MIAMI — Leading evangelical, Catholic and other faith voices are imploring Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to reconsider his rule blocking them from caring for migrant children.
More than 200 religious leaders have signed a letter urging Gov. DeSantis to reverse the rule, as Katie LaGrone of Scripps first reported. According to the Miami Herald, facilities had 45 days from Dec. 13, 2021, to stop accepting migrant kids, a deadline that would now have passed.
Faith leaders are available for interview about the letter and other efforts.
“Some of us have been working with unaccompanied children for over 10 years,” president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, Rev. Dr. Gabriel Salguero, told WESH Orlando. “Part of our love of neighbor and responsibility to vulnerable communities is helping unaccompanied children be integrated and connected with their families here.”
The Rev. Joey Tooley, lead pastor of Melbourne First Church of the Nazarene and the Florida Mobilizer for the National Immigration Forum, added in a Florida Today op-ed: “While there is an urgent need for Congress and the Biden administration to make sweeping changes to the U.S. immigration system, I do not believe it should be done on the backs of innocent children who, by no choice of their own, have become political pawns in a nation which has a longstanding history of caring for those who are most vulnerable.”
“Our Scriptures, our holy texts, guide us to be people who extend compassion, who open ourselves to hospitality,” said The Rev. Dale Schaeffer, Superintendent of the Florida District of the Church of the Nazarene. “That’s been a guiding principle for people of faith centuries now. I would encourage people to take concern for others ahead of themselves. That’s Jesus’ model, and that’s the model we as people of faith need to embrace here toward this issue.”
“The governor’s executive order 21-223 is wrong, and the Legislature would be wrong to compound his error with legislation (Senate Bill 1808 and House Bill 1355) proposed by state Sen. Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach and state Rep. John Snyder, R-Stuart,” Archbishop Thomas Wenski of the Archdiocese of Miami wrote for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “What they propose would hurt vulnerable populations but also would end up hurting the citizens of Florida.”
“Whatever their views on immigration policy more generally, American Christians should agree that innocent children waiting for a decision on their immigration case should be protected during their stay in our country,” wrote Matthew Soerens, U.S. Director of Church Mobilization and Advocacy for World Relief and national coordinator of the Evangelical Immigration Table, in a recent Christianity Today op-ed. “Moreover, no government should interfere with the ministries and individuals who are obeying a biblical mandate by providing compassionate care for vulnerable kids.”
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