Sisters Denounce Immigration Policy that Separates Parents and their Children

“We seek to continue our tradition of loving our neighbors, standing with the immigrant and fostering systemic change in order to transform and bring all to wholeness.”1 Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange once again denounce the Trump Administration’s policies, specifically Executive Orders 13767 and 13768, and House Resolutions 391 and 495. Both the executive orders and proposed legislation strip children and their families from safeguards that protect them against inhumane treatment by immigration authorities. We decry efforts to deter immigration by separating parents from their children.

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We stand with the Leadership Conference for Women Religious, and faith leaders across the country, in our deep concern about innocent immigrant children who have been lost through the immigration system. Implementing a zero-tolerance policy that separates parents and children at the border criminalizes parents accompanied by minor children, who are desperately fleeing their countries to survive. Pressing criminal charges for trying to provide a safe home for their families is inhumane and against U.S. immigration policies. The Trump Administration is legally obligated to give immigrants a fair chance to seek asylum.

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We join others in calling upon Congress to hold the administration accountable, to protect the sanctity of family unity, and to end cruel and immoral policies against children and their parents seeking safety.

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We are “called to a stance of hospitality with immigrants, for which the mutuality of giving and receiving is at the forefront, we act out of our belief that a culture of encounter with the other leads to the transformation of hearts and minds from separateness to unity.”2

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1, 2 Congregation Commitment on Immigration Statement