Washington, DC – On November 6, 2023, Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC), James Lankford (R-OK), and Tom Cotton (R-AR) proposed a list of asylum policy changes that they requested in exchange for support for foreign aid assistance. These anti-asylum proposals include aspects of H.R. 2, a bill that would have a far-reaching impact on individuals, children, and families by restricting access to asylum, detaining families, mandating border wall construction, and undermining the president’s authority to grant humanitarian parole.
The diverse faith groups and leaders that comprise the Interfaith Immigration Coalition oppose these harmful proposals that fail to provide real solutions to people seeking safety and the communities that receive them. We look forward to partnering with Congress to support legislation that makes it possible to have a safe, orderly, and humane reception of migrants to the U.S. communities that long to welcome them.
“When someone is in need, the people at the borderlands show compassion and love by welcoming strangers. This is the opposite of what the current proposals in the Senate do,” said Dylan Corbett, Executive Director of the Hope Border Institute. “Migrant rights and our values are not commodities that can be traded. In these negotiations, the priority should be to restore full access to asylum and ensure dignified processing.”
“Asylum restrictions included in recent Senate budget proposals do not meet the needs of people seeking safety at the US-Mexico border and the communities welcoming them,” said Giulia McPherson, Vice President of Advocacy at Jesuit Refugee Service/USA. “Instead, these proposals further limit access to asylum and do not provide long-term solutions to address the current challenges presented by increased displacement in the Western Hemisphere. We encourage Congress to find a path forward to reform our current asylum system rather than propose restrictions that only harm people seeking safety.”
“The Lankford proposal is both inhumane and absurd,” said Sr. Marie Lucey, Associate Director of Franciscan Action Network. “We Franciscans decry the proposal which indicates hostility toward migrants, and does nothing to provide real, long-term solutions for asylum seekers and receiving communities, and fails to address root causes of large-scale displacement. Our faith and Franciscan values compel us to call on members of Congress, most of whom claim a faith tradition, to provide a workable, humane, just asylum process which acknowledges the dignity and rights of migrants.”
“This forced amalgamation of border policy with foreign aid is a morally dubious quid pro quo that would functionally end asylum and undermine America’s commitment to global humanitarian leadership,” said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, President and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. “Responding with cruelty to those who have already contended with rampant violence, war, persecution, and economic devastation in their homeland is patently inhumane. Trading bedrock human rights away out of perceived political expediency would be an unprecedented abdication of our nation’s moral and legal obligations – and the very antithesis of principled leadership.”
“Claiming asylum is a right guaranteed by national and international law; these proposals then strike at the heart of that right. The proposed policy changes do nothing to solve the multiple crises that cause desperate families to flee their homes, or to fix our deeply broken immigration system,” said Pablo DeJesús, Executive Director of Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice. “Unitarian Universalist principles call upon us to respect the basic dignity of all people, and Congress should do so as well. Instead of complicating difficult budget negotiations by inserting points that will not help ensure the continued functioning of our government, Senators should look at the need for additional resources to process the huge backlog of immigration-related applications. Then, they should lead the U.S. toward welcome, ensuring migrants arrive into a safe environment, with dignity.”
“Just like the extreme H.R. 2 border legislation proposed in the House, the restrictions included in this Senate Republican proposal are at their core anti-faith, anti-immigrant, and anti-family. If passed, they would undoubtedly cause harm to vulnerable individuals and families at the border, as well as further undermine an already underfunded asylum and reception processes,” said Danilo Zak, Associate Director of Policy and Advocacy at Church World Service. “Our faith traditions compel us to love our neighbor and welcome those in need; the attempt to trade and barter basic human rights is in direct opposition to the values we claim to hold dear, and we encourage Congress to reject this proposal and instead choose a path that protects the vulnerable and upholds the inherent dignity of those seeking safety. Ongoing negotiations in Congress over appropriations should be about funding the Federal government in good faith by increasing capacity to welcome through infrastructure and investment in resettlement – not embedding cruelty into immigration policy.”
“As advocates for peace and nonviolence, AFSC opposes any increases in militarizing our nation’s border communities and funding to ICE and CBP,” said Imani Cruz, Global Policy Coordinator for Migration Justice with the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). “We must love and welcome all members of our human family, regardless of circumstance. Every taxpayer dollar given to these agencies contributes to the racially-based harassment, invasions of privacy via surveillance, and threats of imprisonment experienced by people living in border communities and those seeking refuge. We demand that Congress move away from funding state violence in border communities to investing in education, healthcare, and supporting families.”
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 at @interfaithimm.
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