Washington, DC – On the eve of President Biden’s State of the Union address, member groups of the Interfaith Immigration Coalition reaffirm their faith-guided values and vision for U.S. immigration to the Biden-Harris administration.
In December 2020, the IIC called for a reformed immigration system and restoration of welcome in a report submitted to the incoming administration. People of faith were prayerfully hopeful in the early days of 2021 as the Biden administration laid out an immigration plan aimed at putting an end to the Trump administration’s inhumane, anti-immigrant policies and creating a more just immigration system.
While President Biden terminated some of the previous administration’s policies and created some new, more humane policies, faith leaders and organizations had to work hard throughout the year to remind the administration of and hold it to its promises. After Biden’s first 100 days in office, the IIC repeated its demands to the President, urging him to “repeal and strengthen, heal and transform.” From calling for restored access to asylum, to urging an end to immigrant detention, to demanding justice for Black migrants, faith voices in 2021 stood their ground alongside their immigrant siblings.
As 2022 continues to unfold, the IIC remains steadfast in their call to the Biden administration to restore welcome and honor human dignity. Echoing the recommendations of partner organizations in the 2022 Immigration Priorities Blueprint, the IIC reaffirms their commitment to welcome with love and compassion, calling on the Biden administration to protect vulnerable migrants in the U.S. and abroad by addressing root causes of forced migration, championing refugee resettlement, protecting asylum seekers, keeping families together, and creating a more just, humane, and dignifying immigration system with increased pathways to legal status.
“We appreciate the steps the Biden administration has taken to repeal some of the previous administration’s most inhumane immigration policies,” said Barbara Weinstein, Director of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism. “We are concerned, though, that the White House has failed to fulfill its promises to restore asylum by ending Title 42 and the Remain in Mexico policy. As a community descended from immigrants and refugees, with a long history of persecution and sojourning in foreign lands, American Jews are particularly sensitive to the plight of today’s immigrants. We are also inspired by the Torah’s demand to justly treat and support the ger – the so called ‘stranger’ whose legal status was similar to that of the immigrant in the United States today. It is far past time for the Biden administration to expand refugee resettlement, restore asylum, and create a more humane immigration system including pathways to citizenship.”
“If we truly want a deep and honest examination of the ‘state of the union,’ look no further than for-profit prisons stealthily exploiting a loophole in an executive order last year banning the U.S. government from signing contracts with these multi-billion dollar firms to house people serving federal criminal sentences,” said Rev. Mary Katherine Morn, CEO and President of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC). “Rather than shutter their facilities, these for-profit prisons transformed themselves into for-profit detention centers. As of President Biden’s address to the nation, Geo group—a for-profit prison and detention operator with more than $2 billion in revenue—is converting a defunct Georgia prison into a detention facility with more than 3,000 beds, sure to be one of the largest detention facilities in the nation. With all this in mind, the ‘state of the union’ seems to be abysmal. We can do better. We should do better.”
“For years, we’ve grieved as our U.S. refugee program has been dismantled and asylum seekers have been left heartbroken and without protections at our border, or expelled to conditions of grave dangers,” stated Rev. Dr. Sharon Stanley-Rea, Disciples Refugee & Immigration Ministries Director. “Again now, as the President prepares to comment on the State of the Union, we urge the administration to take every step to implement policies and practices towards God’s peoples that enact the best values of our faith; offering compassion, keeping families united, respecting the contributions refugees and immigrants offer to our communities and nation, holding our country accountable to demonstrate humanness and morality, and working consistently to root out the white supremacy ingrained in the structures of our immigration system. In the aftermath of the Taliban’s takeover and in the face of Russian aggressions in Ukraine, our congregations remain ready to engage with ones who have lost their homelands to offer the hope and new life that are the substance of our faith.”
“For four years the Trump administration dismantled, undermined, and obstructed refugee resettlement,” said Meredith Owen, Director of Policy and Advocacy, Church World Service. “When President Biden took office, he vowed to pick up the pieces and rebuild the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program; thus far the results have been mixed, at best. We have a long road ahead to meaningfully address significant resettlement delays, the family reunification backlog, and inadequate complementary pathways for protection. At a time when we are seeing the greatest need for displacement and refugee assistance in recorded history because of war, persecution, and famine, the need for a fully supported resettlement infrastructure is more evident than ever. President Biden has the power to address many pressing needs for this historically bipartisan program, he only needs the will and investment to do so.”
“We were very gratified to see President Biden come through on his promise to rescind the odious Muslim and African travel bans through an Executive Order on his first day in office,” said Walter Ruby, President of Jews and Muslims and Allies Acting Together (JAMAAT). “But what we really need is the followup actions that the administration can take itself to reverse the effect of those bans from 2017-20 on the many thousands of individuals and family members who were and still are unjustly prevented from joining their family members and otherwise being able to enter the country.”
