together. While protecting our borders is important, we can and must do better as a government, and as a society, to find other ways to ensure that safety. Separating babies from their mothers is not the answer and is immoral.”

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Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston and president, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

“What is at stake is the fundamental question of being Christian today, of being a person of faith today in our country and on the continent that is suffering an hour of Christ’s passion. In this darkness, we are hungry for the real God.”

Most Rev. Mark J. Seitz, Bishop of El Paso in a statement

“Refugee children belong to their parents, not to the government or other institution. To steal children from their parents is a grave sin, immoral (and) evil. Their lives have already been extremely difficult. Why do we (U.S.) torture them even more, treating them as criminals? Pray!”

San Antonio’s Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller on Twitter

“The systematic separation of immigrant parents and children at the border is simply cruel. A nation has a right to secure its sovereign border, but that does not mean that it may use any means available to deter immigrants who seek to ask for asylum.

“By jailing parents on what is usually a misdemeanor charge, parents who cross the border with their children are being separated from them. Thus, the government itself is creating the children’s status as ‘unaccompanied.’ Lawyers and public defenders tell me that parents are not being told where their crying children are being taken.

“This nation, for the sake of its soul, must learn to weep with these children, and all the children who are being instrumentalized and commodified in our midst. I urge the Catholic faithful of the Diocese of Brownsville, and all persons of good will to write to the President, the Attorney General and members of Congress, to insist that this manner of enforcement come to an end. I also ask that we as a community pray for families and children affected by this enforcement policy, and that our country’s laws be crafted and administered with human compassion.”

Bishop Daniel E. Flores of the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas in a statement

“Certainly it’s never good to deliberately separate children, especially small children, from their parents unless there’s some danger to the children. A solution to the situation has to be found, which avoids this practice of separating small children from their parents, that’s clear.”

Cardinal Raymond L. Burke, via EWTN News Nightly

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“While the U.S. has a right to protect its borders, it has a moral obligation to do so through means that preserve families and the dignity and sanctity of all life. Refusing asylum to women escaping from domestic violence and separating children from their parents is an unnecessary and aggressive act against human life, and unfathomable from a country with a heart as strong as ours.”

Oscar Solis, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City, in a statement

“These children and their parents are often fleeing violence and our country should not add to the inhumanity of their situation. While we understand a desire to protect our borders, we call on all lawmakers to urgently seek an end to this immoral policy and pursue solutions that support family cohesiveness.”

Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila & Bishop Jorge Rodríguez

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Catholic organizations playing role in reunification of children

by Rhina Guidos

Crux (independent Catholic news)

July 15, 2018

https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2018/07/15/catholic-organizations-playing-role-in-reunification-of-children/

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Some of the migrant children under age 5 separated from their families by the government were reunited with loved ones July 9 with help from Catholic organizations.

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About two dozen families in all were brought back together on that date with help from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services, Catholic Charities USA and a network of other agencies from around the country.

In all, the Catholic agencies will help reunite 55 families by mid-July and provide short-term care, such as food and shelter, said Bill Canny, executive director of MRS.

“What we’re trying to do is give people who have had a dose of bad, we’re trying to give them a dose of good,” said Canny in a July 12 interview with Catholic News Service.

“Protection of families is a foundational element of Catholic social teaching and this moment calls on all people of goodwill to lend a hand to reunite these children with their parents,” said a joint statement issued the same day by MRS and Catholic Charities USA.

The children and families were earlier separated by a policy implemented by the Trump administration at the U.S.-Mexico border, seeking to deter illegal border crossings. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in May that people risking improper entry would be subject to having their children taken away, if caught.

The Catholic Church, along with much of the country, condemned the policy and has been advocating for the families’ reunification. After much public outcry and widespread condemnation of the family separation policy, President Donald Trump signed an executive order June 20 saying families would no longer be separated but may be detained together during the process of prosecution and deportation at the border.

The U.S. bishops have expressed concerns with that possibility, asking for alternatives to detention but seemed intent on lessening the damage already done.

Trump administration officials said that 2,342 children had been separated from 2,206 parents at the U.S.-Mexico border between May 5 and June 9 as part of the previous policy.

The administration was given until July 10 to reunite children under 5 with their families, but administration officials had said July 9 that they would not be able to meet that deadline. The administration has until July 26 to reunite all of the more than 2,000 children who have been separated from parents.

Canny said the organizations are trying to raise funds for the effort and anyone wanting to help can donate to Catholic Charities USA, www.catholiccharitiesusa.org.

The families of children under 5 that the Catholic organizations helped were reunited at government facilities and then transferred into the care of Catholic Charities organizations around the country, as well as the Annunciation House in the El Paso, Texas/Juarez, Mexico, border region.

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They will be assisted with follow-up care for two months as many will leave the facilities and head toward a destination with family or a sponsor somewhere in the U.S.

Canny said the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as well as the Office of Refugee Resettlement reached out to the Catholic organizations, as well as the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service in early July to help with the reunifications.

“They know we are able to tap into a vast Catholic network across the country, which proves valuable for humanitarian and disaster response,” he said.

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Stephen Miller's former rabbi calls him a purveyor of 'violence, malice, and brutality'

by Catherine Garcia

The Week

September 10, 2018

http://theweek.com/speedreads/795214/stephen-millers-former-rabbi-calls-purveyor-violence-malice-brutality

Rabbi Neil Comess-Daniels of the Beth Shir Shalom synagogue in Santa Monica, California, told his congregation during a Rosh Hashanah sermon on Monday that he does not condone former student Stephen Miller's "negativity, violence, malice, and brutality" toward immigrants.

Miller is President Trump's senior adviser for policy and one of the chief architects of his travel ban and directive to separate migrant children from their parents. Beth Shir Shalom is a progressive reform synagogue that Miller attended while growing up in Santa Monica, and Comess-Daniels said that he's been asked by other rabbis why Miller turned out the way he did. "I can assure you, as I can assure them, that what I taught is a Judaism that cherishes wisdom, values ... wide horizons and an even wider embrace," he said.

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The sermon was streamed live on Facebook, The Guardian reports, and Comess-Daniels said that separating families is "completely antithetical to everything I know about Judaism, Jewish law, and Jewish values." In a message directed at Miller, Comess-Daniels said he has "set back the Jewish contribution to making the world spiritually whole through your arbitrary division of these desperate people" and "the actions that you now encourage President Trump to take make it obvious to me that you didn't get my, or our, Jewish message ... you should be ashamed of yourself." Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year, and Comess-Daniels said he felt compelled to speak out because "in a free society, some are guilty, all are responsible. Because we want this society to remain free, we will continue to act."

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'You didn't get our message': key Trump aide Stephen Miller condemned by childhood rabbi

Neil Comess-Daniels denounces Miller as a purveyor of ‘violence, malice and brutality’ for zero-tolerance immigration policies

by Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles

The Guardian

September 10, 2018

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/10/stephen-miller-trump-rabbi-neil-comess-daniels

Stephen Miller. Comess-Daniels’ denunciation follows close on the heels of a similar repudiation by Miller’s uncle, David Glosser. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

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The childhood rabbi to Stephen Miller, special adviser to Donald Trump and a key architect of his “zero-tolerance” immigration policies, criticized his former charge on Monday as a purveyor of “negativity, violence, malice and brutality” who had learned nothing from his Jewish spiritual education.

Rabbi Neil Comess-Daniels of Beth Shir Shalom, a progressive reform synagogue in the beachside city of Santa Monica where Miller grew up, devoted his sermon marking the Jewish New Year to a striking denunciation of Miller and the now-abandoned policy he championed of separating immigrant families at the border.

“Honestly, Mr Miller, you’ve set back the Jewish contribution to making the world spiritually whole through your arbitrary division of these desperate people,” the rabbi said. “The actions that you now encourage President Trump to take make it obvious to me that you didn’t get my, or our, Jewish message.

“This is the season of apology, and to get to an apology, shame over past actions is necessary. Some shout at others when they are self-righteous enough: you should be ashamed of yourself! That’s not something I would ever shout or demand.” But Comess-Daniels went on to say it was up to Miller to acknowledge his wrongdoing.

The service for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, was held on the campus of Santa Monica high school, which Miller attended from 1999 to 2003, and broadcast live on Facebook. Rabbi Comess-Daniels found a receptive audience, which greeted his words with rapturous applause.

Comess-Daniels’ denunciation follows on the heels of a similar repudiation by Miller’s uncle, David Glosser, who described his “dismay and increasing horror” at the behavior of his nephew in an essay for POLITICO last month. “In the face of the virtual kidnapping of thousands of innocent children, I didn’t feel I had the ethical standing to remain silent,” Glosser later explained to the Guardian.

Comess-Daniels, a champion of immigrant rights and interfaith dialogue, particularly with Muslims, has spoken out about Miller before, but never so frankly. Miller’s parents, who still live in Santa Monica, have not been members of Beth Shir Shalom for many years.

Miller never completed his bar mitzvah there but he attended Hebrew school, where he was known as a provocateur unafraid to alienate his classmates. One contemporary has recounted how Miller sabotaged an ethical discussion over who should receive the last slice of a pizza by slapping his bare hand over it, “palm to cheese”.

Comess-Daniels told the Rosh Hashanah faithful that some of his fellow rabbis had questioned how he had educated Miller. “I can assure you, as I can assure them,” he said, “that what I taught is a Judaism that cherishes, wisdom, values … wide horizons and an even wider embrace … [Separating families] is completely antithetical to everything I know about Judaism, Jewish law and Jewish values.”

Comess-Daniels made no apology for offering so overtly political a sermon. “In a free society,

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some are guilty, all are responsible,” he said. “Because we want this society to remain free, we will continue to act.”

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Stephen Miller’s Childhood Rabbi Harshly Denounces Him In Rosh Hashanah Sermon

by Dave Goldiner

Forward

September 11, 2018

https://forward.com/fast-forward/410015/stephen-millers-childhood-rabbi-harshly-denounces-him-rosh-hashanah/

The childhood rabbi of Stephen Miller denounced the divisive White House aide during Rosh Hashanah services at the synagogue where he once worshipped.

Rabbi Neil Comess-Daniels devoted much of his High Holidays sermon to a rebuke of Miller for spearheading President Trump’s right-wing attacks on immigrants -- and especially his unpopular policy of separating families at the border.

