28 MAR 2023
130 Faith Groups Call on the Biden Administration to Reject Reinstating Inhumane Family Detention Policies
Faith Leaders: “While we may hold differing perspectives, we are all certain that seeking safety and protection for one’s family is an essential right that should not be abridged.”
WASHINGTON, DC – Last week, a coalition of 130 faith organizations, including Church World Services, Hope Border Institute and the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), among others, sent a letter urging the Biden Administration to reject the revival of discredited familydetention policies for immigrants at our southern border. As faith organizations outlined in the letter, family detention is “a cruel and unnecessary way to treat migrant families after their grueling experiences.”
Beyond calling for the continuing moratorium on family detention at the border, the faithorganizations also urged the White House to step back from their proposed asylum ban and to base their immigration policy decisions in morality rather than politics. As J. Kevin Appleby, former director of policy for The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, wrote in The American Magazine, “[President] Joe Biden’s immigration policy shift is against Catholic teaching.”
Earlier this month, the New York Times reported that the Biden administration is considering reinstatement of family detention at the US-Mexico border. The news was met with pushback from many members of Congress and organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International and the National Immigration Justice Center. The collective cry: don’t bring back cruel Trump-era policies that do not work, hurt kids and move in the opposite direction of the Biden administration’s promises to build a fair and humane immigration system.
Below are excerpts from the letter sent to the Biden administration:
“Families do not need to be detained. Giving families the opportunity to continue their immigration proceedings surrounded by the support of their loved ones and community responds to the call to treat newcomers with respect and dignity; while improving the likelihood that they can meet their legal obligations.
We write to you as representatives from the faith community, a community rich with different stories and experiences rooted in migration and displacement. Many of our traditions regard hospitality to the newcomer as an exemplary way to live out our faith. While we may hold differing perspectives, we are all certain that seeking safety and protection for one’s family is an essential right that should not be abridged.
Any amount of detention is harmful to children. It may disproportionately impact Black pregnant women. Worryingly, solitary confinement and family separation have been abused as methods to silence parents that speak out. Families have also not had adequate access to legal counsel in detention. The period of detaining families must never be repeated.
We’re concerned that the proposed asylum rule may exacerbate the issues prevalent in detention, around access to counsel and due process. It’s plain to see that these policies will sow confusion and instill fear.
The undersigned faith organizations urge your administration not to detain migrant families. We instead invite you to be inspired by the spirit of justice and mercy that runs throughout our collective faiths and stories. Policies should be guided from a place of compassion and concern for those who are on the margins, including migrants and asylum seekers—not from a place of fear and trepidation.”
To read a full copy of the letter, click here.
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The Immigration Hub is a national organization dedicated to advancing fair and just immigration policies through strategic leadership, innovative communications strategies, legislative advocacy and collaborative partnerships.