“There is still time to save 2022 and the President’s State of the Union Address is a pivotal moment that can offer hope not just with words but with deeds. Another part of the world is plummeting into war and causing great harm with hundreds of thousands of women and children forced to flee their homes in Ukraine – forced to become refugees. Afghans remain in crisis; Syrians, Yemenis, Ethiopians, Haitians, Cameroonians. And what of people fleeing Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and more?” said Fran Eskin-Royer, Executive Director of the National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd. “We need a government and community willing to focus on the people – the faces – and offer support at both ends of the journey. Our commitment must extend to welcome and assistance for the immigrant and refugee in our midst. And our commitment must begin with eliminating the root causes of their flight. This is President Biden’s opportunity and the world’s hope.”
“While we recognize the steps that President Biden has taken in his first year in office, we know that the state of our union’s immigration policies is still far from dignified and humane,” said Rabbi Jill Jacobs, CEO of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights. “The moral way forward is to welcome those seeking asylum from danger, respect our immigrant neighbors by providing meaningful pathways to citizenship, and overhaul our brutal, inhumane detention system. The Talmud describes the sin of Sodom, the paradigmatic evil city, as cruelty to foreigners. ‘[The people of Sodom] said: Since bread comes forth out of [our] earth, and it has the dust of gold, why should we suffer wayfarers, who come to us only to deplete our wealth? Come, let us abolish the practice of traveling in our land’ (Sanhedrin 109a). Lot, Abraham’s nephew, is the one resident who opens his doors to travelers who turned out to be divine messengers that rescue his family, teaching us that valuing immigrants is not only noble, but necessary. We ask President Biden to uphold his campaign commitments and bring humanity and dignity to our immigration system.”
“Pope Francis has said each person seeking refuge ‘has a name, a face and a story, as well as an inalienable right to live in peace and to aspire to a better future’,” said Ronnate Asirwatham, Director Government Relations, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice. “We ask President Biden to take heed of those words and end the cruel and unjust policies that he is perpetuating at the border, and end detention and deportation. If we want to rebuild the soul of the nation we must rebuild it together.”
“The Sisters of Mercy are committed to stand in solidarity with our immigrant sisters and brothers seeking fullness of life. We call on President Biden to end the brutal and inhumane detention and deportations of immigrants,” stated Patricia McDermott, RSM, President of Sisters of Mercy of the Americas. “These practices are an affront to the dignity of each person who is made in the image and likeness of God. Our faith calls us to welcome the stranger and to stand up to those fanning anti-immigrant sentiment in order to sow division. It is long past time to end these inhumane immigration policies, open the way for asylum seekers and refugees to apply for status in this country, and create pathways for citizenship for essential workers and other undocumented persons. Many of the reasons why people have fled for their lives stem from the impact of U.S. economic and military policies that have exacerbated spiraling poverty and violence. We need action NOW!”
“The Biden administration must use every power and influence available to make ours the most welcoming nation in the world,” said Rev. Dr. Russell Meyer, Executive Director of Florida Council of Churches. “This is the measure of global leadership today. We must accept responsibility for our national footprint in this hemisphere that drives migration. We have separated children from their families, and we must reunite them. We must create pathways for full inclusion for those who reside among us and do the work that allows all of us to prosper. We must update our immigration laws and policies to reflect that the successful workforce of tomorrow is already the multicultural, multi-ethnic reality in many of our neighborhoods. Unfortunately, we all face fear-mongering voices that denigrate peoples who don’t fit their misanthrope ideals of the best of humanity. The best of humanity comes from every corner of Earth; they are people who desire freedom and act responsibly for family and community. We should welcome them wholeheartedly.”
“Franciscan Action Network urges the Biden-Harris Administration to take stronger action in 2022 to fulfill its promises to refugees and asylum seekers,” stated Sister Marie Lucey, Associate Director of Franciscan Action Network. “While we acknowledge steps that have been taken to reverse inhumane policies, we call on this administration to do much more to rebuild the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, to end inhumane detention and deportation, and to terminate use of Title 42. Franciscans see all people as sisters and brothers, whether they are caught in a global refugee crisis or seeking asylum at our southern border. In solidarity with our migrant brothers and sisters we pray for them, welcome them, and advocate with and for them as we call on the Biden-Harris administration to keep promises made.”
“When the Biden Administration entered office, the immigration and resettlement sector was cautiously optimistic. Rebuilding after the previous administration would take time, but we were confident it could and would happen,” said Kristyn Peck, CEO, Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area (LSSNCA). “There have been some gains in the past year, including raising the refugee admissions cap to 125,000 from an abysmal 15,000. However, President Biden’s move to continue and expand the Remain in Mexico (MPP) program continues to cause insurmountable harm to individuals we see come through our doors every day. Moreover, we have been and continue to be on the precipice of huge scale humanitarian crises–from the August Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, to Haitian and Cameroonian asylum seekers fleeing for their lives, and now a projected upwards of 2 million Ukrainian refugees across global borders. We urge the administration to repeal Title 42, support the Afghan Adjustment Act to provide a legal path to citizenship for Afghan allies, expand Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Haitians and Cameroonians, and ensure our borders and communities remain open, despite a regional cap, for those seeking safety beyond Ukraine and Eastern Europe.”
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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