“Mr. Miller, you’ve set back the Jewish contribution to making the world spiritually whole,” Comess-Daniels told the congregation at Beth Shir Shalom, a Reform temple in Santa Monica, according to The Guardian. “(It’s) obvious to me that you didn’t get my, or our, Jewish message.”

The rabbi even admitted that fellow rabbis have questioned whether he somehow failed to teach Miller the Jewish values of respect for others.

“What I taught is a Judaism that cherishes, wisdom, values … wide horizons and an even wider embrace,” the rabbi said. “[Separating families] is completely antithetical to everything I know

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about Judaism, Jewish law and Jewish values.”

The rabbi insisted it was his responsibility to speak out against Miller, especially on one of the most sacred days on the Jewish calendar.

“In a free society, some are guilty, all are responsible,” he said. “Because we want this society to remain free, we will continue to act.”

Miller and his family attended Beth Shir Shalom when he was a child but left before he was bar mitzvahed. Other relatives have also sharply criticized Miller for betraying the legacy of his own Jewish immigrant relatives.

The White House aide has long been an advocate for hardline policies, especially on immigration, and has won Trump’s support for making it one of his signature issues. But his idea to separate parents seeking asylum from their children backfired even among Republicans.

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‘You’ve set back the Jewish contribution’: Stephen Miller’s former rabbi issues fiery rebuke on Rosh Hashanah

by Eli Rosenberg

The Washington Post

September 11, 2018

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/09/12/youve-set-back-jewish-contribution-stephen-millers-former-rabbi-issues-fiery-rebuke-rosh-hashanah/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.8dcdc50d8aac

The Jewish new year celebration, Rosh Hashanah, began Sunday night, and for most observant

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adherents it is meant to kick off a period of often personal reflection.

But one religious leader took the holiday as an opportunity to send a message to a man who he said was a former congregant: presidential adviser Stephen Miller. In a fiery sermon that has now been covered by news outlets around the world, Rabbi Neil Comess-Daniels of Beth Shir Shalom, a synagogue in Santa Monica, Calif., where Miller grew up, denounced Miller for his role in the proposal that resulted in the family separation crisis at the border, questioning how his values diverged so sharply from the congregation’s.

“The actions that you now encourage President Trump to take make it obvious to me that you didn’t get my or our Jewish message,” Comess-Daniels said. “That notion is completely antithetical to everything I know about Judaism, Jewish law and Jewish values.”

Comess-Daniels said Miller’s family belonged to the synagogue when Miller was about 9 or 10 years old; Miller attended Hebrew School there and his sister had her bat mitzvah there, he said. It was not clear how long the family was involved with the synagogue. The White House did not return a request for comment.

Comess-Daniels framed Miller’s role in the White House as a potential failure of his synagogue and its teachings.

“What is troublesome to me is that some of my colleagues and others are concerned what I might have taught you when you were a member of our community,” Comess-Daniels said.

More than 2,600 children were separated from their families after they crossed the U.S.-Mexico border this year, the result of a change in federal practice to charge all undocumented immigrants crossing the border with crimes. As The Washington Post has previously reported, Miller, who is considered a hard-liner on immigration, was one of a small circle of Trump administration members who played a crucial role in making the proposal actionable. The separations were halted June 20 amid multiple lawsuits, but hundreds of children remain separated from their families in government-funded shelters.

Comess-Daniels pointed to the long history of Jews as refugees and said that the practice violated fundamental Jewish tenets.

“From the Jewish perspective, the parent-child relationship is sacrosanct,” he said. “Disrupting it is cruel. Mr. Miller, the policy you helped to conceive and put into practice is cruel.”

His comments echoed those made by Miller’s uncle David S. Glosser, who in August penned a scathing op-ed that noted the family’s history of immigration to the United States -- the family’s patriarch, Wolf-Leib Glosser, landed at Ellis Island after fleeing violence in Eastern Europe -- and accused Miller of being a hypocrite.

[‘Immigration hypocrite’: Stephen Miller’s uncle lambastes him in scathing op-ed]

“I have watched with dismay and increasing horror as my nephew, who is an educated man and

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well aware of his heritage, has become the architect of immigration policies that repudiate the very foundation of our family’s life in this country,” Glosser wrote.

Comess-Daniels compared the historical experiences of Jewish people to the current plight of refugees worldwide.

“We Jews have chosen our history to be our mandate,” he said. “We choose to remember and underscore that the quintessential experience of the Jewish people is both the slavery in and the exodus from Egypt. We are all refugees, Mr. Miller.”

Comess-Daniels also referenced the Holocaust, speaking about children who perished, such as Anne Frank or others who were shepherded out of Germany while their parents were in concentration camps through rescue efforts such as Kindertransport.

[Hans Asperger, hailed for autism research, may have sent child patients to be killed by Nazis]

“These were Jewish unaccompanied minors,” he said, drawing a parallel with the immigrant children who have come across the border in recent years to flee violence in Central America. “Honestly, Mr. Miller, you’ve set back the Jewish contribution to making the world spiritually whole through your arbitrary division of these desperate families at our southern border.”

The sermon, which was filmed in a live stream on the congregation’s Facebook page, made a splash, drawing coverage in the Guardian, among other outlets. Comess-Daniels explained to CNN on Tuesday his decision to rebuke Miller.

“I chose to speak out on it because it’s something that kind of sticks in the craw of the Jewish people, because we’ve been refugees under so many conditions during so many times in history,” he said. “And ultimately that we need to make clear to anyone that’s listening, certainly a senior adviser to the president, is what our values are, what our morals are, and when they’re transgressed, we need to say something about it.”

Miller’s parents still live in Santa Monica, but they are no longer members of the synagogue, according to the Guardian.

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Stephen Miller’s Hometown Rabbi Berates Him In Scorching Holiday Sermon

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In a Rosh Hashanah sermon, Rabbi Neil Comess-Daniels said the White House adviser’s immigration tactics are “completely antithetical to everything I know about Judaism.”

By Carol Kuruvilla

HuffPost

September 11, 2018

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/stephen-millers-hometown-rabbi-rebukes-him-in-scorching-holiday-sermon_us_5b97e2ade4b0511db3e6892a

Every year, Jewish Americans gather in synagogues during Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, to listen to the sounds of the shofar. The instrument serves as a spiritual wake-up call, ushering in a period of repentance and atonement in the Jewish calendar known as the “Days of Awe.”

This year, a California rabbi decided to mark the start of the Jewish High Holidays with another sort of wake-up call -- a rousing sermon aimed directly at senior White House adviser Stephen Miller, a man the rabbi believes has strayed far from Jewish teaching.

Miller, a descendent of Jewish immigrants, is a key designer of President Donald Trump’s hardline immigration agenda. According to The New York Times, Miller has defended some of the president’s most controversial immigration policies -- including the travel ban that restricted travelers from several Muslim-majority countries, the dramatic cuts Trump has made to refugee admissions, and the “zero tolerance” policy that resulted in the separation of families who illegally crossed the U.S. border.

Rabbi Neil Comess-Daniels is a Reform Jewish leader at Beth Shir Shalom, a synagogue in Miller’s hometown of Santa Monica. Comess-Daniels claims when Miller was a child, the adviser’s family briefly belonged to Beth Shir Shalom.

The rabbi said that some of his colleagues are questioning what Miller had been taught at the progressive synagogue. Comess-Daniels spoke up during a Rosh Hashanah service on Monday to assure the community that the synagogue had tried its best to teach Miller the core Jewish values of mercy and compassion.

Comess-Daniels said the actions Miller is encouraging Trump to take “make it obvious to me that [Miller] didn’t get my, or our, Jewish message.”

Jewish history, the rabbi said, is full of stories of refugees and immigrants, of people escaping from slavery into freedom. Judaism teaches people to refrain from cruelness and to struggle for

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the sake of all that is righteous. It encourages Jews to work together to repair the world.

Miller’s actions at the White House have perpetrated “negativity, violence, malice and brutality,” the rabbi said. In particular, the “zero-tolerance” policy Miller helped craft was “completely antithetical to everything I know about Judaism, Jewish law and Jewish values.”

“From the Jewish perspective, the parent-child relationship is sacrosanct. Disrupting it is cruel,” Comess-Daniels said. “Mr. Miller, the policy that you helped to conceive and put into practice is cruel.”

“Honestly, Mr. Miller, you’ve set back the Jewish contribution to making the world spiritually whole through your arbitrary division of these desperate families at our southern border,” the rabbi added.

The White House did not respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.

Miller grew up in a liberal Jewish community in Santa Monica, but emerged as an ardent conservative as a teenager. Comess-Daniels claims Miller’s family attended Beth Shir Shalom when he was around 9 or 10 years old. The Millers also appear to have attended another liberal Reform congregation in the area, the Santa Monica Synagogue. Miller attended that synagogue’s 10th-grade confirmation class, according to The New York Times.

After graduating from college, Miller worked for several Republican politicians before joining Trump’s presidential campaign.

Comess-Daniels isn’t the first Jewish leader to denounce Miller’s actions as a White House adviser. In February, 17 Jewish organizations sent a letter to White House chief of staff John Kelly expressing concern over Miller’s “extreme viewpoints and advocacy of racist policies.” The letter, signed by the National Council of Jewish Women, the American Jewish World Service and others, stated that Miller’s views are “anathema to our Jewish and American values.”

“As Jews, we are in solidarity with immigrants and refugees and believe that our nation must be a refuge and welcoming home for new Americans,” the letter stated. “Our people have been persecuted too many times in history for us to do otherwise.”

Jane Eisner, editor-in-chief of the Jewish news organization Forward, wrote an opinion piece in June encouraging Jews to disown Miller over his family separation policies.

“You are not one of us,” Eisner wrote. “Not when you promulgate dehumanizing policies that violate Jewish values.”

More recently, Miller’s own uncle, David Glosser, wrote an article for POLITICO explaining how Miller’s maternal ancestors immigrated to the U.S. in the early 20th century to escape persecution in Eastern Europe. Glosser said he’s watched with “dismay and increasing horror” as Miller became the architect of immigration policies that “repudiate the very foundation of our family’s life in this country.”

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As part of their spiritual practice during the Days of Awe, Jews often seek forgiveness from friends and family whom they may have hurt in the past year. Comess-Daniels said it was up to Miller to own up to what he has done.

