As the administration immorally mismanages taxpayer dollars, faith communities urge Congress to pass a faithful budget that invests in community wholeness and lifts up the sacred dignity of every person.
WASHINGTON, DC – As Congress conducts its appropriations and oversight duties, faith communities call on legislators to uphold our moral and legal obligations, refuse to expand immigration detention and enforcement, and instead invest in humanitarian assistance, refugee protection and integration, and support for vulnerable migrants.
The Interfaith Immigration Coalition (IIC) lays out our FY 2021 spending priorities here. We expect these issues to come up today at the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing with Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Chad Wolf.
“Spending should be used to protect communities, not fuel exclusionary policies that turn our backs on individuals seeking protection from violence and persecution,” said Faith Williams, Associate Director of Government Relations & Advocacy, National Council of Jewish Women and Co-Chair of the Interfaith Immigration Coalition. “Following our diverse faith teachings, we urge Congress to reduce funding for immigration detention, deportation, and border militarization and demand accountability with stringent oversight over harmful immigration enforcement spending and practices. Congress should invest in humanitarian assistance, welcoming people seeking protection, and access to the due process of law and justice,” she added.
“Our country is spending more money than ever to lock up and deport immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers,” said Rabbi Jason Kimelman-Block, Washington Director of Bend the Arc: Jewish Action. “We must divest from this system of detention and deportation, built on white supremacy and driven by policies promoted by white nationalists. We must defund hate, and instead invest in communities. Congress must hold ICE and CBP accountable for their overspending and abuses — both of the federal budget process, and of their fellow humans.”
“Spending billions of dollars on enforcement policies that strip people of their dignity and routinely treat migrants with cruelty is a departure from our moral standing as a country and poor stewardship of taxpayer dollars. Congress should cut funding for detention, deportation, and border militarization and invest in compassionate policies that welcome asylum seekers, refugees, and immigrants. Micah 6:8 tells us that good faith requires us to do justice and to love kindness. We believe that our nation’s budget and the decisions made by Congress should be treated as a moral roadmap toward a world where every child of God is clothed, fed, safe, loved, and free. Taxpayer dollars should be spent on critical programs that make our communities strong and vibrant, rather than fueling agencies that separate families,” said Rev. John L. McCullough, President and CEO of Church World Service.
“The United States has a strong, treasured tradition of welcoming those fleeing violence and persecution. Therefore, our immigration and refugee policies must rest on recognition of the inherent worth of all individuals, as acknowledged in our Quaker faith, as well as in the Constitution and our shared American values. It was only 300 years ago that Quakers came here under threat of religious persecution,” said Diane Randall, General Secretary of the Friends Committee on National Legislation. “Congress must develop spending bills that carry on that tradition of welcoming refugees, end family separation once and for all, and assure community-based care for asylum seekers. Dreamers, Temporary Protected Status recipients, and asylum seekers need congressional protection and a real pathway to citizenship, not more stepped-up and aggressive immigration enforcement.”
“Our communities demand that Congress use its spending power to invest in our communities through things like education and healthcare, and to welcome people exercising their right to migrate,” said Tori Bateman, Policy Advocacy Coordinator at the American Friends Service Committee. “At the same time, we need them to stop wasting our money on policies that hurt our communities- including the detention and deportation machine that separates families every day.”
“The federal budget is a contract with the American people and it is a moral document where we show ourselves and the world our priorities. Communities of faith in America, as diverse as we are, are united in calling for dignity, respect and support for those who are vulnerable to take a front seat in this budget. Lengthened detentions, the incarceration of families and the building of more cells are not how we want to spend our money, and this is not how we want to be perceived by the world. The National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd calls on Congress to, especially now, show the softer, caring side of America and take back its budgetary authority,” said Lawrence E. Couch, Director of the National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd.
Download the IIC’s FY 2021 appropriations priorities here.
The Interfaith Immigration Coalition is made up of 55 national, faith-based organizations brought together across many theological traditions with a common call to seek just policies that lift up the God-given dignity of every individual. In partnership, we work to protect the rights, dignity, and safety of all refugees and migrants.
Follow us on Twitter @interfaithimm
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