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| Friends at a demo in Pasadena: Kim and Alex Hopkins, Chris and Elizabeth and their baby Max, and Anthony. See https://www.pasadenastarnews.com/2018/06/30/pasadena-demonstrators-parade-down-colorado-boulevard-to-urge-reuniting-immigrant-families/ |
Quakers have been
concerned about refugees fleeing violence in Central America since the 1980s
when Jim Corbett, an Arizona Quaker, helped to start the Sanctuary
Movement. Many Quaker meetings throughout the nation, including Princeton Meeting (where I became a
Quaker in 1984), took Salvadoran and other Latin American refugees under
the care during this tumultuous period.
Quakers have continued to feel deeply concerned about the fate of Central America refugees ever since. Most recently, in 2015, Pacific Yearly Meeting approved a minute of concern supporting efforts to support unaccompanied minors and refugee families:
“ This year six monthly meetings in Pacific Yearly Meeting have
approved minutes of concern for refugee children crossing the border from Latin
America. A special subcommittee of the Latin American Concerns Committee, Child
Refugees and Migration, was formed to address this concern. Many Friends have
taken action from visiting elected officials, accompanying a local child
refugee through the legal processes, to traveling to Texas to be in solidarity
with these children and their families. Pacific Yearly Meeting’s Annual Session
supports the efforts of the LACC and numerous other Friends who are seeking
justice and showing compassion toward those who are fleeing the violence in
their home countries and need a place of refuge in our country. We encourage
monthly meetings and individual Friends to read the attached minutes and take
them to heart. We also encourage Friends to support the efforts of AFSC and FCNL
to promote just and compassionate policies toward immigrants.” See Latin American Concerns Committtee Report
Friends are seeking
ways to respond to the current refugee crisis. One example is a minute of
concern recently approved by Santa Monica Meeting. Other Friends are taking action by visiting
detainees in the Adelanto Detention Center. Some are accompanying refugees in
the courts. Quaker organizations like FCNL and AFSC are calling for comprehensive immigration reform and an end to ICE.
I am including this
letter in hopes of stimulating more discussion among Friends (and others) about
what we can do to respond to this latest moral crisis.
Dear Friends,
On behalf of Worship
and Ministry Committee, I'm happy to share the Minute approved by a Called
Business Meeting on 6/24/18.
Minute 18-06-01 . As Quakers, we are called to
treat our fellow human beings with the utmost respect, dignity and care,
including those with whom we disagree strongly. This does not mean,
however that we will remain silent when acts of great harm are committed
by the most powerful against the most vulnerable. We will not remain silent
when God, or any sacred justification, is invoked to support such actions.
As people of faith, we call for an immediate
end to the practice of removing children from their parents because their
parents have attempted to enter the United States, regardless of whether
that entry constitutes a misdemeanor under U.S. law. We call for immediately
reuniting children and parents already separated. We call for an immediate
end to the incarceration of children, with or without their parents. And we
call for an end to any and all practices that treat any immigrating
individuals as less than” or “other,” or that treat them with hostility
and cruelty.
We commit to actively working with all those
striving to ensure that our immigration policies reflect the best of ourshared
humanity and are grounded in the compassionate application of the
principle of “liberty and justice for all.””
One Friend raised concern that the phrase "we actively
commit" implied that all friends and attenders are committed to take
action. We clarify that no, this does not require all friends and attenders to
act. The commitment of the Meeting is to provide support and blessing to all
who choose to take action on these heartbreaking and inhumane immigration
practices. Our actions are enhanced through the community, knowing that we
speak and act not just as individual Quakers, but on behalf of and with the
strength of the commitment of our Santa Monica Meeting.
Peace and Social Action Committee stepped forward to take
leadership. Friends were encouraged to attend P&SA meetings and to share
ideas for action on our listserv.
***
Here are some actions
that I (Anthony) recommend for us to do (based on a blog by Kit Danley, founder
of Neighborhood Ministries in Phoenix, AZ):
· Pray, knowing that your
prayer will lead to action.
· Give your financial resources to help
people who are doing some of these things. Here are a couple ways to
give:
· Contact your Congress representatives and senators OFTEN. The FCNL will connect you
directly to your senators. FCNL.org..
· Write op-eds for your local
newspaper
· Sign on to some national campaigns putting political
pressure on D.C. Here are a couple:
· Take the next 100 days to get involved in a
local campaign supporting people who have come out publicly against
these horrific practices.
· Volunteer at a shelter for Unaccompanied Alien
Children (UACs) in your area (over 100 nationally). It is a
rigorous process to become a volunteer, but it is possible. Research is needed
to find a UAC in your area.
· Volunteer at legal aid clinics where
asylum families will go, should they make it that far, for help with their
asylum cases.
· Join efforts with some local advocacy
groups that are completely dedicated to immigrant asylum seekers
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