“You can choose to accept responsibility for the havoc you’ve wrought and the wounds you’ve inflicted, or not,” the rabbi said in Monday’s sermon. “You can take some action that seems to heal or rectify the injury you’ve caused, or walk away, wrapping yourself in the deflecting guise of national security.”

For his part, the rabbi promised to never give up hope that Miller would change his ways and become a mensch -- a Yiddish word that describes a person who is filled with honor, integrity, and kindness.

In the meantime, Comess-Daniels said that he and his congregation, along with other progressive people of faith, will be working hard to reverse the damage Miller has done.

“In a place where no one is acting like a mensch, be one,” Comess-Daniels said, quoting the influential ancient rabbi Hillel the Elder. “That’s what we’ll be doing, Mr. Miller, because that’s who we are. We can only hope you will decide to join us.”

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Mercy sisters decry report of immigrant children moved to tent city

by Carol Zimmermann, Catholic News Service

Crux (independent Catholic news)

October 5, 2018

https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2018/10/05/mercy-sisters-decry-report-of-immigrant-children-moved-to-tent-city/

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WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Sisters of Mercy of the Americas said they are “outraged and appalled” by a recent report of migrant children being moved to a tent city in Texas, adding that what is happening now “pales in comparison to the trauma and uncertainty these young girls and boys and their families will experience for years to come.”

“The photos and reports of these detention centers for children are the most recent example of how the Trump administration has continued to ratchet up its aggressive approach to tearing immigrant families apart while offering no remedy to decades of failed U.S. foreign policy that has produced the conditions from which people are fleeing for their lives,” said an Oct. 3 statement by the Mercy sisters, based in the Washington suburb of Silver Spring, Maryland.

A New York Times article Sept. 30 said migrant children in shelters across the country were being transported in the night in recent weeks to a tent city on desert property in Tornillo, Texas, outside of El Paso. At the time, 1,600 children were at the site with more expected since it was expanded to house 3,800 and to remain open until at least the end of the year.

The report said children are housed in tents in groups of 20 with no school or workbooks and limited access to legal services as “the federal government struggles to find room for more than 13,000 detained migrant children - the largest population ever - whose numbers have increased more than fivefold since last year.”

Evelyn Stauffer, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said in a statement to The New York Times that “it is common to use influx shelters as done on military bases in the past, and the intent is to use these temporary facilities only as long as needed.”

She also said the need for the tent city reflected problems with the immigration system.

Stauffer said the children’s ages and the dangers they face “make unaccompanied alien children vulnerable to human trafficking, exploitation and abuse,” which is why the agency joins President Donald Trump in “calling on Congress to reform this broken system.”

Moving these children to the Texas tent city is meant to be temporary and primarily for older children considered likely to be placed with sponsors.

In mid-September, HHS, the federal agency in charge of caring for migrant children and teenagers in U.S. custody, said it was setting up the tent camp to accommodate a growing number of Central American children crossing the border.

The camp was initially established in June as a temporary shelter because other facilities were running out of space at the height of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy for immigrants crossing illegally into the United States which separated about 2,500 migrant children from their parents.

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Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, sent an Oct. 2 letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar asking what is being done to protect the children at this tent city and how long they’re expected to remain there. He also asked whether the government plans to open more such facilities.

“I inspected the Tornillo tent camps in June and can attest that it is no place for a child to live,” the Catholic representative wrote.

He also urged that these children be released to sponsors as soon as possible, pointing out that “studies show that these shelters cause children stress, prolonged illness and can lead to long-lasting mental and physical consequences.”

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Fox Valley faith leaders fly to migrant camp protest, local 24-hour Christmas vigil planned

by Devi Shastri

Appleton Post-Crescent, Appleton, Wisconsin

December 22, 2018

https://www.postcrescent.com/story/news/2018/12/22/local-faith-leaders-houdini-plaza-vigil-protest-tornillo-migrant-camp/2397044002/

APPLETON - Two Fox Valley faith leaders plan to spend Christmas in Tornillo, Texas, to protest what has become the nation's largest shelter for migrant children.

Marijke van Roojen, of the Winnebago Worship Group (Religious Society of Friends - Quaker), and Marie Luna, director of congregational life at the Fox Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, will join others from around the country in an effort to stand "witness" outside the pop-up camp until it closes, which has made national headlines for holding migrant children in large tents.

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"If you think about it from the faith leaders' perspective, what should we be doing?" van Roojen asked. "What is more important at Christmas than caring for the most vulnerable children in our country?"

The national event coincides with a local 24-hour vigil planned at Houdini Plaza in Appleton, where other local faith groups will gather to pray and spread awareness. That event starts at noon on Christmas Eve.

The contract for the Tornillo camp expires at the end of the year, van Roojen said, though advocates worry it will be extended. She said the plan is to have people standing witness outside the camp as long as it is open.

The center's existence concerns van Roojen not as a political crisis, but a moral one.

"For me, this is about human decency," she said. "This is about the kind of country I want to live in, that cares about children. I think our humanity is at stake. If we don't care, who will?"

Luna and van Roojen will remain in Texas through the holiday and will return on Dec. 27. They will fly out tomorrow to participate in singing carols for the children in the camp from outside.

The camp was supposed to close one month after it opened in June, however, it has only grown in size. Less than a month ago, PBS News Hour reported the shelter has capacity for 3,800 children and that detainees are being held for longer periods.

Luna said she has followed the growth of the migrant shelters, which she calls "internment camps," and has followed the growth of the Tornillo camp and advocated locally for change.

Luna's church will also hold a service on Dec. 30 about the various ways to "harbor" people in an effort to remove the negative connotation associated with the word. She said many of the migrants crossing the border are fleeing from religious persecution and extreme violence and are seeking asylum legally.

"They are fleeing their countries for desperate reasons and I think to my child -- I have a 12-year-old son -- and if my child's life was threatened, I would do anything I could do to put him in a safe space," Luna said. "If I had to walk 2,000 miles, I would do that with him."

In November, a U.S. District Court judge ruled that migrants who cross the border illegally are able to apply for asylum under federal law.

Luna said she hopes the efforts nationally and locally get people in the Fox Valley to participate by joining the vigil or calling their local representatives to close the camps by supporting a bill called the Shut Down Child Prison Camps Act that is currently making its way through Congress.

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"That's what I want people to take away -- that we have a voice," Luna said. "If enough of us come together, and express outrage at this, we can shut this down. I truly believe that we have the power to shut this down."

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Detaining migrant children 'immoral and inhumane,' says Catholic group joining lawsuit

Catholic News Agency (CNA)

January 27, 2019

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/detaining-migrant-children-immoral-and-humane-says-catholic-group-joining-lawsuit-80844

Washington D.C., Jan 27, 2019 (CNA) -- More than 10,000 migrant children still detained by the U.S. government are wrongly being used to lure undocumented family members into a situation where they can be detained, says a Catholic immigrant advocacy group that has joined a federal class action lawsuit seeking their release.

“We cannot allow this administration to continue to intentionally keep children away from their families, it is immoral and inhumane,” Jeanne Atkinson, executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC), said Jan. 23.

The lawsuit charges that the Trump administration aimed to deter illegal immigration by adopting a policy “to use detained immigrant children as bait to arrest immigrants who come forward to sponsor them, even while explicitly acknowledging that this would prolong the detention of immigrant children.”

This “twisted the sponsorship process” from the intentions of Congress to ensure migrant children’s safety and to place them “in the least restrictive setting as quickly as possible,” according to the lawsuit, filed Jan. 18 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

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Trump administration policy for the Office of Refugee Resettlement and Immigration and Customs Enforcement has led to the illegally prolonged detention of the migrant children, it charged.

Atkinson said the Office of Refugee Resettlement is “ignoring the law established by Congress by detaining rather than releasing the children to their loved ones.”

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops launched CLINIC in 1988 to support community-based immigration programs. CLINIC and its affiliates represent low-income migrants. The network has about 330 programs in 47 states and the District of Columbia, its website says.

CLINIC cited a late 2017 memo from the Trump administration, obtained Jan. 17, 2019, that said the administration intended this prolonged detention of children to serve as “a deterrent to migrants who want to travel to the United States.”

“Among other things, it showed that information gathered during the reunification process was being used to facilitate ICE’s efforts to arrest and deport potential sponsors and relatives of the detained youth,” said CLINIC’s statement.

As of Jan. 20, the number of children in the care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement is at 10,700, down from a peak of 14,600 in December 2018. Lydia Holt, a spokesperson for the office, told National Public Radio.

The office abruptly streamlined its sponsor screening process last month, after a federal contractor of the largest migrant shelter, a desert tent camp in Tornillo, Texas, refused to agree to a contract extension.

On May 4, the Department of Homeland Security began referring all people crossing the border illegally to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution.

This “zero-tolerance policy” was implemented in response to a report that unauthorized border crossings increased 203 percent in 2017. The majority of people arriving at the U.S. border had fled Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, according to the U.N.

The goal of the policy is to prosecute 100 percent of the people who cross the border illegally, Melissa Hastings, a policy advisor for the U.S. bishops’ migration and refugee services, told CNA in June 2018.

The policy has no exceptions for families who turn themselves over to U.S. border authorities on the grounds that they are seeking legal asylum. In the majority of cases, border patrol never asks the parent or accompanying adult if they can verify their relationship, Hastings said.

Once a child is separated and their parent detained, communication between family members becomes very challenging. The shelters caring for the children have to identify where the separated parent has been detained and establish contact.

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Since March of 2018 at least four federal lawsuits have been filed challenging the policy.

Migrants’ advocates say there are family members who can take in minors as an alternative to detaining the minors for months. Most underage migrants traveled from Central America alone or without a parent or legal guardian. Most ask for asylum, citing the danger of violent street gangs in their home neighborhoods, National Public Radio reports.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, whose longtime criticism of U.S. migration policy has become more prominent under the Trump administration, also rejected the practice of separating children and parents.

“Children are not instruments of deterrence but a blessing from God,” Bishop Joe S. Vásquez of Austin, chair of the bishops’ migration committee, said in June 2018.

Separating families at the U.S. border “does not allay security concerns,” he said, adding, “Rupturing the bond between parent and child causes scientifically-proven trauma that often leads to irreparable emotional scarring.”

In June 2018, the United Nations human rights office condemned the U.S. practice of separating migrant children from their parents at the border as “a serious violation of the rights of the child.”

