Faith-based Organizations to Congress: Border Wall Proposal Inconsistent with Interfaith Values

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 24, 2017 Press Contact: Hannah Graf Evans, hannah@fcnl.org, 202-903-2537

80 Faith-based National and State Organizations to Congress: Border Wall Proposal Inconsistent with Interfaith Values

As Congress returns from recess just ahead of an April 28 deadline for funding through the end of the current fiscal year, 39 prominent national faith-based organizations and 41 state & local faith-based organizations and congregations urge members of Congress to oppose any efforts to build a wall or other barrier across the U.S.-Mexico border.

“Our faith communities have ministries and relationships deeply rooted in border communities,” the letter reads, “We have witnessed how current border enforcement policies have torn families and communities apart, contributed to the deaths of thousands of migrants, harmed wildlife and border ecosystems, and violated the rights and humanity of U.S. citizens and immigrants alike. As communities of faith, we believe that government spending should reflect our values and advance the common good. Funding for further border militarization falls far short of these values.”

Diane Randall, Executive Secretary of the Friends Committee on National Legislation stated, “Grounded in our Quaker faith, we seek federal policies that strengthen our society and protect the dignity of individuals. We have heard loudly and clearly from residents in the border region who know they will be adversely affected by any kind of increased border wall or militarization in their home communities. Our call to care for God's creation makes us wary of the lasting environmental damage inherent to disruptive barrier construction. We call on Congress to serve as a much needed check on these unjustified proposals, reject funding them, and instead develop community-oriented border policies.”

“Columban Fathers have lived and ministered in border communities for over twenty years. In the midst of the already destructive militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border, Columbans stand for a more compassionate border policy that affirms the dignity of migrants, celebrates the vibrancy and importance of border communities, and ensures the care of God's creation. We urge Congress to stand with us and reject these inhumane proposals,” Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach Director Scott Wright added.

The faith groups urge members of Congress to stand against any funding for a border wall and further militarized infrastructure and instead appropriate funding that lives up to shared faith principles.

The full letter with signatories can be found here.