President Donald Trump and Members of Congress,
As bishops of the Episcopal Church we implore you not to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, known as DACA. To do so would endanger the lives of thousands upon thousands of young people and their families and run contrary to the faith and moral traditions of our country.
It is unfair to threaten the well-being of young people who arrived to our country as children through no choice of their own. Ending DACA without a similar replacement program will force these young people to face the future in this country with little access to education and employment, and ultimately, could very well lead to sending them to countries where they did not grow up, have few support structures, may not even speak the language and may be vulnerable to violence and persecution.
Any of these scenarios, we believe, is cruel.
The alternative for us as a country is to move forward, to celebrate and benefit from the presence of these ‘Dreamers’ and to create a permanent process that enables them to remain and strengthen our country.
In front of most of the Episcopal Churches across the country is a sign that says, ‘The Episcopal Church Welcomes You.’ We have this sign because we are followers of the way of Jesus of Nazareth, and our Christian tradition shares with many other faith bodies the absolute importance of welcoming the foreigner in our midst. Throughout the centuries this tradition has brought us great wisdom and strength as the foreigner among us has become a part of the fabric of our country’s life.
In recent years, our congregations throughout the United States have witnessed firsthand the benefits that the young ‘Dreamers’ have brought to our community programs and life. We have been inspired by, and gained much from, their American spirit.
President Trump and Members of Congress, during the next six months, we urge you to find a permanent solution that enables these young people to remain a part of our country—which is also theirs.
Bishop Michael Bruce Curry
XXVII Presiding Bishop
Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori
XXVI Presiding Bishop
Diocese of San Diego
Bishop Gladstone B. Adams III
Diocese of South Carolina
Bishop Laura J. Ahrens
Diocese of Connecticut
Bishop John Bauerschmidt
Diocese of Tennessee
Bishop Mark Beckwith
Diocese of Newark
Bishop Barry L. Beisner
Diocese of Northern California
Bishop Patrick Bell
Diocese of Eastern Oregon
Bishop Larry Benfield
Diocese of Arkansas
Bishop Scott A Benhase
Diocese of Georgia
Bishop Tom Breidenthal
Diocese of Southern Ohio
Bishop Diane Jardine Bruce
Diocese of Los Angeles
Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde
Diocese of Washington
Bishop Michael Creighton
Diocese of Central Pennsylvania
Bishop James E. Curry
Diocese of Connecticut
Bishop David E. Bailey
Diocese of Navajoland Area Mission
Bishop Andrew M. L. Dietsche
Diocese of New York
Bishop Joe Morris Doss
Diocese of New Jersey
Bishop Ian T. Douglas
Diocese of Connecticut
Bishop C. Andrew Doyle
Diocese of Texas
Bishop Philip M. Duncan, II
Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast
Bishop Thomas C. Ely
Diocese of Vermont
Bishop Douglas Fisher
Diocese of Western Massachusetts
Bishop Jeff Fisher
Diocese of Texas
Bishop Robert L. Fitzpatrick
Diocese of Hawaii and the Episcopal Church in Micronesia
Bishop R. William Franklin
Diocese of Western New York
Bishop Alan M. Gates
Diocese of Massachusetts
Bishop Wendell N. Gibbs, Jr.
Diocese of Michigan
Bishop Mary Glasspool
Diocese of New York
Bishop Susan E. Goff
Diocese of Virginia
Bishop William O. Gregg, Ph.D
Diocese of Eastern Oregon
Bishop J. Clark Grew
Diocese of Ohio
Bishop Matthew Gunter
Diocese of Fond du Lac
Bishop Sanford Z. K. Hampton
Diocese of Olympia; Diocese of Minnesota
Bishop Dena Harrison
Diocese of Texas
Bishop Rayford B. High, Jr.
Diocese of Texas; Diocese of Fort Worth
Bishop A. Robert Hirschfeld
Diocese of New Hampshire
Bishop Anne Hodges-Copple
Diocese of North Carolina
Bishop Herman Hollerith
Diocese of Southern Virginia
Bishop Mark Hollingsworth, Jr.
Diocese of Ohio
Bishop Harold A Hopkins
Diocese of North Dakota
Bishop Whayne M. Hougland, Jr
Diocese of Western Michigan
Bishop Barry R. Howe
Diocese of Southwest Florida; Diocese of West Missouri
Bishop George N. Hunt
Diocese of Rhode Island
Bishop David Colin Jones
Diocese of Virginia
Bishop Russell Kendrick
Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast
Bishop W. Michie Klusmeyer
Diocese of West Virginia
Bishop W. Nicholas Knisely
Diocese of Rhode Island
Bishop Chilton R. Knudsen
Diocese of Maryland
Bishop Dr. Edward J. Konieczny
Diocese of Oklahoma
Bishop Stephen T. Lane
Diocese of Maine
Bishop Edward L. Lee, Jr.
Diocese of Western Michigan
Bishop Peter James Lee
Diocese of Virginia
Bishop Ed Leidel, Jr.
Diocese of Eastern Michigan
Bishop Paul Marshall
Diocese of Bethlehem
Bishop Jack M. McKelvey
Diocese of Rochester
Bishop José Antonio McLoughlin
Diocese of Western North Carolina
Bishop Rodney Michel
Diocese of Pennsylvania; Diocese of Long Island
Bishop Hector Monterroso
Diocese of Texas
Bishop Robert J. O’Neill
Diocese of Colorado
Bishop Jacob W. Owensby, PhD, DD
Diocese of Western Louisiana
Bishop Claude E. Payne
Diocese of Texas
Bishop William D. Persell
Diocese of Ohio; Diocese of Chicago
Bishop Brian N. Prior
Diocese of Minnesota
Bishop Lawrence C. Provenzano
Diocese of Long Island
Bishop Gretchen Rehberg
Diocese of Spokane
Bishop David Rice
Diocese of San Joaquin
Bishop Samuel Rodman
Diocese of North Carolina
Bishop Audrey C. Scanlan
Diocese of Central Pennsylvania
Bishop Alan Scarfe
Diocese of Iowa
Bishop Gordon Scruton
Diocese of Western Massachusetts
Bishop James J. Shand
Diocese of Easton
Bishop Allen K. Shin
Diocese of New York
Bishop Prince G. Singh
Diocese of Rochester
Bishop Rob Skirving
Diocese of East Carolina
Bishop William E. Smalley
Diocese of Kansas
Bishop George Wayne Smith
Diocese of Missouri
Bishop Kirk Stevan Smith
Diocese of Arizona
Bishop John S. Smylie
Diocese of Wyoming
Bishop Douglas Sparks
Diocese of Northern Indiana
Bishop William H. (Chip) Stokes
Diocese of New Jersey
Bishop John Harvey Taylor
Diocese of Los Angeles
Bishop Charles G. vonRosenberg
Diocese of East Tennessee; Diocese of South Carolina
Bishop W. Andrew Waldo
Diocese of Upper South Carolina
Bishop Cate Waynick
Diocese of Indianapolis
Bishop Pierre Whalon
Episcopal Churches in Europe
Bishop Geralyn Wolf
Diocese of Long Island
Bishop George D. Young, III
Diocese of East Tennessee
For more information, contact The Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs at publicaffairs@episcopalchurch.org
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