Each day brings a new attack on our immigrant neighbors and the scope and breadth of these challenges can be staggering. The paradigm of detention, enforcement and increased border militarization has brought us the cruel and inhumane practice of family separation, the ongoing and deplorable detention of families and children, and brutal immigration enforcement raids on communities; just to name a few. Expansion of a punitive deterrent-oriented system is abhorrent and an affront to our national values.
Compassion should be at the root of how our nation treats migrants. As people of faith we know and believe that each life, no matter where they’re born, has value and dignity; that each person is a beloved child of God. This is why we need to urge Congress to no longer fund the immigration deportation and detention machine that the administration keeps running full throttle. Instead, Congress should invest in programs that serve our communities by dedicating funds to case management programs and other alternatives to detention. Congress must also make robust investments in addressing the root causes of forced migration. There are myriad underlying reasons people are fleeing their home countries to come to the United States including political instability, violence, and economic devastation. Cutting aid and funding to Central American countries that addresses the root causes of forced migration is wildly short-sighted and will only make the situation worse.
Please ask your member of Congress, as they work on appropriations legislation, to not invest any more money in policies that fuel and feed the administration’s efforts to increase border militarization and continue terrorizing immigrants. How we invest our money reflects our values as a nation, and right now those values are corrosive and harmful. This has got to stop. Congress should instead invest in policies that uplift family unity, address the root causes of forced migration, and prioritize human needs by respecting the rights and dignity of every person.