CLINIC’s partners include faith-based institutions, farmworker programs, domestic violence shelters, ethnic community organizations, libraries and other entities that serve immigrants. It has about 2,300 accredited representatives and attorneys who serve hundreds of thousands of immigrants each year.

The organization has joined the class action lawsuit to an amended complaint on behalf of the approximately 10,000 detained children. The legal case is known as J.E.C.M. et al v. Lloyd et al.

The latest lawsuit was filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Legal Aid Justice Center and Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox PLLC.

The Southern Poverty Law Center is not without controversy. Founded in 1971, it originally monitored persons and groups fighting the civil rights movement. It then began tracking racist and white supremacist groups like neo-Nazis and affiliates of the Ku Klux Klan. It also claims to monitor other “extremist” groups it considers to be anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim.

More recently, the SPLC has listed as “hate groups” mainstream Christian groups like the Family Research Council and Alliance Defending Freedom, saying they take an “anti-LGBT” stance. The Ruth Institute has also been included in this list.

The designation has had financial consequences. The Amazon Smile donation program and payment processors have dropped several of the groups based on the listing.

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In 2012, an armed shooter at the Family Research Council’s D.C. headquarters wounded a security guard before he was detained. He told FBI agents he was motivated by “their stance against gay rights” and cited the SPLC’s listing of the group as a “hate group.”

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Trump Wants More Cruelty at the Border

By Rev. John L. McCullough

Sojourners

April 15, 2019

https://sojo.net/articles/trump-wants-more-cruelty-border

It will come as no surprise when President Trump continues his anti-immigrant agenda, ignoring well-established U.S. asylum law and putting children and families in harm’s way even after Secretary Nielsen’s abrupt departure. We know that President Trump forced Secretary Nielsen to resign to find someone willing to enforce even more cruelty at the border. The question now is what unchecked harm he will unleash after the purge of the Department of Homeland Security is complete.

He gave us a preview of those plans on Friday when he sent a chilling message to refugees from Central America seeking safety in the United States: “The system is full. We can’t take you anymore... Our country is full ... Turn around.” Speaking directly to the camera, his message was both cruel and clear: I do not care what hell you went through. Turn around and go back.

I’ve read these words before. I’m sure you have too. We know the story of a pregnant woman and her husband, looking for a safe place to rest, escaping from cruelty in their homeland, being told “there’s no room for you.”

The story of Mary, Joseph, and the infant Jesus is the founding story of my Christian faith, and it powerfully demonstrates that there is always room for the outcast and the migrant. As Americans and as people of faith, we know that vulnerable families knocking on our door and seeking protection are not a border security crisis -- their story and how we respond is a test of our humanity.

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Trump is saying “go back” to the mothers, fathers, and children walking north to seek protection through the legal process known as asylum. He’s saying “go back” to the men, women, and children his administration is incarcerating in jails and cages and stowing away like trash under a bridge. The families he has separated who are still trying to find each other; the children who have died while in U.S. custody; these are not examples of hapless neglect. They are examples of deliberate cruelty.

The good news is that a lot of people in the United States today see Trump’s attempt to turn his back on Central American refugees for what it is: an immoral act that flies in the face of basic human decency. People of conscience across our country have demonstrated faithful witness to the dignity of families separated by Trump’s cruel attacks on asylum seekers, in opposition to the inhumanity of his “zero tolerance” policies.

All along the border, faith communities across traditions are pitching in to accompany asylum seekers, in order to ensure they have adequate shelter, food, clothing, phone services, and bus tickets to connect with family members. …

Trump’s heartless words - “there is no room for you” - come almost exactly one year after his administration began separating children from their parents. Despite widespread outcry, families are still separated and these policies are in place still today. These words and policies run counter to the Biblical call to love your neighbor, welcome the stranger, and value the dignity of every family. People of faith and conscience recognize the parallels. A pregnant Mary and a downtrodden Joseph are walking toward our border right now. Will we allow President Trump to turn them away?

Sojourners is a progressive monthly magazine and daily online publication of the American Christian social justice organization Sojourners. The founding editor-in-chief is Jim Wallis. Wallis is an American theologian, writer, teacher and political activist who is well known for his advocacy on issues of peace and social justice. Although Wallis actively eschews political labels, he describes himself as an evangelical and is often associated with the evangelical left and the wider Christian left. He worked as a spiritual advisor to President Barack Obama.

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Catholics to risk arrest Thursday in protest of migrant detention centers

by Kevin Christopher Robles

America: The Jesuit Review

July 16, 2019

https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2019/07/16/catholics-risk-arrest-thursday-protest-migrant-detention-centers

On July 18, protesters, including priests and religious, are expected to gather on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol in an event organized by a coalition of Catholic advocacy groups. The day’s events will include a rally condemning the treatment of migrant children, but a smaller number of Catholic leaders and volunteers intend to trespass inside the Russell Senate Office building while praying the rosary in an act of civil disobedience.

“We’re all horrified at the treatment of children at the border,” said Patrick Carolan, the executive director of the Franciscan Action Network. “We’ve been talking and decided that we had to do something.” Mr. Carolan said that this protest is to be the first of a series of events designed to bring awareness to the fact that the government’s treatment of migrants “is against our Catholic faith, Jesus and everything that Francis of Assisi thought and lived [for].”

“We are trying to get Catholics across the country to rise up and reclaim our faith,” he said.

“We’ve been talking and decided that we had to do something.”

“Images of immigrant children detained in fence cages, separated from family members and living in unsanitary, unhealthy conditions have outraged the nation in recent weeks,” Christopher Kerr, the executive director of the Ignatian Solidarity Network, said in an email to America. “A core group of national Catholic social justice organizations felt it was necessary to take broader public action to decry this treatment of children not only as a violation of human dignity and rights but also as contrary to core Catholic values of human dignity and caring for those who are most vulnerable.”

The event comes just days after Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions on July 14 approved by the Trump administration that were said to have targeted 2,000 individuals in cities across the country. Though by July 15 the ICE deportation actions appeared more limited in scope than the president had indicated, church officials said that they appeared intended to intimidate and frighten migrant communities in the United States.

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The ICE deportation moves are just the latest in a long series of policy decisions made by the Trump administration meant to discourage asylum-seekers and other migrants from making the trip to the U.S.-Mexico border.

Mr. Kerr noted, “Across the country, we have seen our partners in the Jesuit network, particularly parishes serving immigrant communities, preparing for the raids.” Some parishes, such as Saint Mary’s in Ann Arbor, Mich., have begun distributing immigration emergency manuals during their Spanish Masses. Others, like St. Thomas More Parish in St. Paul, Minn., have declared themselves “sanctuary parishes,” committed to hosting immigrant families. Many more are providing “know your rights” training, connecting parishioners to legal services and advocating through rallies and protests.

“If the Trump administration is going to persist in terror tactics against hard working immigrants and their families, then Catholics will continue to act, give public witness and condemn this social sin,” said Simone Campbell, S.S.S., the executive director of Network Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, in a press statement. “Congress refuses to fix our immigration law, causing our people to suffer.”

“The separation of families and detention of children both violate their human rights and run contrary to Catholic social teaching, which considers the family sacred."

Other Catholic organizations sponsoring the event include the Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach, the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and Pax Christi USA.

The coalition of advocacy groups has reached out to supporters primarily through their Facebook event page. The Franciscan Action Network is also encouraging Catholics to participate and has reached out to volunteers interested in joining the civil disobedience portion of the protest who are willing to risk arrest.

“It’s so horrific what’s going on,” Mr. Carolan said. “The whole idea that it’s morally acceptable to treat children like this [makes me] say, ‘You should stop pretending like you’re Catholic and start acting like you’re Catholic.’”

“Reasonable people may differ on how to address the challenges at the southern border, but the [Trump] administration’s mistreatment of children and families is truly outrageous,” said Ted Penton, S.J., the secretary of the Office of Justice and Ecology for the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States in an email.

“The separation of families and detention of children both violate their human rights and run contrary to Catholic social teaching, which considers the family sacred,” Father Penton said. “We all need to be as clear as possible that we object to these immoral policies and call on our elected representatives to end them immediately.”

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Catholic nuns, priests protesting migrant child treatment arrested on Capitol Hill

The protest was organized by several faith-based organizations to condemn treatment of migrant children at U.S.-Mexico border

by Chris Marquette

Roll Call

July 18, 2019

https://www.rollcall.com/news/congress/dozens-protesting-migrant-child-treatment-arrested-in-russell

Seventy demonstrators from a Catholic coalition were arrested Thursday in the Russell Senate Office Building as they protested the conditions migrants are being held in at detention facilities abutting the U.S. southern border.

The protest was organized by several faith-based organizations, including Faith in Public Life, Faith in Action and Sisters of Mercy of the Americas. Catholic priests, nuns, and lay members converged on Capitol Hill to put pressure on Trump administration and lawmakers in Congress to end “the immoral and inhumane practice of detaining immigrant children.”

Protesters could be seen being restrained with zip tie handcuffs, before being led away to a police bus parked on Delaware Avenue Northeast, near the corner of Constitution Avenue Northeast.

Eva Malecki, the Capitol Police spokeswoman, said they were arrested for “unlawfully demonstrating in the rotunda of the Russell Senate Office Building.”

“All were charged with D.C. Code §22-1307, Crowding, Obstructing, or Incommoding,” she said in an emailed statement.

A demonstrator is arrested during a protest in the Russell Senate Office Building on Thursday, July 18, 2019. (Chris Marquette/CQ Roll Call)

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“I just think that we can do better as a nation,” said Walter Liss, a Franciscan brother who attended the protest. “I just don’t like what I’ve seen on TV the way that people are being treated and or scapegoated, you know, how people especially people of color from other countries are being blamed for all sorts of problems in society.”

Liss was holding a signs that reads "For I was a stranger and you welcomed me," from the Gospel of Matthew. Others clergy members could be seen with signs that said "Mercy for immigrants" or with images of immigrant children.

The protest was referred to as a Catholic Day of Action for Detained Immigrant Children by the organizers.

UNITED STATES - JULY 18: A woman a part of a coalition of Catholic activists lays on the ground as she protests to pressure the Trump administration and Congress to end the practice of detaining immigrant children in the Russell Rotunda at the Capitol on Thursday July 18, 2019. (Photo by Caroline Brehman/CQ Roll Call)

Sean Bray, the director of campus ministry at Loyola University Maryland, said he joined the protest because of several issues at the border, including child separation and overcrowding. Bray said the way in which people are being treated at detention facilities is antithetical to the values of the Catholic faith, noting that he considers it a right to life issue.

