Faith Community Stands with Low-Wage Federal Contract Workers

w American Friends Service Committee w Bread for the World w Office of Social Justice of the Christian Reformed Church w Church World Service w Disciples Center for Public Witness (Disciples of Christ) w Ecumenical Poverty Initiative w Evangelical Lutheran Church in America w Faith in Public Life w Franciscan Action Network w Friends Committee on National Legislation w Interfaith Worker Justice w Islamic Society of North America w Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns w Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity w National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd w National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. w National Religious Campaign Against Torture w NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby w Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) w Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism w Union for Reform Judaism w Unitarian Universalist Association w United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries w The United Methodist Church -- General Board of Church and Society w

April 22, 2015

Dear Mr. President,

In the faith community, we believe that every person is a child of God, that God wants shalom, that is, peace and wholeness for each of us, and that there is inherent dignity in work and the fruits of labor.

As you know, our nation generates great abundance yet only a few among us share in the bounty.   This growing gap between the wealthy and everyone else is not only a political issue, but also a moral one that we are compelled by conscience to address. Indeed, it is an affront to human dignity when hardworking men and women are deprived of fully enjoying the fruits of their labor and must struggle simply to feed, clothe and shelter themselves and their children.  

Your recent executive orders to boost the federal contract minimum wage to $10.10 and to prevent wage theft and other legal violations on federal contracts begin to address this great challenge.

These orders have been transformative in the economic life of our nation, inspiring many leading business executives and public officials to follow your example.  During the past year, the mayors of New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia issued their own executive orders covering municipal contractors and the CEOs of companies like The Gap, IKEA, Wal-Mart, and Target announced that they too would raise wages for their lowest paid workers. In addition, numerous cities, counties and states are now moving, or have already passed, legislation to ensure workers aren’t cheated out of a fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work. All together, the living standards of 9 million workers will be enhanced because you expressed solidarity with workers who are struggling to survive.

As leaders of faith communities in the United States, we express our gratitude to you for exercising moral leadership by using your executive powers to start lifting low-wage workers out of poverty.   Our faith traditions advocate for justice, and we recognize that your actions provide a firm foundation for rebuilding a more fair and equitable society. 

However, given the scale of human suffering caused by poverty jobs, we urge you to do even more to aid our nation’s most vulnerable workers by promoting living wage and benefit standards on federal contracts with the power of your pen.  We believe that if you lead on this, our economy and labor market will once again follow your lead.

We therefore call on you to issue a “Model Employer Executive Order” that provides a contracting preference for companies that pay living wages of at least $15 an hour, offer good benefits and paid-time off for sickness and care-giving, provide full-time hours and predictable work schedules, as well as promote the rights of workers to bargain collectively so they do not need to strike to have their voices heard.   

By taking bold action before you leave office, you can ensure that all people have an opportunity to live into their God-given potential.   Thank you for considering our request.  We would gladly accept an invitation to meet with you to discuss this issue further.

Sincerely,

The Reverend David Beckmann

President

Bread for the World

Taquiena Boston

Multicultural Growth & Witness Director

Unitarian Universalist Association

The Reverend Dr. Ken Brooker Langston

Executive Director

Disciples Center for Public Witness (Disciples of Christ)

The Reverend Jennifer Butler

CEO

Faith in Public Life

Sister Simone Campbell, SSS

Executive Director

NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby

Patrick Carolan

Executive Director

Franciscan Action Network

Lawrence Couch

Director

National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd

Father John Edmunds, S.T.

General Custodian

Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity

The Reverend Sèkinah Hamlin

Director

Ecumenical Poverty Initiative

The Reverend Dr. Susan Henry-Crowe

General Secretary

The United Methodist Church -- General Board of Church and Society

Aura Kanegis

Director for Public Policy and Advocacy

American Friends Service Committee

Gerry G. Lee

Director

Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns

Rudy López

Executive Director

Interfaith Worker Justice

The Reverend Stacy Martin

Director, Advocacy

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Peter Vander Meulen

Director

Office of Social Justice of the Christian Reformed Church

The Reverend Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II

Director for Public Witness

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner

Director, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism

Senior Vice President, Union for Reform Judaism

Diane Randall

Executive Secretary

Friends Committee on National Legislation

Martin Shupack

Director of Advocacy

Church World Service

Sandy Sorensen

Director, Washington Office

United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries

The Reverend Ron Stief

Executive Director

National Religious Campaign Against Torture

Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed

National Director

Office for Interfaith & Community Alliances

Islamic Society of North America

Jim Winkler

General Secretary and President

National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.

Presbyterians Thank President for Immigration Executive Action

STATEMENT ON PRESIDENT OBAMA’S EXECUTIVE ORDER ON IMMIGRATION REFORM

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Stated Clerk, the Rev. Gradye Parsons last night reacted to the President’s announcement of deferred action for the undocumented parents of citizen and legal resident children:

“Tonight the prayers of millions have been answered. Soon many of our neighbors will no longer be at risk of deportation. Still, we lament for those who will not gain relief from this program. This church will stand with those that qualify for relief as they enter the process and we will also continue to stand with those still at risk of deportation by visiting them in detention, protecting them in our sanctuaries and by praying and pressing for broader and more lasting relief through comprehensive immigration reform.”

