Take the pledge to support asylum seekers

The Leadership Team and many Sisters of Providence have joined more than 4,000 persons who have already pledged to support asylum seekers. Won’t you join us?

We want to share with you this message from the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR):

The administration’s presidential proclamation and interim final rule which prevents immigrants who enter the U.S. between ports of entry from seeking asylum is unfair and probably illegal. It will endanger the lives of migrants fleeing untenable situations in their home countries in search of safety and asylum in the United States. These are mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers who have been forced from their homes by unimaginable violence and insecurity; runaway corruption; and droughts and floods linked to climate change. These are women and girls fleeing intolerable situations of domestic violence. These are young men seeking a life free from gang violence.

This policy:

• Ignores U.S. law: The ability to access the well-established asylum system is legally required.
• Is cruel and unnecessary: Restricting access to this protection has life and death consequences for families and individuals fleeing violence and persecution.
• Closes off access to protection: Although the policy is directed at migrants arriving between ports of entry, for months those seeking asylum at ports of entry have been forced to wait in line for days or have simply been turned away.

Want more information on this policy and its context? Read this From the Hill column and LCWR’s statement calling for humane treatment of arriving migrants.

We stand with Pope Francis who calls us to “promote the dignity of all our brothers and sisters, particularly the poor and the excluded of society, those who are abandoned, immigrants and those who suffer violence and human trafficking.”

In the face of this inhumane decision, we invite you to stand in solidarity with people fleeing violence and seeking asylum. If you haven’t already, please join the 4,200 who have signed the PLEDGE to stand in solidarity with people seeking asylum.