“When we see our brothers and sisters who are suffering, and that comes from our Gospels, that comes from our social teachings,” Bray said. “And so, you know, there's Catholics who stand up for a number of different right for life issues, and this is one of them for us.”

Vice President Mike Pence recently visited the McAllen Border Station in Texas on July 19 where there were 400 men in caged fences with no cots and a “horrendous” stench, according to the White House Pool.

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Catholic Nuns, Leaders Arrested While Protesting Detention Of Migrant Children

About 70 activists prayed the rosary as they rallied at Capitol Hill to protest the government’s treatment of children at the U.S.-Mexico border.

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by Carol Kuruvilla

HuffPost

July 18 2019

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/catholic-capitol-hill-protest_n_5d307e14e4b020cd993fd846

Seventy activists were arrested in Washington, D.C., on Thursday while protesting the government’s treatment of undocumented immigrant children, organizers confirmed to HuffPost.

The group of Catholic sisters, priests, brothers and lay Catholic advocates recited the rosary as they gathered inside the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill for what organizers dubbed the “Catholic Day of Action for Immigrant Children.” Some of the participants held photos of children who have died in federal custody since 2018, while others lay on the floor of the building’s rotunda, forming the shape of a cross with their bodies.

The 70 individuals were arrested for unlawfully demonstrating, and were charged with obstructing a public place, U.S. Capitol Police spokeswoman Eva Malecki confirmed to HuffPost.

We protest here for the children who have died in detention. #CatholicDayOfAction pic.twitter.com/slB9bLOJkD

-- Columban Advocacy (@ColumbanCenter) July 18, 2019

One of the activists arrested was 90-year-old Patricia M. Murphy, a Chicago-based religious sister who has spent years fighting for the rights of undocumented and detained migrants.

Watch here as Sister Pat Murphy, 90, is arrested and led out. Sister Pat works with migrants and refugees in Chicago, and has been holding a weekly vigil outside ICE there for 13 years. She says the treatment of migrants should outrage all people of faith #CatholicDayOfAction #DC pic.twitter.com/z2cXTGcJFn

-- Marissa J. Lang (@Marissa_Jae) July 18, 2019

William Critchley-Menor, a young Jesuit scholar from St. Louis, said he came to stand in solidarity with migrant children at the southern border.

“We’re here because the treatment they’re receiving is completely incompatible and contrary to the message of Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church,” Critchley-Menor said in a Twitter video from the Capitol lawn on Thursday.

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“The Holy Father has called us to a ‘revolution of tenderness,’” he said, referencing a recent TED Talk given by Pope Francis. “What’s taking place at the southern border with children being away from their families, being placed in detention camps without knowing when they will be released is the opposite of tenderness.”

“We’re here because the treatment [migrant children] are receiving is completely incompatible and contrary to the message of Jesus Christ...” -@billymenorsj, who was arrested today for participating in nonviolent civil disobedience at the #CatholicDayOfAction #Catholics4Migrants pic.twitter.com/SY6X14O2et

-- Jesuit News (@jesuitnews) July 18, 2019

Critchley-Menor was later arrested inside the Senate office building.

Before the arrests, about 200 people gathered on the Capitol lawn to hear speeches from various Catholic leaders. Participants took part in responsive intercessory prayer and listened to testimonies from migrants.

The rally drew activists from a wide array of religious orders, such as the Sisters of Mercy, Jesuits and Franciscans, along with members of advocacy organizations such as the NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, Faith in Action and Faith in Public Life.

For the children killed by sinful policies, we pray. #CatholicDayOfAction pic.twitter.com/esPpjV4vp7

-- Faith in Public Life (@FaithPublicLife) July 18, 2019

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), the country’s largest association of religious sisters, and the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, which represents about a third of America’s Catholic priests, also offered their support.

At least seven Catholic bishops from around the country published statements of support for the act of civil disobedience. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has made several statements in the past condemning the Trump administration’s border policies.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has been under heavy public criticism in recent weeks as an influx of migrants pushes detention facilities well past capacity. Last month, a group of lawyers reported inadequate food, water and sanitation at one facility in Clint, Texas, noting that several kids were sick with the flu, while older children were being asked to take care of toddlers. Some children reported being separated from their parents or other adult caregivers, such as aunts and uncles, The Associated Press reported.

Bearing witness to the memory of children who perished in the hands of a sinful system. #CatholicDayOfAction pic.twitter.com/PzOzEbpHNl

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-- Faith in Public Life (@FaithPublicLife) July 18, 2019

The government later moved most of the children from the Clint facility to other shelters. Border Patrol officials and the Trump administration have disputed the reports of unsanitary and unsafe conditions for children at federal detention centers.

Government rules dictate that Border Patrol shouldn’t hold children for more than 72 hours before transferring the minors to Health and Human Services, which places migrant youth in facilities around the country. But advocates claim CBP has been holding kids much longer than is legally allowed.

Reciting the Hail Mary together and many risk arrest #catholicdayofaction pic.twitter.com/hGJp288qWD

-- Annie Selak (@aselak) July 18, 2019

LCWR’s executive director Sister Carol Zinn said she would like to see the government quickly place undocumented children with family members in the U.S. or with community-managed care programs until the kids are able to appear in immigration court.

“The inhumane treatment of children being done in our name must stop,” Zinn said during the press conference. “Stop the traumatizing, stop the isolation, stop the detention of children, stop, stop, stop.”

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Update: Catholics focus on migrant children with rally, civil disobedience

By Carol Zimmermann

Catholic News Service (CNS)

July 19, 2019

https://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2019/catholics-put-focus-on-immigrant-children-with-rally-civil-disobedience.cfm

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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A few hundred Catholic activists, including dozens of women religious, gathered outside at the foot of the U.S. Capitol July 18 urging politicians to stop its "inhumane treatment" of immigrant children at the border and reminding people of faith to take a stronger stand against current U.S. border policies.

The rally, on a sweltering Washington morning, included times of prayer, a few songs and several speeches. At one point, someone in the crowd started chanting, "Where are the bishops?" which was echoed by many participants, but later in the program, speakers read excerpts from messages that had been sent to the group from several U.S. bishops, thanking them for participating and urging them to continue to speak up about the border crisis.

A message from Bishop Robert W. McElroy of San Diego said in part: "We stand in a moment when our government has weaponized fear -- the fear being sown within our nation as a whole that refugees and immigrants, who have been America's historic lifeblood, have now become the enemy; and the even more reprehensible fear being unleashed upon the hearts and souls of immigrant mothers and fathers that they will be separated from their children purely as an act of intimidation."

Many of the speakers at the "Catholic Day of Action for Immigrant Children," organized by the groups Faith in Public Life and Faith in Action, were primarily women religious who stressed the need to end the current practice of placing children in detention centers at the border and emphasized that the need to start a new wave of protest against these policies should be viewed as a pro-life stance.

Sister Carol Zinn, a Sister of St. Joseph of Philadelphia, and executive director of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, told the group: "Catholic sisters have a long history with immigrant communities. We have seen the pain, suffering, fear and trauma firsthand. In recent months, as the humanitarian crisis has escalated, we have joined the tens of thousands who are outraged at the horrific situation at our southern border."

She pointed out that women religious have been ministering to those in need and donated money to support those seeking safety, freedom, security and a better life for their families. "We are here today because of our faith. The Gospel commands, and the values of our homeland demand, that we act," she added.

The message of urgency was essentially speaking to the choir because these activists, who showed their support with rounds of "Amens!" were clearly not new to this issue and many attended the rally particularly for its finale: when the arrests of 70 people for civil disobedience took place at the adjacent Russell Senate Office Building.

Those arrested were charged with "incommoding, crowding, and obstructing" and had to each pay a $50 fine or request a court date. They were released that afternoon.

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During the morning action, a young mother from El Salvador held her baby as she addressed the crowd in Spanish. In remarks, which were translated, she thanked the group for their efforts to help immigrants and said she is seeking sanctuary, but she is afraid she will be separated from her baby.

As groups of tourists walked by and men and women in business attire headed toward Capitol Hill, they couldn't help but see the signs held aloft with messages such as "Franciscans for Justice," "Let Children Be with their Parents" and "Catholics for Families: Together and Free" as well as placards with images of children who have died in U.S. custody at the border.

Mercy Sister Patricia Murphy, a 90-year-old from Chicago, who came to the event to take part in the civil disobedience, told Catholic News Service right before the rally that she "couldn't not be here."

The sister wore a purple shirt identifying her as a Sister of Mercy, a pin that said: "You are my Neighbor" and carried a placard with the face of Felipe Gomez Alonzo, an 8-year-old from Guatemala who died from illness while in U.S. immigration custody after crossing the border with his father.

Sister Patricia said this would be her sixth arrest and she hoped the action would move others to do more. For the past 12 years, she has kept vigil, praying and protesting outside an immigrant detention center in Chicago every Friday morning.

Prior to the civil disobedience arrests at the Russell Senate Office Building, participants continued to hold signs with their message and speak out in protest. After warnings from police that they would be arrested if they stayed in the building's rotunda, those who chose to stay recited the Hail Mary as they waited to be handcuffed and escorted out by police.

Moments before the arrests, Sister Donna Korba, a Sister of the Servants of Mary in Scranton, Pennsylvania, said her participation at the day's gathering stemmed from her life of activism including recently volunteering at the U.S.-Mexico border with other sisters last December and the 12 years she spent in Guatemala.

"There are no easy answers, but we need to look at root causes of immigration," she said, recalling that when she asked one father from Guatemala why he would make the arduous journey to the United States he told her: "Because my children are hungry."

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Bishops back Catholics arrested at Capitol for protesting treatment of immigrant children

by Rhina Guidos, Catholic News Service

America: The Jesuit Review

July 19, 2019

https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2019/07/19/bishops-back-catholics-arrested-capitol-protesting-treatment-immigrant

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Though they weren't present, at least seven U.S. bishops made their views known via statements supporting the July 18 "Catholic Day of Action for Immigrant Children" near the U.S. Capitol.

