Last week, faith groups gathered in Washington, DC and in Raleigh, North Carolina to hold interfaith vigils urging Congress to pass permanent protections with a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, including DACA recipients and ‘Dreamers’, before year’s end.
In Washington, DC, the Interfaith Immigration Coalition (IIC) joined representatives from Faith In Action and Congregation Action Network for a “Faithful Day of Action” vigil on Tuesday, Dec. 6 to “light the path to citizenship.” Faith leaders spoke about the urgency of using the lame duck session to pass expansive protections for undocumented immigrants that support family unity and protect vulnerable migrants in need of safety.
In Raleigh, faith leaders from the United Methodist Church, IIC, and directly-impacted groups convened in front of Senator Thom Tillis’s office to hold vigil on Friday, Dec. 9 for undocumented immigrants and to deliver over 110 constituent letters to the Senator demanding a path to citizenship as he and other lawmakers consider immigration proposals.
Last week’s citizenship vigils were just two of many efforts being organized by directly-impacted groups and faith organizations “for such a time as this,” including legislative meetings, sign-on letters, and social media action urging Congress to act now to create a pathway to citizenship, while ensuring that families are kept together and vulnerable migrants are able to access asylum.
“As millions of undocumented people and families continue to be pushed to the margins, made vulnerable by an oppressive shadow over their lives, we stand for a pathway to citizenship that affirms the God-given dignity and potential of our undocumented siblings,” said Giovana Oaxaca, Program Director for Migration Policy for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and chair of the Interfaith Immigration Coalition Citizenship Working Group at the vigil in Washington, DC. “Many have said that this fight is futile, but that could not be further from the truth. Today’s actions are about affirming our wholeness, and claiming the dignity and respect we all deserve. Many among our allies are people with relative privilege, like DACA recipients, who add their voice in claiming respect for their peers, parents, siblings, and friends. Some policymakers have proposed relief for some at the expense of protection for the most vulnerable among us—migrants and asylum seekers—and while policy solutions are needed to ensure the border is secure and safe, we mustn’t jeopardize universally enshrined protections for those actively fleeing crises in their homelands. For such a time as this, we call on our elected officials to ensure earthly peace for all who live in fear of being separated from their loved ones.”
Rev. Alvin Herring, executive director of Faith in Action, at the Washington, DC vigil said: “As faith leaders from diverse traditions, we urge Congress to take bold action in the coming weeks to protect and provide a path to citizenship for as many of our undocumented siblings as possible without further criminalizing.”
“For far too long, our political leaders and our society have vilified those who are in the immigrant community. Negativity about immigrants has placed fear in the hearts of this nation—when, in truth be told, we are a nation of immigrants,” said Rev. Kendal L. McBroom, Director of Civil and Human Rights for the United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society at the Raleigh, NC vigil. “We are a nation of people of many different backgrounds, many different cultures, who have come together to seek a better life, to seek a way out of no way, to seek life and life more abundantly. We are tired of lawmakers playing politics with people’s lives and their livelihoods, of the mess that Congress has made and is making. But we as believers believe in a different way, a different story, in different possibilities… We gather to call our legislators to do the right thing—specifically Senator Tillis—for right now we know that there are conversations taking place that could provide a pathway to citizenship. We are here as an extra nudge to nudge Senator Tillis into the right way—into a way that sees the immigrant not as a foe or as the enemy, but rather as friend and as neighbor.”
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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