D015 Support Keeping Families Together
The security of family provides critical mental, physical and emotional support to the development and wellbeing of children. Our congregations and agencies serve many migrant families that have recently arrived in the United States. Leaving their communities is often the only option they have to provide safety for their children and protect them from harm. Tearing children away from parents who have made a dangerous journey to provide a safe and sufficient life for them is unnecessarily cruel and detrimental to the well-being of parents and children. Scripture calls us to welcome the stranger (Deuteronomy 10:19, Leviticus 19:34, Matthew 25:35) and our Baptismal Covenant calls us to respect the dignity of every human being. We pray for the children and families suffering trauma due to this inhumane policy of separating families at our border and urge support for changes to those policies and continue to advocate for comprehensive immigration reform.
Explanation
The security of family provides critical mental, physical and emotional support to the development and wellbeing of children. Our congregations and agencies serve many migrant families that have recently arrived in the United States. Leaving their communities is often the only option they have to provide safety for their children and protect them from harm. Tearing children away from parents who have made a dangerous journey to provide a safe and sufficient life for them is unnecessarily cruel and detrimental to the well-being of parents and children. Scripture calls us to welcome the stranger (Deuteronomy 10:19, Leviticus 19:34, Matthew 25:35) and our Baptismal Covenant calls us to respect the dignity of every human being. We pray for the children and families suffering trauma due to this inhumane policy of separating families at our border and urge support for changes to those policies and continue to advocate for comprehensive immigration reform.