Climate change is a threat amplifier. It pushes the scales to destabilize communities and ecosystems. Migration is partly a result of this destabilization, though there are many contributing factors including (and especially) the consequences of decades of extractive economics. Texas has been at the center of not only migration, as migrants cross the border north into that state, but also enforcement of violent anti-migrant policies and practices.
Faith groups are and have been raising a moral hue and cry at cruel and deadly tactics at the border. Then last week, from whistle blower witnesses, news broke widely of drownings due to buoys and razor wire Texas recently loaded into the Rio Grande, a river crossing for migrants.
This latest deadly news comes from Texas state troopers themselves who spoke against the cruelty they were ordered to carry out. If you are in Texas, you can read directly from the Houston Chronicle Texas troopers told to push children into Rio Grande, records say. The story exploded internationally from that reporting, Texas trooper says they were told to push children into Rio Grande and deny migrants water.
Faith-based groups have responded to these reports directly: from the American Jesuit Review ‘Push the people back into the water.’ Texas bishops condemn inhumane border policies after leaked email. And from NCR & The Tablet Catholic Groups Condemn Texas Report of Alleged ‘Inhumane’ Treatment of Migrants, Including Denying Water.
Faith groups are and have been calling for a moral response to migration and for an immediate stop to the cruelty and injustice at the border. This effort is international, with a recent multifaith panel convening at St. Mark’s Episcopal church in Washington DC, a panel that included faith-voices from Texas, ‘People are suffering from trauma,’ panelist says at multifaith event highlighting need for solidarity with refugees, displaced people
Sr. Norma Pimentel
Last December the faithful across denominations called on Gov. Abbott to stop the inhumane treatment of migrants, 150 Faith Leaders Call On Gov. Abbott to End Inhuman Handling of Migrants Arriving in Texas. And across the country, churches are and have hosted vigils, talks and exhibitions to speak to the plight of migrants.
One such is an exhibition of the art of children held in the Tornillo Detention Center in Texas during the infamous child separation period—a policy that was piloted in 2017 in El Paso, TX, before being implemented more widely. The exhibition, called “Uncaged Art” has been showcased in Episcopalian and other Jewish and Christian communities. Family separation policies have been widely rebuked as unconscionable and immoral, with immigration groups and allies organizing against such policies.
People of faith in Sacramento, Chicago, New York, Oregon and around the country seek compassionate solutions, recognizing the compounding stress and trauma migrants experience. The Baptist Cooperative Fellowship is increasing its advocacy work and presence in Texas, Texas CBF will hire two full-time staff in advocacy, and, a good article from Source NM speaks to the work of a local United Methodist Church to provide shelter, Extreme heat is killing more people crossing the border.
Texas Interfaith Power and Light / Texas Impact has been actively seeking to educate those in the US about policy and asylum challenges, as well as to address the worsening situation faced by asylum seekers who now face life-threatening heat from escalating climate change. A recent essay from past board president Rev. Mel Caraway in UM-Insight addresses these challenges and calls for action, Justice Interconnections: Climate, Race, Economy, Health, Migration & More. View the video presentation, also, from this month’s Interfaith Power and Light TX Resilient Congregations Dallas Event.
Texas Impact has spoken out directly against the migrant tragedies on the Texas border, Department of Public Safety Trooper-Medic: “I believe we have stepped over a line into the inhumane”, and called for dignified and biblical policies to be immediately passed by Texas legislators, DIGNIDAD (Dignity) Act of 2023: Bipartisan Immigration Reform Based on “Biblical Principles of Dignity and Redemption.”
Rev. Richenda Fairhurst
The Rev. Richenda Fairhurst is here for the friendship and conversations about climate, community, and connection. She organizes the Climate Cafe Multifaith as a co-leader of Faiths4Future. Find her in real life in Southern Oregon, working as Steward of Climate with the nonprofit Circle Faith Future. This article is republished with permission from her blog, JustCreation.org. To reproduce this content elsewhere, please contact the author.