During the demonstration, at least 70 men and women religious and lay Catholics were arrested in the Russell Senate Office Building for civil disobedience in protesting immigration policies they say have led to the deaths of migrant children and their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Most, like Bishop John Stowe of Lexington, Kentucky, called out government policies that separated families, led to the detention of children in immigration custody and kept would-be asylum-seekers to the U.S. in dangerous cities on the Mexico side until their petitions are heard by a court.

"There has been one chapter after another of serious atrocities intentionally perpetrated on some of the most vulnerable people: family separation, loss of children in custody, two dozen deaths in ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) custody since 2017, children in cages, living under bridges in extreme temperatures, shielded from public view, assaulted and brutalized, underfed and without facilities for bathing or hygiene," said Bishop Stowe, bishop-president of Pax Christi USA, who attended the 2018 gathering at the Capitol.

"Now we have raids targeting families -- families who have fled situations of danger from gang violence, drug trafficking, and economic desperation -- and changing rules about who qualifies for asylum right as people are fleeing for their lives," he added.

Instead of comprehensive immigration reform, the government looks for a path toward enforcement of policies that "do not work no matter how much they are escalated," he said.

"Cruelty toward the suffering and bullying the most vulnerable should not be national policy and we cannot allow it to continue," said Bishop Stowe.

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Bishop Robert W. McElroy of San Diego, in the list of statements provided by Faith in Action, a grassroots, national faith-based organizing network, also offered a defense of migrant families.

"We stand in a moment when our government has weaponized fear -- the fear being sown within our nation as a whole that refugees and immigrants, who have been America’s historic lifeblood, have now become the enemy; and the even more reprehensible fear being unleashed upon the hearts and souls of immigrant mothers and fathers that they will be separated from their children purely as an act of intimidation," he said.

"Your witness today repudiates this weaponization of fear. It points to the systematic distortions of the truth which underlie our nation’s rejection of its most sacred legacy and identity," Bishop McElroy said. "Your witness testifies in clarion tone to the utter rejection of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that lies in the very act of separating children and parents for political purposes.

"And it makes clear that the voice and the solidarity and the compassion of the church will be dramatically present in this battle for the soul of our nation."

The bishops who lent their voice to the event in Washington, organized by a coalition of Catholic and other faith-based groups, praised the hundreds of participants and their defense of migrants.

Bishop Anthony B. Taylor of Little Rock, Arkansas, said he wanted to express support for participants' efforts "to convince the administration that they must stop demonizing and detaining children and families who pose no threat to anyone."

"The images of those who have suffered and died trying to make their way to freedom 'cry to the heavens,' in the words of our USCCB (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops) leadership," he said. "Our faith calls us to oppose this cycle of violence."

The majority of refugees and asylum-seekers are fleeing desperate circumstances in their countries of origin, Bishop Taylor said, "and are parents who have an obligation before God to protect their children and provide for them." If they can't do that in their home countries, they have the right "to migrate to a place where they can fulfill these parental responsibilities," he added.

"They are people like our own immigrant ancestors, many of whom came here fleeing desperate circumstances in the past -- no one immigrates because things were going great in their home country," he said. "And since many of us would not even be here today had our own immigrant ancestors not been able to come here in their time of distress, we now have an obligation to do all that we can to help our brothers and sisters who are dealing with desperate circumstances in the present.

"This 'Day of Action' focuses on immigrant children, the most vulnerable of those who are being traumatized by the actions of our government, separating them from their parents, often neglecting their most basic needs, but the same principles apply to adults as well."

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Bishop Shelton J. Fabre of Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana, said that as the country faces an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, "I stand in solidarity with brother priests and bishops, women religious and lay Catholics in strongly urging our president to reconsider the ongoing detention of immigrant children and the separation of families."

He added, "It is our Christian duty to seek a just and humane resolution to this untenable situation. We are a country founded by the blood, sweat and tears of immigrants, and we are a country that is better than what we're currently displaying on the world stage."

Bishop Edward J. Weisenburger of Tucson, Arizona, said that while nations have the right to maintain and supervise their borders, it must be balanced with the rights of immigrants, especially those fleeing catastrophic or life-threatening situations.

"How we respond to their needs reveals the extent to which we have made the Gospel of Jesus Christ our own," he said. "It is my hope that the teachings of our faith will inform the dialogue and decisions related to the humanitarian crisis unfolding before our eyes. In this way we will prove ourselves the best of Catholics as well as the best of American citizens."

Auxiliary Bishop Edward M. Deliman of Philadelphia said he was pleading for the safety and protection of immigrant children.

"All children belong with their parents and families," he said. "The family is the God-created school where love is taught and safety is assured. Troubling are the images we have seen in the land of the free. Safe borders do not mean incarcerating children."

Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, invoked the words of Salvadoran St. Oscar Romero in addressing the participants.

"There are not two categories of people, some born to have everything and others who can’t enjoy the happiness that God has created for all," he said, recalling the words of the slain archbishop during a December 1979 homily. "In this moment of injustice for migrants and the poor, we people of faith are called to work for justice.

"Justice is a beautiful robe, paid for with tears and sacrifice, sown together with long vigils and witness, and placed finally on the shoulders of the poor and the oppressed," he said. "You who know the goodness of God have faith that the Lord of history and life is working even now to build a temple of justice, throughout the Americas, in every heart and across every border. You know he comes in the stranger, in the afflicted, in the migrant."

Bishop Seitz continued: "Do not tire in your vigil or grow timid in your witness today and may a lack of compassion never dry your tears or harden your hearts. For with the Lord we are building that temple, wherein there will be an end to suffering and separation and estrangement, and there will be justice overflowing and enough for all."

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Faith Leaders Condemn Trump Administration’s Decision To End Detainment Limit On Migrant Children

New Hampshire Labor News

August 23, 2019

https://nhlabornews.com/2019/08/faith-leaders-condemn-trump-administrations-decision-to-end-detainment-limit-on-migrant-children/

This news comes on the third day of Faith in Action’s 6-day solidarity walk that spans 4 states and 280 miles.

Today, the Trump administration announced that, 60 days from today, migrant children who are separated from their families following detainment at the border would be held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention indefinitely. The current limit that a child can be in custody is 20 days. Leaders with Faith in Action, the nation’s largest faith-based grassroots organization in the country, are in the middle of a four-state, 280 mile Solidarity Walk for Immigrant Justice that will end Saturday at a detention center in Dover, New Hampshire.

Faith in Action executive director Rev. Alvin Herring, and Rabbi Margie Klein Ronkin, director of clergy and leadership development for Faith in Action’s Massachusetts-based federation Essex County Community Organization (ECCO), have issued the following responses.

“This administration announced its latest attack on immigrant people and children, underscoring their blatant disregard for human life. As people of faith, we will not stand by and watch. We’ll finish out this march and are calling for an end to this moral crisis and will not stop until we get there. In ICE and CBP custody, young children have been sick, starved, and subject to cruel behavior and inhumane conditions, they are all God’s children and we’ll fight to protect them. said Rev. Herring. “Six children have already died due to unfit conditions in these facilities and we’ll continue to stand strong with immigrants and demand an end to these cruel practices and violence against brown and black immigrants.

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“This policy is a Hilul Hashem, a desecration of God’s name. Our president has passed a policy that will take our children, our holiest promise for the future, and keep them indefinitely in captivity. It will tear apart families and destroy communities,” said Ronkin.

“In the Torah, more than any other commandment, we are called upon to love immigrants and not to oppress them. Our history as strangers in Egypt and later as immigrants and refugees in many lands has been a key motivator toward compassion and collective responsibility. And here in America, so many of us descend from immigrants and should feel this compassion, too. This heartless policy flies in the face of who we should be as a nation.

“Our country needs moral leadership not cruel detention and deportation of children. We are demanding immediate protection for immigrants – ending detention and deportation – and cutting funds for ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).”

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Evangelical Group: Indefinitely Detaining Migrant Children Is Wrong

World Relief, a Christian group, is speaking up against the Trump administration’s new plan to keep migrant kids indefinitely detained with their parents.

By Carol Kuruvilla

HuffPost

August 23, 2019

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/world-relief-indefinite-detention-of-children_n_5d5f0130e4b02cc97c8afa4d

An evangelical Christian organization is criticizing the Trump administration’s plan to allow federal agencies to indefinitely detain migrant families who illegally cross the border.

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World Relief, a faith-based humanitarian aid group, is insisting that children should not be kept in “jail-like” detention facilities while courts review their families’ asylum cases ? a process that could take months or even years.

“Even in the best of conditions with the best of intentions, children do not belong in detention,” Matthew Soerens, World Relief’s U.S. director of church mobilization told HuffPost.

He pointed to the fact that the U.S. now depends on foster care, instead of orphanages, to care for children who can’t live with their biological parents.

“We know that holding kids in a facility for significant amounts of time is harmful to them,” Soerens. “They should be in school, playing with friends being nurtured by their parents whenever possible.”

World Relief is urging fellow Christians to contact their local members of Congress to speak out against the new detainment policy, which is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Friday.

American evangelicals’ concern for asylum-seekers should be rooted in the Bible’s teachings, Soerens said.

“We believe that all human beings are made in God’s image and thus that all human life has dignity and value, so we have to stand up for asylum laws designed to ensure that our government never sends any person back to a situation where they could be harmed or even killed,” he said.

“That does not mean we let everyone in – not everyone is in that category,” he added. “But it means we must offer due process, and treat everyone humanely in the process, which excludes detaining children for long periods of time.”

The Trump administration’s move seeks to end the 1997 Flores agreement, a court settlement that established basic standards for migrant children in the government’s care. The administration’s new rule would allow the government to detain migrant children indefinitely rather than for 20 days, which is the current limit.

The rule, which still needs to be approved by a federal judge, is likely to immediately face court challenges. Experts say Immigration and Customs Enforcement also faces logistical hurdles ? it doesn’t yet have the bed space to accommodate the record-numbers of families crossing into the U.S.

The White House’s new strategy aims to deter Central American parents from crossing into the United States with their children.

But Soerens insists that there are more “humane” alternatives to indefinite detention ? such as family case management programs, where migrants live outside detention centers and are

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assigned social workers to help them navigate the court system, secure housing and schooling for their kids.

Outside of detention, asylum-seekers are often supported by extended family members and by local churches and nonprofits. It’s also easier for these migrants to access legal services, which could be crucial to their asylum cases.

