First, the U.S. government canceled flights for thousands of approved and vetted refugees already booked for travel to the United States. Now, it is poised to relitigate the status of those already here and delay or block their path to permanency—a profound betrayal of the safety and security offered by a longstanding U.S. humanitarian program.
Urge your senators and representative to speak out and advocate to keep refugee status intact and ensure refugees can remain in their new homes!
At Global Refuge, we honor and recognize the inherent dignity of all people. For 86 years, we have walked alongside refugees and other immigrants as they build their new lives in the United States—often fleeing war, persecution, and humanitarian disaster in pursuit of a better life. We welcome newcomers not simply because it is the right thing to do, but because it is central to our mission and identity: As a witness to God’s love for all people, we stand with and advocate for children, refugees, and other immigrants, transforming communities through ministries of service and justice.
That mission hasn’t changed, but the environment has. For nearly a year, we have witnessed an unprecedented targeting of refugees and other immigrants in this country. Hundreds of thousands of individuals and families have had their lives upended by increasingly violent immigration enforcement, a deluge of official and unofficial policy changes, and a widespread, pernicious effort to dehumanize and vilify the immigrant community writ large. The lives of mothers, fathers, friends, and neighbors have become little more than political bargaining chips—tools used to justify a de-documentation and deportation agenda targeting immigrant families.
We cannot ignore or abide this pattern of escalating violence, and we stand in solidarity with our refugee and other immigrant neighbors. Where one was born should not dictate whether their children sleep safely at night or go to bed hungry. Fleeing violence and persecution because there was no other choice should not confer a life sentence in the shadows. A nation established by and for immigrants should not be the same place where grandmothers are afraid to go to church on Sunday, where children must watch as their parents are torn from their cars and slammed to the ground, or where immigration enforcement is used to punish and expel those who look, think, pray, or act differently.
We know, too, that the same people the administration seeks to deny citizenship are the ones that make the United States better—bolstering the workforce, contributing to local and national economies, and enriching the culture of our communities. The United States has long been both a nation of immigrants and a humanitarian leader on the global stage. We cannot allow the systems that support immigration to this country—the systems that allow families to seek safety and a better life, to flee war and persecution—to be deliberately dismantled.
That is why the work of Global Refuge continues. Despite the onslaught of harmful policies and the frightening scenes on our streets, we’ve made a commitment, grounded in our faith-based values, to honor the human dignity of families, refugees, and other immigrants. In the face of misinformation and dangerous rhetoric, we will speak out. When refugees seek safety in our communities, we will walk alongside them. When children in need of protection come into our care, we will provide a soft landing and a loving home. When we can help our newest neighbors succeed as they build their lives in the U.S., we will welcome and support them at every stage of their journeys. We hope all people of good faith will join us. Together, we can demonstrate that refugees and other immigrants are still welcome…and always will be.
At Lutheran Engagement and Advocacy in Nevada, we celebrate the impact migrants have on our communities, our economy, and our shared future. Guided by our faith, we affirm that dignity and humanity are not negotiable. Especially in times of fear and uncertainty, we stand publicly and faithfully in solidarity with our migrant siblings.
The Bible writes of one human family, honored and elevated through the image of God that each of us bears. As a Christian community, we are grieved when we hear language about human beings that does not honor the deep love Christ holds for them or the imago Dei — the image of God — that each of them carries. One group of people who have frequently had their dignity denied is immigrants and those who have been forcibly displaced.
Dehumanizing language dishonors the dignity of human beings. It divides people into an “in-group” (us) and an “out-group” (them), often relying on crude generalizations or metaphors related to contamination or danger. This language is not harmless. It flattens and reduces a diverse group of people to negative characteristics, which can erode empathy and normalize inhumanity, overt discrimination and violence against entire groups of people. Such harmful and reductive terms impact not only immigrants to the United States but also U.S. citizens who may be profiled or stereotyped because of their race, ethnicity, heritage or language.
How should we, as people of faith, respond when we hear language that dehumanizes people? We can follow Jesus’ example by seeing and welcoming those whom society has cast out and by encouraging others to do the same.
One powerful way to combat dehumanizing rhetoric is by sharing personal stories. Too often, conversations about immigration happen without input from immigrants themselves — people who most personally experience the joys, hopes or pains stemming from immigration systems. Christians can confront dehumanizing language in conversation by inviting curiosity and empathy about immigrants’ stories — including their own and those of their ancestors — and reminding others of nuance, complexity and breadth of experiences related to immigration.
Sometimes elected officials use dehumanizing language in official communications, on social media or in remarks to reporters or at a town hall. This language from our elected leaders can make it seem acceptable and normal to talk about other human beings in this way, and it can set the stage for laws and policy that also do not recognize people’s dignity. When we recognize and respond to this language, we can advocate for policies that honor the dignity of every person.
Learn more in this downloadable conversation guide and resource. Drawing on ELCA social teaching, this resource is intended to equip communities to see all people through the lens of God’s love and grace and to recognize and respond when language fails to acknowledge all people’s God-given dignity.
Lutheran Engagement and Advocacy in Nevada 