Catholic orgs call for Justice for Immigrants: "We are one family under God."

[pnwmom]

https://justiceforimmigrants.org/2016site/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Letter26March2018inclSigners2.pdf

Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
3801 Nebraska Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20528

Acting Secretary John Sullivan
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW Washington, DC 20520

March 26, 2018

“We are one family under God”

Dear Secretary Nielsen and Acting Secretary Sullivan,

As Catholic organizations and individuals, we are deeply concerned about the status of the U.S. refugee resettlement program and our current commitment as a country to welcome and integrate refugees in this time of extreme global need. Recently, the number of refugees resettled by the United States has plummeted. For Fiscal Year (FY) 2018, our country set an annual goal to admit 45,000 refugees, the lowest target in the history of the refugee program, which was formally begun in 1980. At the halfway point of FY18, the U.S. has resettled 9,616 refugees, setting the program on pace to not even reach half of the year’s low refugee admissions target. These low levels of refugee arrivals leave thousands of vulnerable people in harm’s way. The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program helps to resettle the most vulnerable of the world’s refugees, the estimated 5% who cannot remain in refugee host countries that neighbor the home countries they fled and who cannot return to their homes. For personal safety, they need resettlement to a third country. These individuals are frequently women and children, and often targeted for violence due to their religion or political views.

For 37 years, the U.S. has been proud to be the world leader in welcoming and resettling these most vulnerable refugees, and we, as Catholic organizations, priests, brothers, sisters, and lay professionals and volunteers, have been joyful partners to help accomplish this life-saving, humanitarian work. We know firsthand about the life-saving work that occurs on the ground in our communities to help welcome, accompany and integrate refugees in the United States. Refugees are more than just numbers and statistics, they are our neighbors, our friends, our fellow parishioners, and our brothers and sisters in Christ.

As Christians, our concern for refugees is integral to our life of faith. The Catholic Church believes that every person is created in God’s image. In the Old Testament, God calls upon his people to care for the newcomers because of their own experience as newcomers: “So, you, too, must befriend the alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt” (Deut. 10:17-19). In the New Testament, the image of the refugee is seen in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. In his own life and work, Jesus identified himself with newcomers and with other marginalized persons in a special way: “I was a stranger and you welcomed me” (Mt. 25:35). Jesus himself was a refugee fleeing as an infant with his family to Egypt to avoid persecution and death (Mt. 2:15). Recently Pope Francis reminded us all to welcome and protect refugees.

In this spirit, we ask the Administration and Congress to restore America’s bipartisan commitment to life-saving resettlement, including for Christian and other religious minorities. We urge admitting at least 45,000 refugees this year and 75,000 next year. We strongly suggest that DHS work to process refugees in a more robust, efficient and transparent manner. We also request the Administration to listen to our communities when we stand in solidarity to welcome refugees in this moment of global need.

Yours truly,
Catholic Organizations (named below)

[Upthevibe]

1. Kick...n/t

[lunamagica]

2. K&R for visibility.

[RainCaster]

3. Sadly, the evangelicals will ignore this

Because it doesn't fit their idea of God's justice.

[pnwmom]

4. This is why people who lump all Christians together are wrong.

In addition to Catholics, there are many Protestant Christians who aren't evangelicals.

[JI7]

5. too bad most catholics voted for trump

[pnwmom]

8. Nonpartisan research data say they didn't. Hillary won slightly more votes.

But other polls had different results; in any case, the Catholic vote was closely divided.

https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2017/04/06/new-data-suggest-clinton-not-trump-won-catholic-vote

According to an analysis of American National Election Studies data by a political scientist at Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, Catholic voters narrowly went for Democrat Hillary Clinton, 48 percent to 45 percent. Among Hispanic Catholics, Mrs. Clinton cleaned up handily, winning by more than 50 points.

The New York Times, for example, posted early exit-poll results that found Mr. Trump won 52 percent of the Catholic vote to Mrs. Clinton’s 45 percent. Likewise, CNN reported that Mr. Trump captured 50 percent of Catholic voters compared with 46 percent for Mrs. Clinton. Neither reported the differences between Hispanic and non-Hispanic Catholics.

Mark Gray, the director of polling at CARA who analyzed the A.N.E.S. data for a forthcoming book, said in an interview with America that in his view, the Catholic vote in the 2016 election was more or less split.

“I don’t think we will ever really definitively know,” Mr. Gray said, suggesting that in the end the Catholic vote may have been a “toss up” between the two candidates.

He said that the A.N.E.S. data is more reliable than exit polls because political scientists collect it both before and after the election, and because individuals who work on exit polls often lack expertise in scientific polling. (A 2014 article in the New York Times Upshot blog offers a longer explanation about the limitations of exit polls.)

SNIP

[Ilsa]

6. The Catholic Church should probably start

Coordinating with religious organizations in country of origin for families moving to the US by creating host churches/families. That means they will need to provide housing near the sanctuary, jobs, etc.

Maybe they are already doing this? Is it legal? But that also means they need to cough up lots of money to transfer from the Vatican to the host churches.

[pnwmom]

9. Catholic church groups are approaching the problems from many angles.

https://www.ncronline.org/news/people/catholic-groups-seek-social-innovation-help-refugees

They already have an "organization" that can help -- Catholic churches and parishes -- all over the world.

[UTUSN]

7. Well, somethings not everything but better than nothing

[Eyeball_Kid]

10. Yeah, but Jesus was a libtard!

What next? Crooked Hillary showed kindness? Hah! Crooked Hillary loved the illegals! Soft on poverty! She would have let the French have their way!