A TRAC Immigration study found that most migrant families released from custody ? especially those who have legal representation ? show up for their court hearings.

World Relief is the humanitarian arm of the National Association of Evangelicals, an umbrella group for many evangelical denominations. World Relief is one of nine nonprofits that partner with the State Department to help refugees resettle in the U.S. The organization works with local churches throughout the country to provide legal aid and other assistance to asylum-seekers and asylees.

However, World Relief’s welcoming stance towards asylum seekers may not be shared by many evangelicals in the pews ? particularly white evangelicals. Unlike members of any other major religious group, the majority of white evangelicals believe immigrants represent a threat to American customs and values (57%), according to a 2018 survey from the Public Religion Research Institute. The survey also found many are supportive of President Donald Trump’s plans to build a wall along the southern U.S. border (67%). According to the Pew Research Center, 68% of white evangelicals surveyed also claim the U.S. does not have a responsibility to accept refugees.

Soerens said he believes many evangelicals haven’t thought through what the Bible has to say about asylum-seekers.

Policies that effectively keep immigrants from entering the U.S. pending their asylum hearings actually limit the ability of local churches to “show love to their newest neighbors” and practice “biblical hospitality,” Soerens said. These policies could also have an impact on one of evangelicals’ most central and defining missions, Soerens suggested -- the evangelization of the Gospel.

“It limits our ability to follow the biblical command to ‘make disciples of all nations’ because most American Christians are less likely to interact with people of different nationalities when they’re kept out of the U.S. or held in a detention facility that normal citizens cannot access,” he said.

Last summer, as news spread that the Trump administration was separating migrant children from their parents, leading voices within the American evangelical Christian community began speaking out ? including some who are usually strongly supportive of President Donald Trump’s policies.

The “zero-tolerance” family separation policy was later rescinded.

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Soerens said he hopes the American evangelical community will respond similarly to the administration’s latest policy move.

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Migrant children will suffer most under new detention rule, says bishop

The Pilot (Boston, Massachusetts)

August 26, 2019

https://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=185733

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The chairman of the U.S. bishops' migration committee said Aug. 23 sees "heartbreaking consequences for immigrant children" in a final rule issued by the Trump administration that allows the federal government to hold immigrant children in family detention indefinitely.

The new rule was issued jointly by the Departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services that will end a long-standing legal agreement put in place in 1997-- known as the Flores Settlement Agreement -- to ensure the safety and care of children in immigration detention settings.

Pope Francis has deemed immigrant children "the most vulnerable group' among migrants," and they will be most affected by this new rule, said Bishop Joe S. Vasquez of Austin, Texas, who is chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Migration.

(This) is an attempt by the administration to circumvent existing obligations and undermine critical protections for these children," the bishop said in a statement. "This rule will jeopardize the well-being and humane treatment of immigrant children in federal custody and will result in children suffering long-lasting consequences of being held for prolonged periods in family detention."

"We oppose this rule that we believe is unlawful and inhumane. Countless children will be harmed by this new rule and this is simply not acceptable," he said.

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The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops also opposed this rule when it was initially proposed by DHS and HHS by submitting comments Oct. 23, 2018, detailing concerns with the rule and urging it be rescinded. The government received more than 98,000 comments in response to the proposed rule-making.

The Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc. said it likewise submitted comments, calling the proposed rule "unlawful and immoral" as it negates "the child-friendly provisions in the Flores agreement."

Said Anna Gallagher, CLINIC's executive director: "This rule would destroy long-term child protection standards created by our government and the courts. There is no justification to keep families and children in immigration jails longer. Separation of children from their parents is inherently wrong. The same is true for keeping children in detention."

"Once again, the Trump administration is using children as pawns in its attack on immigrants," said Lawrence E. Couch, Director of the National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd.

Acting Secretary Kevin McAleenan of the Department of Homeland Security said the new guidelines would help the government maintain the "integrity of the immigration system."

"The facilities that we will be using to temporarily house families under this rule are appropriately, fundamentally different than the facilities where migrants are processed following apprehension or encounter at the border," McAleenan said in announcing the rule.

Currently, there are only three family immigration detention facilities in the U.S., one in Karnes City, Texas, one in Dilley, Texas, and another in Leesport, Pennsylvania, which together have 3,335 beds, according to the USCCB's Migration and Refugee Services.

The Flores Settlement Agreement has protected children in immigration custody by guaranteeing them the least restrictive setting. Courts have interpreted this rule to limit family detention to a maximum of 20 days in facilities that are not state licensed to provide child care. Opponents of the Trump administration's rule say it will allow the government to keep families in detention indefinitely.

According to a CLINIC news release, Flores "not only spells out the time period children can be kept in detention, but also mandates the type of conditions facilities must provide, including sanitary, temperature-controlled conditions, as well as access to water, food, medical assistance, ventilation, adequate supervision and contact with family members.

The rule must be approved by the Flores court before the settlement can be dissolved and the rule implemented, CLINIC said.

Judge Dolly Gee, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, oversees the Flores case. The plaintiffs in the Flores case have one week following publication of the final

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regulations to brief the court on whether the regulations comply with the Flores settlement. If the judge rules in the government's favor, the new rules would go into effect in 60 days.

Among others who condemned the administration's new rule were Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service and Franciscan Action Network, whose executive director, Patrick Carolan, said: "The Trump administration continues its war against migrant children and families. ... This latest attack is cruel, inhumane, and un-American."

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The suffering of migrant children and families in detention demands action

The abuse occurring at our border shames our nation in the eyes of the world and God

By Ellen Clark-King

San Francisco Examiner

September 12, 2019

https://www.sfexaminer.com/opinion/the-suffering-of-migrant-children-and-families-in-detention-demands-action/

Like most people in this city and across the country, I have been reading with continuing, ever- increasing dismay the news of the government’s actions at the borders. Last week’s policy announcement allowing indefinite detention of migrant families and children is yet another tragic development. The distressing images of children huddled in cages; of pre-teen children, themselves frightened and afraid, caring for young infants; of heartbroken parents crying for their daughters and sons – these are lodged in my heart as in the hearts of so many.

As a priest, as for teachers, medical professionals, social workers, first responders and numerous other professionals, I am a mandated reporter of child abuse. The California Department of Education states: “All persons who are mandated reporters are required, by law, to report all known or suspected cases of child abuse or neglect.”

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It is against the law for me and other mandated reporters to NOT report any case of child abuse that we suspect is happening. If this is true of what we suspect in family homes, how much more it must be true of the abuse we see happening on such a brutal scale at our borders!

Over 2,000 Episcopal clergy and other mandated reporters from across the country agree and they’ve signed the following letter that Grace Cathedral has posted online and sent to President Donald Trump, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, Senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Representative Alexandria Ocasia-Cortez, California District Attorney Xavier Becerra and San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón:

The horrific spectacle of children being separated from their parents, detained, and held in deplorable conditions is shaming our nation in the eyes of the world and in the eyes of God. This has to stop.

We the undersigned are mandated reporters, including many clergy in The Episcopal Church. As such we are mandated reporters of child abuse, legally required to report such behavior to the relevant authorities. We would therefore be remiss in our civil as well as our religious duty if we did not draw your attention to this unlawful neglect and abuse of minors in the detention centers on our southern border.

Our humanity is outraged at this treatment carried out by our own country. Let us know what steps you will be taking as a public servant to rectify this immoral state of affairs.

We have not yet seen any action. We have not yet seen any suggestion of change for the better. But we will not stop crying out against this national shame. We will not stop being a voice for these families. We will not stop calling out our government for the neglect and abuse of these innocent children. Please consider signing the letter if you are a mandated reporter or sharing it with people in your network who are, and in this way join us in saying: Come on, America, we are better than this!

The Rev. Canon Dr. Ellen Clark-King is the Executive Pastor and Canon for Social Justice at Grace Cathedral. She was one of the first women ordained as an Episcopal priest in the UK and she holds a Ph.D. in theology and spirituality from Lancaster University.

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Faith groups pray for immigrant children in detention, urge policy change

Dozens of Chicago-area Catholics were joined by Lutheran, Jewish and Muslim representatives as they all prayed for immigrant children held in U.S. detention centers Oct. 16.

by Michelle Martin

Catholic News Service

October 21, 2019

https://thecatholicspirit.com/news/nation-and-world/faith-groups-pray-for-immigrant-children-in-detention-urge-policy-change/

At the Healing Garden near Holy Family Church, the group sang and prayed at the “They’re All Our Children” service before participants each pledged to spend one of the next 40 days in prayer and fasting for detained immigrant children and their families.

Mercy Sister JoAnn Persch, one of the founders of the Interfaith Community for Detained Immigrants, teared up as she read the names, ages, countries of origin and dates of death of seven children who have died either in the custody of U.S. detention or after becoming ill while in custody since 2018.

As she spoke, seventh- and eighth-graders from Our Lady of Guadalupe School held photographs of the seven who died.

Five were children: Darlyn Cristabel Cordova-Valle, 10, from El Salvador, died Sept. 29, 2018, in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement in Omaha, Nebraska; Jakelin Caal Maquin, 7, from Guatemala, died Dec. 8, 2018; Felipe Gomez Alonzo, 8, from Guatemala, died Dec. 24, 2018; Mariee Juarez, 1, from Guatemala, died May 10 in New Jersey after becoming ill in the Dilley, Texas, detention facility; and Wilmer Josue Ramirez Vasquez, 2 and a half, died May 14 in an El Paso, Texas, hospital after being taken into Customs and Border Protection custody the month before.

The other two were teenagers: Juan de Leon Gutierrez, 16, from Guatemala, who died April 30, and Carlos Gregorio Hernandez Vasquez, 16, from Guatemala, who died May 20.

While Darlyn, who suffered from a heart condition, was the first of the children to die, her death was not publicly announced until May.

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“For these children, and their families who mourn their loss, we pray,” Sister JoAnn said.

She then called on all people of faith to act to change the way migrants, especially migrant children, are treated.

“This moment in time required bold action,” Sister JoAnn said. “Since we are all God’s children, the pain of one is the pain of all. People of faith must use their voices to change this immoral and inhumane system. We have to act, and that’s going to look different for each of us. It means we each have to get out of our comfort zones. Sisters and brothers of faith, step out. Speak out. Have the moral courage to bring about change.”

