Press Conference at City Hall for IMMIGRATION REFORM
January 8, 2009
 
 

CCCNY Immigration Statement


....The Council of Churches of the City of New York calls for the end to detentions, deportations and raids on immigrants in this City and nation. After all, as the signs seen at a recent church-sponsored vigil outside the New York City Immigration and Citizenship Enforcement Detention Center put it, ¡°Jesus was a Refugee¡± and ¡°No Human is Illegal.¡±

....There is a Biblical mandate to love the stranger. In the resounding words from the Hebrew Bible¡¯s book of Deuteronomy, ¡°God¡¦executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and¡¦loves the stranger.¡± Of course, that means foreigners, travelers, immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers. We must love them, too. Jesus¡¯ love for the poor and marginalized, overturning oppressive structures is affirmed by the Church. His presence on earth initiated the reality of the Reign of God as a new social order based on love, grace, justice, inclusion, mercy and egalitarianism, meant to replace the old order of nepotism, racism, classism, sexism and exclusion.

 
 


 
 
....We translate that scripture and theology to mean that the churches of New York City believe in the American dream. So, when people are targeted as threats, or treated as criminals because of the color of their skin, or presumed resident status, it represents the broken American dream at its worst. Many have come to America seeking a better life for themselves and their families and their opportunities to make contributions to our country have often been met, not with open arms, but with open raids, arrests, the lack of legal counsel, prolonged detentions and deportation. The Council therefore says, ¡°America, we are better than this.¡±

....We recognize and lament the recent murder of the Patchogue, Long Island, resident, Marcelo Lucero, an Ecuadorian immigrant and victim of a hate crime, killed by young men hunting down immigrants in the town, followed by the murder of Jose Sucuzhanay, who died Dec. 12, five days after a brutal beating on the streets of Brooklyn by men who shouted anti-gay and anti-Latino vulgarities. Our pastors have presided over such funeral services and had their hearts broken by their experiences with the families and loved ones, including little children.

....Horrible hate crimes should never happen. However, it is clear that governmental attitudes and practices against immigrants spawn hate crimes like these murders. Increasing government raids, detentions and deportations have helped to promote the idea that immigrants are criminals and should be dealt with harshly. The Church will - and the community should - continue to fight to bring justice to the vulnerable in our metropolitan area, along with greater understanding, acceptance and reconciliation between peoples of different races and nations.

....Recently, a national legislative body of one of our constituent churches passed a policy supporting immigrant rights, stating, ¡°to refuse to welcome migrants to this country and to stand by in silence while families are separated, individual freedoms are ignored, and the migrant community in the US is demonized¡¦is complicity to sin.¡±

....Unfortunately, welcoming the stranger has not been the policy of our government lately. Therefore, the Council calls on the new Obama Administration to end raids, detentions and deportations and specifically to make this one of its first actions. This is the logical extension of the long-lasting commitment of the churches of this City in helping people new to the United States. Immigrants have been a concern of the Church here for at least 100 years. Social action for immigrants began with serving the needs of those coming to this country through the port of New York and Ellis Island. Today, we are answering the call to advocate on behalf of immigrant families, and minister to the emotional and mental stress to them caused by threats like secret detentions, shackles, star-chamber hearings and deportations, which divide families, separating bread-winners from their loved ones and unnecessarily creating widows and orphans due to separations across international borders.
       

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