Amid the Trump administration’s devastating attacks on migrants, this Sunday marks the start of Immigrant Heritage Month. It is an important time to honor the dignity of immigrants and the enormous contributions they have made – and continue to make — to the United States.
Over the past four months, we have been heartbroken and outraged by the cruelty and lawlessness unleashed by the administration’s mass deportation and detention policies. Mothers ripped away their babies. Fathers and sons disappeared to foreign prisons without due process. Students abducted and imprisoned for speaking out. Children made to live in fear.
This week, we have seen more threats to the safety and rights of immigrants.
Today, the Supreme Court ruled that the administration can terminate protections for migrants who fled unsafe conditions in their home countries. This imperils about 500,000 people who could be forced to return to countries embroiled in conflict, instability, or humanitarian crises.
ICE raids across the country continue to terrorize communities and rip families apart. ICE agents are ambushing people inside immigration courts, targeting people who are seeking due process and abiding by the legal process.
Meanwhile, the Senate is gearing up to vote on a budget reconciliation bill that would accelerate these attacks. It would surge funding for detention and deportation while cutting programs that provide a humane welcome for unaccompanied minors and other vulnerable people.
As FCNL wrote in a new statement, “This is not justice. This is not mercy. This is not the work of a moral people.”
At their root, these policies are driven by the dehumanization, villainization, and scapegoating of immigrants.
Immigrant Heritage Month provides us an opportunity to challenge those harmful narratives. It is an opportunity to remind ourselves that our faith calls us to love our neighbors, welcome strangers, and honor the inherent worth of all people.
During Immigrant Heritage Month, we hope you will join us to protect our immigrant neighbors and celebrate their vital contributions to our economy, our society, and our country.
Elsewhere
Advocacy Teams Speak Out Amid the Chaotic Launch of Gaza Aid Plan
Despite widespread international condemnation, the Israeli government launched its aid plan for Gaza this week. It was chaotic and clearly inadequate for the needs of starving Palestinians. Just four sites are distributing aid, run by Israeli soldiers and private U.S. contractors. This violates international humanitarian law and bypasses the established U.N.-led aid efforts which have been blocked by Israel for months.
FCNL’s Advocacy Teams are active in their campaign to urge aid, not arms, for Israel/Palestine. This past week, the Milwaukee Advocacy Team met with Representative Gwen Moore (WI-4) to urge her to do more to ensure humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Join your voice to theirs by calling your members of Congress to action today!
Budget Bill Lands in the Senate
With the passage of H.R. 1 in the House of Representatives, the Senate is considering how to move forward on this budget reconciliation bill. As FCNL put it in a statement this week, the legislation is a “deliberate rejection of the basic pillars that support strong communities: access to food, healthcare, economic opportunity, and responsible stewardship of our environment.”
It calls on Congress to “honor the Light within all of God’s creation and reject this path.”
We are already seeing the impact of this legislation on clean energy investments. Even though it has not gone into effect, more than $14 billion in investments have been cancelled or delayed due to anxiety over the fate of tax credits. If enacted, the consequences of this legislation will be even worse.