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is thankful that President Obama’s executive order, which stands in a long, bipartisan tradition of executive authority protecting vulnerable populations of immigrants. This action will allow undocumented immigrants who are parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents to register with the federal government. These persons, if approved, will receive a three-year period of protection from deportation and permission to work. This action also expands eligibility for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to an additional 300,000 young people. Although the President’s plan will not make beneficiaries eligible for U.S. citizenship or green cards, their ability to work and feed their families, while providing livelihoods for themselves, is an extraordinary move forward from the current immigration policies. It is estimated that this action will benefit some five million people and their families.

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has consistently called for the protection of family unity in immigration policy and for comprehensive immigration reform. The 206^th General Assembly (1994) adopted the “Call to Presbyterians to Recommit to Work and Pray for a Just and Compassionate U.S. Immigration Policy.” Again, in 1999, 2004, 2010, 2012, and 2014 Presbyterians, through General Assembly actions and guided by theological and ethical principles, continued to call for a commitment from both Presbyterians and the government to work toward welcoming immigrants into communities and providing just laws that affect those who live and work in the United States.

“We believe that the President's executive order is a step in the right direction,” said the Reverend J. Herbert Nelson, PC(USA) Director for Public Witness, “however it does not fully address our commitment to comprehensive immigration reform. We will continue to call for major reform of U.S. immigration policies that will provide a viable path to citizenship for all immigrants in the United States, including the 11 million undocumented neighbors currently living and working the shadows.”

The President’s action provides a new foundation on which Congress must build. The Rev. Nelson continued by calling on Congress take the President’s lead by “enacting meaningful, comprehensive reform that provides a pathway to citizenship, enacts the DREAM Act, demilitarizes the borders, and protects family unity. Today, we are not where God will eventually take us, but the President’s action moves us closer to our vision for one nation, under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”

“Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:

I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

 

- Emma Lazarus, engraved on the Statue of Liberty Greeting Arriving Immigrants on Ellis Island

The Struggle for Family Unity Continues: Sanctuary Movement 2014

Today as we await President Obama’s announcement on deportation relief for a undocumented immigrants, we continue to affirm the need for the 2014 revival of the 1980s Sanctuary movement.

Sanctuary 2014, in short, is the nationwide movement of people of faith to shield family members under immediate threat of deportation from separation. By invoking 2011 policy set by immigration authorities, which recommends individuals who fit certain qualifications be granted deportation relief through prosecutorial discretion, faith communities protect these individuals in the shelter of their churches until they receive a stay of removal or their cases are closed. These qualifications include the length of time they have resided in the U.S., a lack of a criminal history, and whether an immediate family member -- a child, parent, or spouse -- is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.

A Growing Movement

Since our last post, the movement has grown. There are now six individuals residing in the Sanctuary of congregations across the nation, from Francisco Aguirre in Portland, OR to Angela Navarro in Philadelphia PA. Over 24 congregations are prepared to offer Sanctuary when needed, and more than 70 congregations have signed a declaration in support of the movement.*

We’ve also seen the movement work: Beatriz Santiago Ramirez, the mother who took Sanctuary in Chicago in September, won her case three weeks ago!**

Three PC(USA) Churches Now Provide Sanctuary

Rosa with husband Gerardo and their sons

Rosa Robles Loreto and Luis Lopez Acabal and the Presbyterian church communities that surround them continue to struggle to reach a resolution to their cases in Tucson and Tempe, AZ, respectively.

Rosa Robles Loreto, a spouse and mother of two boys, has been living in Sanctuary at Southside Presbyterian, for over 100 days. She is unlikely to receive relief under President Obama’s executive action, which will only grant relief to parents of documented children.

Luis with wife Mayra and their daughter

Luis Lopez Acabal, a spouse and father, has resided within the bounds of University Presbyterian for 74 days. It is unsure whether he will be granted relief through the President’s action.

Angela Navarro entered into Sanctuary at West Kensington Ministry at Norris Square (PCUSA affiliated) in Philadelphia, PA, with her husband and two children on Tuesday of this week. She is the 8th individual to do so this year. Angela is a hard-working mother who has lived in the U.S. for over 10 years. She met her husband and has raised two children here.

Executive action does not mean our struggle is over: we still need Sanctuary. Applications for the pending deportation relief will not become available until the new year, potentially leaving the families in Sanctuary in legal limbo. Moreover, we don’t know whether individuals with final deportation orders, like those in Sanctuary, will be able to apply for relief. Not only that, millions of families like Rosa’s will not benefit from this relief, whether from having undocumented children, a past criminal record, or no children at all.

Angela Navarro and her two children

How You Can Help:

Sign the petition for Rosa

Sign the petition for Luis

Sign the petition for Angela

As people of faith, we must continue to stand on the side of the most vulnerable immigrants and their families. This executive action is likely to increase the vulnerability of undocumented immigrants who do not meet its requirements.

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) affirmed at the 221^st General Assembly that it strongly supports local churches standing in solidarity with and protect immigrants facing deportation. This assembly created the Presbyterian Immigrant Defense Initiative, a campaign to “empower” Presbyterians to work to change policies and practices that infringe on the human and civil rights of immigrants in our communities including immigrant detention, streamlined deportation, and the executing of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by local law enforcement.

In the next weeks, look for more ways to support those in Sanctuary.

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* www.sanctuary2014.org

**http://chicagosuntimes.com/news/hold-to-confirm-immigrant-living-in-church-temporally-avoids-deportation/