UUCF members approved adopting the following congregational resolution at the Annual Meeting on Jun. 7, 2020.
WHEREAS, as Unitarian Universalists and people of faith, we uphold the inherent worth, dignity and the rights of all people;
WHEREAS, now more than ever, the voices of religious communities need to be heard calling for the passage of just, comprehensive immigration reform, for an immediate end to immigration detention, deportation and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, and offering solidarity with millions living in fear;
WHEREAS, we covenant as Unitarian Universalists to promote justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
WHEREAS, our Unitarian Universalist faith calls us to “welcome the stranger”;
WHEREAS, long-term federal policies, practices and rhetoric make it clear that the humanity, dignity, health and safety of immigrants are under attack;
WHEREAS, there has been an escalation and expansion of already-existing oppressive, inhumane and deadly systems of detention and significantly limited transparency and accountability within those systems;
WHEREAS, immigrant detention in all its forms is imprisonment, which, in effect, further criminalizes immigrants;
WHEREAS, this and previous administrations have used immigration detention to enrich corporations and not-for-profits serving as contractors for ICE and the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR);
WHEREAS, billions of dollars of state and federal resources that have been spent on expanding immigration enforcement and detention would be better used for emergency preparedness, education, health and housing;
WHEREAS, federal raids, detention and deportation are breaking up families, traumatizing a generation of children, causing pain and suffering, and creating a climate of fear and repression among immigrant communities;
WHEREAS, many of us enjoy lives of privilege supported in thousands of ways by people whose labor is invisible, whose suffering is hidden and who are criminalized for simply migrating or working to seek safety and provide for their families;
WHEREAS, migration is a human right and, under well-established international law, is a legal right that every immigrant coming to the U.S. should be afforded;
WHEREAS, immigrants of color are disproportionately subjected to detention and deportation;
WHEREAS, immigration detention has been made another arm of a racialized system of incarceration;
WHEREAS, local governments, officials and law enforcement voluntarily cooperate with ICE, instilling fear and distrust in our local communities;
WHEREAS, all people in a community benefit from policies that ensure fair, just and equitable treatment of all individuals, regardless of their race, nationality, ethnicity, skin color, religious background or beliefs, sex, gender identity, ability or socio-economic status.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax will actively and intentionally engage in education, outreach, advocacy, witness and direct support to create transformation and ensure that:
- Our nation’s current unjust immigration system is overhauled and replaced with just and humane policies that value human worth and dignity;
- Individuals seeking security, safety and freedom in the U.S. are not incarcerated, and families are kept together and not ripped apart or incarcerated by our government;
- Children remain with their families whenever possible, or, if necessary, with caring adults within our communities, never in detention;
- The federal government ends its practice of immigration detention;
- Local jurisdictions end their voluntary collaboration with ICE, a federal agency that separates, detains and deports immigrants simply for not having documentation;
- Federal and local programs that lift up the humanity, dignity, safety, physical health and mental health of immigrants are advanced and funded;
- Narratives that deliberately and falsely criminalize immigrants and undocumented individuals, and those who give them humanitarian aid, are discredited and countered.