A piece appeared in the Church Times last week about the impact that immigration raids in the US were having on people’ lives, as well as a detrimental effect on certain sectors of the economy.
It followed a raid on a meat-packing plant in Omaha, Nebraska where 76 people were detained and unable to communicate with their families. This is turn prompted a public letter from the Episcopalian (Anglican) Bishop of Nebraska, the Rt Revd J. Scott Barker, calling for prayer and advocacy on their behalf:
“Seventy-six individuals who have been living and working in Nebraska, some for many years, are being kept in an unknown location after being detained…Currently, they are unable to communicate with their families and appear to be without access to legal representation. They represent a tiny portion of the many thousands of people who have been arrested and deported over the last few months…As followers of Jesus, we know it is no ‘solution’ to turn away sisters and brothers in desperate need, to demonize particular races and cultures, or to break families apart.”
The situation is made more complex in Los Angeles, where the President has stationed National Guard troops and Marines. The Bishop of Los Angeles, the Rt Revd John H Taylor, wrote on Facebook:
“Ever since the federal deployment, one can feel Los Angeles holding its breath and keeping calm, as during Saturday’s No Kings rally, when patriots all over the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles marched in spirit with four to six million nationwide” – a reference to the US-wide ‘No Kings’ protest against authoritarianism, which attracted some 5 million people around the country.
Read the Church Times article here.
I am grateful to Mother Doreen for sharing these words from Pope Leo X1V:
“You cannot follow both Christ and the cruelty of kings. A leader who mocks the weak, exalts himself and preys on the innocent is not sent by God. He is sent to test you and many are failing.”
The picture above was recently shared on Facebook.