Add your name to this letter to President Trump

Dear President Trump,

The United Methodist Church understands that at the center of Christian faithfulness to scripture is the call we have been given to love and welcome the sojourner. 2016 United Methodist Book of Resolutions, 3281 “Welcoming the Migrant to the US”

We, the undersigned, are United Methodists. We write today in the tradition of our ancestors to implore you and your administration to stop criminalizing immigrants. Our tradition teaches us that God has made every single person in God’s image. Scripture is clear that what you do to “the least of these,” you are doing to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Matthew 25:31-46

Our church is committed to supporting families, building healthy, safe communities and providing refuge to all whose lives are threatened.

We call on your administration to uphold these values.

Supporting families

The United Methodist Church opposes “immigration policies that separate family members from each other or that include detention of families with children.” United Methodist Social Principles, ¶162.H

United Methodists recognize families as a core unit of God’s community. You continue to tear children apart from their families. Placing children in unsafe camps threatens the healthy emotional, intellectual, and physical development of these children of God.

We call on you to stop separating parents and children, and reunite already separated children with their parents and family members.

Building communities free from fear

The fear and anguish so many migrants in the United States live under are due to federal raids, indefinite detention and deportations which tear apart families and create an atmosphere of panic. In the face of these unjust laws, “God’s people must stand in solidarity with the migrants in our midst.” 2016 United Methodist Book of Resolutions, 3281 “Welcoming the Migrant to the US”

Many of our communities rely on and have built strong economies with people who have immigrated to the United States. Increasing the arrests of people who have contributed to the health and welfare of our communities is devastating local businesses, farms, faith communities and families.

Housing and nutrition programs provide some stability to families who are working in jobs that do not make ends meet. No person and no family should be penalized for accessing resources that encourage the health and well-being of people residing in our communities. When individual and family units are healthy, our communities are healthy.

We call on you to stop using law enforcement to terrorize members of our community who contribute to making our schools, churches, parks, businesses and hospitals safe, healthy and nurturing.

Providing refuge

The United Methodist Church affirms, “the right of women to live free from violence and abuse and urge[s] governments to enact policies that protect women against all forms of violence and discrimination in any sector of society.” United Methodist Social Principles, ¶162.F

Asylum is an international right that the United States must honor. It is time to listen to and respect the voices of people who have made treacherous journeys to the United States to save their lives and the lives of their children.

We call on you to take serious asylum claims of women and girls who have experienced gender-based violence. Allow them to stay in the United States until their asylum claims can be rightfully investigated.

It is time

It is time for this administration and all who claim allegiance to our God to stop treating immigrants as criminals. They are our brothers and sisters. God has entrusted them to our care.

Refusing 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 United States is demonized — is complicity to sin.

We, the undersigned, will not be complicit.