“People legally seeking asylum on our southern border primarily from Central America travel a long distance from their home countries at considerable risk. They seek to live in peace, without fear of gangs abducting their children, without the fear of innocent family members being arbitrarily killed sometimes by the military in their own countries,” Sister Maureen Delaney said in a recent public statement. “What has happened to our moral compass as a country? What has happened to the family values that the White House says it upholds?”
The Sisters have repeatedly called on their members of Congress to abide by the teachings of Jesus and to heed the word of God in the Bible: “The stranger among you shall be to you as the native among and you shall love them as yourself for you were once aliens in the land of Egypt.” (Lv 19:34) Our faith requires us to welcome the stranger and to offer compassionate care to those who are forced to flee their home countries because of persecution or violence. We call on Congress to do the same.