Washington, DC – Today, the Interfaith Immigration Coalition (IIC), a coalition of over 50 national faith-based organizations, launched #ThisIsWelcome, a project that highlights the power of stories of accompaniment and welcoming in faith communities across the United States and which provides resources to equip people of faith to transform the narrative.
The project includes the #ThisIsWelcome petition, a petition from people of faith addressed to elected officials and candidates for office to uphold the right to seek refuge in the U.S. and promote national immigration policies that uphold justice and opportunity for all.
The Interfaith Immigration Coalition invites faith leaders, congregations and all people of faith and conscience, to join the campaign by signing and amplifying the #ThisIsWelcome petition, sharing their stories of welcome, and learning more by visiting bit.ly/thisiswelcome.
“With this effort, IIC members aim to show how our diverse faith traditions call us to walk with the sojourner and, therefore, call for immigration policies that uphold justice and opportunity for all, regardless of national origin, race, or how and when people arrived in our country,” said Giovana Oaxaca, Program Director of Migration Policy at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Co-Chair of the Interfaith Immigration Coalition. “We hope the resources, facts, and stories of mutual accompaniment in our faith communities compiled in the #ThisIsWelcome project continues to help mobilize our community members to reject hate and xenophobia and choose welcome.”
“The Interfaith Immigration Coalition #ThisIsWelcome project embodies the journeys that many faith communities across the U.S. embarked on, choosing compassion over hate and welcoming over indifference,” said Jesús de la Torre, Assistant Director for Global Migration at the Hope Border Institute and Co-Chair of the Interfaith Immigration Coalition. “We hope decision-makers listen to the voices of all those signing the #ThisIsWelcome petition and work to enact immigration policies that uphold the dignity of people on the move and our communities’ commitment to walk with people seeking refuge and hope in our borderlands and elsewhere.”
“As people fleeing persecution and violence face increasingly inhumane restrictions on their right to seek protection in the United States, religious communities across the country have remained steadfast in their commitment to welcoming those seeking safe harbor,” said Thea Holcomb, Policy Associate at Church World Service and Co-Chair of the Interfaith Immigration Coalition’s Asylum Working Group. “The sacred texts and practices of our diverse faith traditions compel us to welcome those who sojourn and to lead the call for just and equitable policy responses to forced displacement. The This Is Welcome movement reflects the wisdom that our congregations and faith communities have held for generations: our collective flourishing depends on the safety and security of everyone, including and especially those who have been uprooted from their homes.”