Immigrants must be treated with the dignity and respect required by faith and the due process afforded under the law, a coalition of Dallas-area faith leaders demanded during an April 28 press briefing.
The event was presented by the Interfaith Clergy Emergency Response League and Faith Commons in response to the arrests and deportation of immigrants and to the resulting fear spreading across congregations and communities throughout the region, said Eric Folkerth, lead pastor of Kessler Park United Methodist Church in Dallas.
“We are all here because we are all deeply troubled — sickened, in fact — by the stories of local people ripped from their families, some of whom have no criminal records, some of whom have been sent from our country without any due process.”
Eric Folkerth
Folkerth was joined on the press conference by representatives from Jewish, Muslim and other Christian groups alarmed and appalled by the expansion of the Trump administration’s deportation campaign to include immigrants living legally in the U.S.
The mass deportation effort began as one billed to expel undocumented immigrants and those with criminal records. But the focus quickly expanded to unauthorized migrants accused or guilty of minor offenses, and then to those in the country legally and without any brushes with the law — removed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement without benefit of a hearing by immigration courts.
Among them was a Venezuelan teen admitted to the nation under the Biden-era CBP One app, who was picked up in Texas and deported to El Salvador. A North Texas man admitted through the same digital portal was arrested without a warrant in March and, from the perspective of his loved ones, simply vanished in the ICE system and possibly was deported to El Salvador.
In a news release, the league cited the case of Lewisville, Texas, resident Neri Alvarado Borges, who was apprehended in February: “Despite following all the rules in applying for asylum, despite his model behavior and lack of criminal record, the Department of Homeland Security put Alvarado on a plane to the notorious CECOT prison in El Salvador without due process or any hope of ever being free again.”
Three citizen children ages 2, 4 and 7 were deported with their immigrant mothers. The 4-year-old has Stage 4 cancer.
And the dragnet seems to be widening further to include U.S. citizens. The Washington Post recently reported three citizen children ages 2, 4 and 7 were deported with their immigrant mothers. The 4-year-old has Stage 4 cancer.
Meanwhile, the administration has ignored numerous federal court decisions, including one by the U.S. Supreme Court, ordering some migrants not to be deported or that others be returned to the U.S. Judges also have criticized the government for denying due process to immigrants.
All such actions are an affront to religious Scripture and belief, Folkerth said during the press conference. “The Bible says we should treat and welcome the immigrant, not harm them. Some Americans don’t want to hear that, but that’s what the Bible says.”
Nor do many Americans want to hear that migrants are to enjoy the same legal protections as citizens of a country. In the U.S., that means access to due process under the law.
“Why? Because all these clergy here can tell you our holy Scriptures remind us that we were once immigrants and therefore God calls us to compassion and empathy to the foreigner,” Folkerth said.
Amreena Hussain
Amreena Hussain, vice president of the Dallas chapter of the Indian American Muslim Council, said her beliefs compelled her to speak out against the treatment of immigrants.
“Our faith does not permit neutrality in the face of injustice, and it certainly does not permit the stripping away of basic due processes, fairness and the dignity of every human being,” she said. “When people are denied the chance to defend themselves and to stay with their families and to live with dignity, it is not just a legal failure, it is a moral and religious failure.”
Hussain referenced the Islamic principle of Ummah, which refers to unity among Muslims and with humanity. In this case, it means when one part of the community suffers, all parts suffer.
“When families in our cities and neighborhoods are torn apart, we are obligated to feel their pain, and we are obligated to defend their dignity and to stand alongside them. Justice in Islam is a divine obligation,” Hussain said.
Standing alongside those suffering also means confronting the injustices perpetrating prejudice and fear, she added. “Policies that destroy families and criminalize migration are policies that we are commanded to resist with our voices, our hands and our prayers.”
Amy Spaur
Amy Spaur, lead pastor at La Fundación Cristo/Christ Foundry United Methodist Mission, said the members of her Spanish-speaking congregation are experiencing intense suffering as detentions and deportations increase.
“I stand here today to speak on behalf of these families living under the heavy cloud of fear that at any moment they could be torn from their families, their communities, their churches; fear of dropping their children off at school and never seeing them again; fear that their spouse will kiss them to leave for work and never come home.”
They also are afraid of being pulled over by law enforcement and summarily deported to a third-party nation without the opportunity for their case to be heard in court, she said. “I stand today as a pastor and a U.S. citizen who is deeply concerned about what our government is doing. I am concerned about the use of policies such as the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 — policies that are being weaponized to target and dehumanize our neighbors.”
Before President Donald Trump invoked that act this year to deport immigrants without due process, it was used during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II.
“As a pastor, I see the human toll these policies take, the sleepless nights, the empty chairs at dinner tables, the aching prayers that they come forward and share with me every Sunday morning,” Spaur said. “This is not abstract policy for us.”
One member of the congregation “who had applied for asylum and received his work permit was arrested and detained at a routine immigration check-in appointment. His wife and children now fear that ICE will show up any day at their door to arrest and detain them as well,” she said.
Vicky Gilkin
The immigration policies and actions of the U.S. today are shockingly different from what immigrants and refugees are taught in the process of becoming American citizens, said Vicky Glikin, senior cantor at Temple Emanu-El in Dallas.
“Studying for my citizenship exam, I learned that this country is a nation of immigrants and that people from diverse backgrounds, countries and cultures strengthen the fabric of our democracy,” said Glickin, who came to the U.S. from Ukraine as a refugee at age 13.
“I also learned that the United States is a country of laws and checks and balances in which every person is equal under the law and is presumed innocent until proven guilty. In this country, every person has the right to speak to a lawyer in their native language and to receive sufficient due process.”
But what she is seeing now is a frightening reminder of the Holocaust, she warned. “It is a stark warning to us of what happens when the government abuses its power and declares a group of people dangerous, dehumanizes them, forcefully rounds them up and strips them of their fundamental legal rights.”
Faith Commons and the league issued a letter imploring faith leaders to speak out against the government’s immigration policies and to stand up for the principle of “innocent until proven guilty.”
“The treatment of immigrants and refugees under the Trump administration’s policies and practices reflect a different call and a different vision for our country. That vision calls us to suspect and fear our neighbors. It sows division and thrives on bullying, intimidation, threats and coercion,” the letter says. “It deploys law enforcement agencies and private militias to surveil and disrupt neighborhoods, private businesses and public institutions.”
“The moral authority of our witness depends on our willingness to live the words we preach.”
Faith leaders are encouraged in the letter to preach “boldly” about the harm being inflicted on immigrant families and communities, to teach congregations about Scripture’s command to welcome the stranger and to prevent law enforcement from entering sacred spaces to arrest immigrants.
“The moral authority of our witness depends on our willingness to live the words we preach. If our faith means anything, it must be seen in how we respond to those crying out for help and hope,” the letter says.
The Dallas area can expect to see more actions from concerned clergy, Faith Commons President George Mason said in concluding the event.
“You will hear of future actions by this interfaith group of clergy, and we are announcing this day that very soon we will be holding regular clergy vigils outside the Dallas ICE headquarters on the sidewalk, praying for the fair treatment and for justice for immigrants.”
Every immigrant has a face and a name, he said. “It’s not just about migrants; it’s about our humanity. We ourselves need to see and then to enable others to see that migrants and refugees are brothers and sisters to be welcomed, respected and loved.”
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