Friday, September 22, 2017

Bishops Respond on #DACA

“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers for by doing so, some have entertained angels unawares.” (Hebrews 13:1)
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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