WASHINGTON, DC – In a CNN town hall last night, President Biden was asked to speak to his administration’s stance on immigration, recalling when Vice President Kamala Harris told migrants, “do not come,” in a speech last month in Guatemala. “They should not come,” Biden responded, going on to describe his administration’s intention to set up a system for migrants from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala to apply for asylum from their home countries.
President Biden knows that asylum seekers fleeing violence and persecution cannot simply wait in their home countries where their lives are at risk. It’s because he knows this that he increased refugee admissions and has taken initial steps to welcome Afghan SIVs. It is cruel and immoral for the U.S. president to be speaking and acting in ways that undermine the human, legal, and moral right to seek asylum.
“Either we are a nation of welcome or we are a nation of exclusion. President Biden’s words have communicated to the world that they are not welcome here,” stated Elissa Diaz, IIC Co-Chair and Policy and Advocacy Manager at Church World Service. “If the United States is to be a place of moral leadership, compassion, and radical hospitality – as our faith traditions espouse – we must enact policies and speak in ways that welcome the world’s most vulnerable people, rather than discourage them from the very human and holy impulse to flee to save their own lives.”
“People migrate because of many root causes and push factors that are independent of immigration policies in the U.S. It’s less about where people are going and more about what they are fleeing. People will migrate if the conditions where they are living are no longer conducive to their existence,” said Peniel Ibe, IIC Co-Chair and Policy Engagement Coordinator at the American Friends Service Committee. “We are encouraging the Biden administration to #WelcomeWithDignity. Migrating and seeking asylum is a human right and we want the U.S. to recognize that and treat people accordingly.”
“As a person of faith, I am saddened by the President’s comments, because they do not consider the horrible dilemmas faced by the thousands of families who are desperately fleeing the persecution of the cartels, the looting of their homes, the abuse of their governments and the murder of their relatives. ‘They should not come’ does not recognize that asylum seekers do not leave their countries voluntarily, but instead they are forced to flee to stay alive,” said Elket Rodríguez, Immigrants and Refugees Advocacy and Missions Specialist for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Fellowship Southwest. “The desperation of those families should prompt the President to end Title 42, act with moral courage to restore our nation’s asylum system, and discontinue the dissonant rhetoric that confuses migrants and endangers their lives.”
“In the sacred text of President Biden’s faith tradition, Jesus Christ said, ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11:28). The president’s words to the weary last night were anything but Christlike,” stated Rev. Dr. Sharon Stanley-Rea, Director of Disciples of Christ Refugee and Immigration Ministries. “As people committed to various faith traditions, we urge the president to remain true to his faith and lead with a posture of welcome and hospitality towards asylum seekers and all those who need it most.”
Next week on July 28 at 12pm ET – the date which marks the 70th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention – asylum seekers, human rights groups, and faith leaders will rally and hold vigil in front of the White House to denounce the president’s words regarding asylum seekers, and to demand a renewed commitment to creating a robust asylum system and putting an end to “Title 42 expulsions.” Organizers of the vigil will highlight the United States’ responsibility to refugees and asylum seekers by uplifting the principles in the 1951 treaty, which were accepted by the U.S. via the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees.
The Interfaith Immigration Coalition is made up of over 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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