Mercy Sister Pat Murphy cited the pastoral letter “Night Will Be No More” released by Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, Oct. 13. That letter traces the mistreatment of immigrants of color to white supremacy, Sister Pat said.

“We cannot let hate define us,” Sister Pat said. She referred to the signs reading “El Paso strong” that sprouted after 22 people were killed in mass shooting at a Walmart in that city in August. “Can we be ‘faith strong’? Can we have the courage to do what we have to do?”

The mission is clear, speakers said.

“There are 92 verses in the Bible that talk about welcoming the stranger,” said Mary Campbell, program director for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s effort to accompany and advocate for migrant minors. “I believe God has been definitive about what we are called to do, especially when it comes to caring for our children.”

Rabbi Reni Dickman, executive vice president of the Chicago Board of Rabbis and senior educator for the Jewish United Fund, called on the United States to respect the human dignity of migrants.

“Every child, every person, is created in the image and likeness of God,” Rabbi Dickman said, adding that some leaders are “perverting the ways of justice and peace so that a few may reap political rewards.”

The issue is moral rather than political, said Gregory Abdullah Mitchell, executive director of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago.

“We see policy that separates mom from daughter, father from son, parent from child,” Mitchell said.

It’s happening not only on the U.S. southern border, but also in Syria, Iraq, among the Rohingya people in Myanmar and in Afghanistan, he said. “We need to change these policies. It’s not about whether you are red or blue, it’s about right and wrong.”

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The “They’re All Our Children” service was sponsored by the immigration ministry of the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Office of Human Dignity and Solidarity, Priests for Justice for Immigrants, Sisters and Brothers of Immigrants, the Interfaith Community for Detained Immigrants, the Viatorians, the Claretian Missionaries, the Capuchin Franciscan Province of St. Joseph and the Sisters of Mercy.

Martin is a staff writer at Chicago Catholic, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Chicago.

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Wyoming bishop opposes for-profit immigrant detention center expansion

by Heidi Schlumpf

National Catholic Reporter

December 4, 2019

https://www.ncronline.org/news/justice/wyoming-bishop-opposes-profit-immigrant-detention-center-expansion

Calling detention centers for undocumented immigrants "a far cry from loving solidarity," Bishop Steven Biegler of Cheyenne, Wyoming, has publicly opposed the expansion of a planned for-profit center in his state.

"Jesus Christ commanded us to imitate his love; thus, he calls us to protect the rights of refugees, to promote the reunification of families and to honor the inherent dignity of all migrants, whatever their status," Biegler wrote in a Nov. 18 statement published in the Uinta County Herald.

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The planned Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Evanston, Wyoming, a city of 12,000 near the Utah border, was originally expected to house 500 undocumented immigrants as they await court proceedings in Salt Lake City, about a 90-minute drive away. But the proposal now calls for up to 1,000 beds.

Such a facility "divides us from our migrant brothers and sisters and separates families, and it allows for a system in which for-profit prison companies and their stockholders and business partners make a great deal of money on the misery of human persons," Biegler said in the statement.

Fr. Augustine Carrillo of St. Mary Magdalen Parish in Evanston read Biegler's statement at a Nov. 19 public meeting, after which Uinta County commissioners unanimously passed a non-binding measure of support for the proposed center.

Only one resident spoke in favor of the center at the meeting, and the proposal has faced local opposition, as the Uinta County Herald has reported.

Immigration detention centers are often located in states where detainees are unable to access legal assistance, communicate with their families and receive any meaningful support, the bishop's statement said, noting that "certainly, appropriate legal representation is not readily available in Evanston."

Biegler said the Catholic Church does "accept the legitimate role of the U.S. government to ensure public safety and to detain those individuals who are a threat to our communities," but added that "current immigrant detention policies, however, are costly, inhumane and destructive to families."

Instead, the church supports comprehensive immigration reform, including earned legalization; a future worker program; family-based immigration reform; restoration of due process rights; and, possibly most important, addressing root causes of migration, the statement said.

The county commission re-voted on the detention center because the previous company, Management and Training Corporation (MTC), withdrew and was replaced by CoreCivic. Both are for-profit companies. CoreCivic is the world’s largest private prison corporation.

The bishop's statement expressed concern about for-profit prison companies, noting they "often prey upon vulnerable communities where jobs are needed." The centers also have a history of cost-cutting, poorly-run facilities and abuse, the statement said.

"The Catholic Church also is troubled by any institution that seeks to capitalize on human suffering, and it views immigrant detention centers from the perspective of our biblical tradition, which calls us to act with justice toward persons on the margins of society, including strangers and imprisoned persons," the bishop wrote.

In an earlier statement against the proposed detention center, Biegler said just treatment for migrants is a life issue.

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"Just as we seek to protect the lives of innocent unborn children, so must we treat asylum seekers and migrants as human beings created in the image and likeness of God," he wrote in August. "If we do not, then we are eroding the respect for all human life. Then we are being anti-life."

That August statement also called "inhumane' the practice of separating migrant children from their parents. A number of individual bishops -- especially those with dioceses on or near the southern border -- spoke out against family separation in 2018 after the Trump administration issued its "zero tolerance" policy for undocumented migrants who cross the border, even those legally applying for asylum.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued several statements in support of immigrants or condemning draconian policies against them. Several bishops, clergy, religious women and lay people have made trips to the border to support immigrants detained there. Six bishops also made a pastoral visit to the border this past September.

In 2015, the bishops' conference and Center for Migration Studies issued a scathing report about the growth of the detention center system over the past two decades and the rise of involvement of private prison companies.

In May 2019, Seattle Auxiliary Bishop Eusebio Elizondo presided at a Mass outside the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington, one of the largest immigration detention centers in the country, with a capacity of 1,575 people, to show solidarity with those detained inside the center.

An interreligious group in Chicago that includes Catholics has been fasting and praying for those detained, especially children who have died while in custody or after becoming ill while in custody.

In October, Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas, released a pastoral letter on racism that mentioned the rise of prison camps at the border.

In his most recent statement, Biegler urged Wyoming Catholics not to remain silent. "Everyone has a duty to weigh in on civic issues so as to promote the common good," he wrote. "It is a concrete way of loving our neighbor."

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Catholics Mark Anniversary of Child’s Death at Border

89

The Tablet

December 10, 2019

https://thetablet.org/catholics-mark-anniversary-of-childs-death-at-border/

WASHINGTON, D.C. (CNS) -- Catholics joined faith groups observing the first anniversary of the death of a 7-year-old girl who died under immigration detention in late 2018 and called attention to other children in similar circumstances.

Jakelin Caal Maquin died in December 2018 at the El Paso Children’s Hospital in Texas of a bacterial infection and, at the time, she and her father were under detention by border agents. Some question whether earlier medical intervention would have saved her life.

Catholic organizations and their leaders joined in a statement released Dec. 9 by the Interfaith Immigration Coalition, which is made up of 54 national, faith-based organizations together seeking “just policies that lift up the God-given dignity of every individual.”

“The one-year anniversary of young Jakelin’s tragic death in the Border Patrol’s custody has arrived. Yet, more tragically, we as a nation are no closer to ending this border crisis of hostility and violence,” said Lawrence E. Couch, director of the National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, in the statement.

“We remember Jakelin and her family and pray for them. We also pray for America and our political leaders,” he said. “This rancor against immigrants and refugees must end. They are not our enemies. We must reclaim our nation’s attention and join together to solve and stop these deaths and detentions before we lose the sense of who we are as a country.”

Sister Aine O’Connor, of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Institute Leadership Team, said many have prayed for the little girl and her family during the past year, as well as for other children who have suffered similar deaths.

“We have prayed for her and her family as well as Felipe, Juan, Mariee, Wilmer, Carlos and Darlene, the other children whose lives were lost because of callous actions by our immigration system. Our hearts have been broken by the story of a young life lost by something preventable and at the hands of policies of our country, but the call of our faith remains strong and clear,” she said in the statement. “As Sisters of Mercy, we will continue to pray and remember, and we will work for change because we must do better. We will repeat these stories and their names, so that their lives continue.”

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Dominican Sister Quincy Howard, of the Catholic social justice lobby group Network, said their lives had been cut short because of the lack of basic, humane precautions to protect the health of children.

“Such callous and cruel indifference violates basic principles of right and wrong. A child is not a problem to be disposed of or caged; she is a gift from God and must be protected and cherished,” Sister Howard said.

Christopher Kerr, executive director of the Ohio-based Ignatian Solidarity Network, placed the blame on U.S. policy.

“Our Catholic faith teaches us that we must put the needs of the most vulnerable first. The anniversary of Jakelin’s death and the memory of many other immigrant children lost at our southern border are a reminder that policies that turn away asylum-seekers, separate families, and detain children are a failure of this preferential option for the vulnerable,” he said.

“The Ignatian Solidarity Network continues to work with hope that our political leaders take seriously this call to stand up for those most in need,” Kerr added.

Since the little girl’s death, Catholic organizations as well as other leaders have tried to make sure her death and others don’t go unnoticed.

In the statement, they called attention to the recently reported case involving Carlos Gregorio Hernandez Vasquez, a 16-year-old who also died while under immigration custody. An early December report from the news organization ProPublica said he died in his cell, on the floor, while no immigration authorities rendered help and instead later attempted to cover it up.

Sister Carol Zinn, of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, said part of Catholics’ life of faith demands that they lend help when others need it.

“We are called by our faith to care for the vulnerable and challenged by our national values to promote the welfare of all children,” said Sister Zinn. “We promise to remember, and we pledge to act. As Catholic sisters, as women of faith, we condemn the Trump administration’s actions to deny admission to asylum-seekers, to hold children in cages, to imprison families, and to use detention and deportation to punish those seeking safety in our country.

“We will continue to walk in solidarity with our sisters and brothers. We will accompany the mothers, fathers, aunts, and uncles who seek justice and we will never forget God’s precious children.”

Franciscan Action Network’s executive director, Patrick Carolan, joined others in placing blame on policy.

“When children die of illnesses, we feel helpless and mourn their deaths. But when our government enacts policies that deliberately put immigrant children at risk of sickness and even death, we cannot stand by helplessly,” he said.

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“Yes, we mourn the death of little Jakelin on the first anniversary of her death in CBP (Customs and Border Protection) custody, and the deaths of at least five other children in detention,” Carolan said. “But we must also cry out with righteous anger at cruel policies and work to end detention of children and separation from families.”

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