Church and Society Photo
Stand for Justice
DREAMers and their allies bear silent witness to the injustice of sending them, their friends and their families back to their countries of origin after growing up in the United States.
“It’s like watching a telenovela. Every day is different. Now we’re just going to the stressful part of the telenovela where you wonder what will happen to the protagonist.”
— Francis Madi, 28, who arrived in the U.S. from Venezuela in 2003, on the tension she and other “Dreamers” feel as they watch their fate being debated. Quoted by the New York Times.
As members of Congress prepared to take action to keep the federal government going beyond Jan. 19, United Methodists and other people of faith were pressing their congressional representatives to pass a "clean Dream Act" to replace the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals order rescinded by President Donald Trump. Even though a federal judge blocked the president's action on a legal technicality Jan. 8, faith-based advocates continued to urge Congress to settle the matter by passing legislation that would allow somewhere between 800,000 and 1 million undocumented immigrants to remain in the United States.
In Washington, D.C., the Sacred Resistance ministry of Foundry United Methodist Church issued an email Jan. 4 urging recipients to take action:
"Recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) are already starting to see their statuses expire--and these expirations will accelerate starting in March 2018. The best opportunity to prevent this from happening is to include protections for Dreamers in the upcoming FY 2018 spending bill, which currently must be passed by January 19.
"... The bottom line: unless we act now, hundreds of thousands of people may become eligible for deportation in the coming months. This week, we urge the following acts of sacred resistance:
- "Call your members of Congress and urge them not to vote for a new spending package unless Congress passes the DREAM act (H.R.3440, S.1615). Dial (844) 241-1141 and enter your Zip code to be transferred to your senator.
- "Visit stampslicked.org to send a personalized postcard, hand-delivered to your senators’ DC offices."
The Rev. Noel Andersen, advocacy staff for Church World Service, an ecumenical relief and development agency supported by United Methodists, urged people of faith to join in the refugee resettlement agency's national call-in day on Jan. 11. In an email, Rev. Andersen suggested:
"Call Congress: Click here to receive patch-through calls to your Members of Congress.
"Faith Leaders: Sign on to this letter to urge Congress to pass a clean Dream Act now. Please click "faith leader" on the google form.
"Amplify on Social Media: Share why we need a #DreamActNow. Click here for sample tweets and Facebook posts.
"Local In District Actions: Join people of faith in escalating for action in the days leading up to January 19th. Click here for a toolkit on #Faith4Dream prophetic actions in-district leading up to January 19th."
In support of DREAMers, the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society installed a photo exhibit on the outside of the United Methodist Building that sits opposite the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. In addition to photos of undocumented young adults, the exhibit displays photos of their supporters including the Rev. Susan Henry-Crowe, Church & Society top executive; Bishop Bruce Ough, president of the Council of Bishops; and retired Bishop Marcus Matthews, former episcopal leader of the Washington, D.C. Area.