Faith Leaders Applaud Injunction Allowing Refugee Resettlement to Continue in All 50 States
“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it”
Greenbelt, MD – People of faith across the country are celebrating the U.S. District Court injunction that allows refugee resettlement to “go forward as it developed for the almost 40 years since Executive Order 13888 was announced”–albeit at an historically low level.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit, filed by the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) on behalf of HIAS, Church World Service, and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, joyfully responded:
Rev. John L. McCullough, President and CEO, CWS: “Today the sun is shining on refugee families and the communities who for decades have devoted their time and resources to welcome them. This ruling means that newly arriving refugees won’t have to choose between being together and accessing critical services as they rebuild their lives. It means that people of faith can continue to live out their calling to welcome the stranger. It means that we can continue to ensure that all refugees get a bright start in the United States, regardless of who is in office in the states and cities where they live.”
Mark J. Hetfield, President and CEO, HIAS: “This ruling shows the country how this administration was wrong to attempt a state-by-state refugee ban. Judge Messitte found it likely that the executive order is unlawful, and we are grateful for the clarity of this injunction. An overwhelming majority of governors and municipalities have already expressed their desire to continue welcoming refugees. To those few who have not, we say not only is it unkind and un-American to ban refugees from your states and towns, but it is unlawful. HIAS will continue our work resettling refugees who have come to our shores looking to restart their lives in safety.”
Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, President and CEO, LIRS: “Judge Messitte’s ruling is a win for the rule of law and for all refugees and the communities that welcome them. We know the fight isn’t over, but we’re confident that the Constitution—and, as the last few months have proved, the country—are on our side. LIRS and our colleagues have been collaborating with local, state, and national government to successfully resettle refugees for decades, and we plan to continue doing just that.”
Other Interfaith Immigration Coalition (IIC) members and leaders applauded the judge’s order and praised IRAP, CWS, HIAS, and LIRS for forcing the U.S. government to follow the law and allow refugees to be resettled in all fifty states.
As Sheila Katz, National Council of Jewish Women CEO, said: “Welcoming refugees is part of our religious and cultural DNA. Judaism commands us to welcome the stranger, and the District Court of Maryland’s decision has allowed local communities to continue their long traditions of resettling refugees.”
Katie Adams, Domestic Policy Advocate at United Church of Christ and Co-Chair of the Interfaith Immigration Coalition, said: “Threaded through our sacred scripture is the ever-present message to love our neighbor and welcome the sojourner. Closing that welcome and denying the opportunity to love our neighbor would flatten the good news of the gospel into mere words, not the living, breathing gospel of Jesus. We are grateful for this ruling, which determines that the Executive Order allowing states and localities to ‘opt-out’ of refugee resettlement is not only unlawful, but immoral. The Bible is clear on this matter: ‘Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.’ The voices of many around the country, from Governors to mayors and many communities have already spoken in concert, and this ruling echoes those sentiments; refugees are welcome.”
“Quakers have long advocated that we must welcome refugees. We stand united with our faith partners who led this litigation and proclaimed that it is our moral responsibility to care for and protect one another. Diminishing the capacity for communities to welcome refugees only diminishes us as a nation,” said Hannah Graf Evans, the Immigration and Refugee Policy Legislative Representative at the Friends Committee on National Legislation. “In fact, in order to live up to the Administration’s claim of being ‘the most generous nation in the world when it comes to welcoming those in need of humanitarian protection,’ we would need to welcome in well more than 18,000 refugees. The most generous nation in the world doesn’t cut its refugee number by nearly 85%. The blindness of this administration focused on building strength through isolation will only serve to weaken us.”
Steve Schneck, Executive Director of FAN, added: “Franciscan Action Network is deeply grateful to HIAS, CWS, and LIRS for legally challenging unprecedented Executive Order 13888, and rejoices in Judge Messitte’s decision to block the order. Forty-one Governors of both political parties realized that the Order was un-American and probably unlawful so declared that their state would welcome refugees. Judge Messitte agreed. As the work to resettle refugees continues, this ruling gives encouragement and hope to those seeking refuge in this country, as well as to service organizations and advocates.”
“Judge Messitte’s ruling reconfirms what faith partners have been grateful for since the origins of the U.S. Refugee Act; that our nation always resettles refugees in consultation with local leaders, and by providing adequate supports for education and employment of those refugees,” said Rev. Dr. Sharon Stanley-Rea, Director, Disciples Refugee & Immigration Ministries (RIM).
Rev. Dr. Laurie Kraus, Director of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Presbyterian Church (USA) reflected, “E pluribus unum— out of the many, one— has long been the guiding vision of our nation, a vision that acknowledges both the diverse and varied heritages of our people as well as the dance of interdependence among communities, individuals, and states that is required in order to keep our union strong. There is nowhere in our common life more illustrative of this reality—and more vulnerable to its failure—than the practices of resettlement through which refugees are welcomed into these United States. The unified efforts of the federal government, states, and welcoming communities is critical to the important work of resettlement—a work that is broadly affirmed and embraced by American citizens across a wide range of religious and political perspectives and other affiliations.”
Read the judge’s order and opinion here. View photos and video from the IIC’s celebration of refugees outside of the U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, MD on January 8 here.
The Interfaith Immigration Coalition is made up of 54 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.
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