Dear Office of the Attorney General, governors, mayors and city councils of “sanctuary” cities,
We the undersigned — representing people of conscience and goodwill and belonging to various faiths and peace and justice organizations — call on you to condemn the governors of Texas and Florida for sending migrants across state lines without permission, knowledge, or consent. The acts that Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott took were morally repugnant. We ask you to do whatever is necessary, legally and otherwise, to hold DeSantis, Abbott and any other lawmakers taking similar actions accountable for kidnapping, “unlawful restraint,” human trafficking, and dereliction of duty.
It is a measure of how degraded our politics and our democracy have become when vulnerable human beings are used as political props and our sense of collective public outrage barely registers.
Since April, the Republican Governors of Florida, Texas and Arizona have bused or flown thousands of migrants to Washington DC, New York and Massachusetts in high-profile stunts designed to put pressure on the Biden administration’s border policies. This isn’t simply political theater during an election cycle. It is the type of casual cruelty and humiliation found in the basest reality television competitions. The most vulnerable among us are being used as unwilling pawns in a disgusting political spectacle.
Serving these arriving migrants coming into “sanctuary” cities, such as Washington, D.C., Faith communities, mutual aid groups, peace and justice organizations, and people of conscience in “sanctuary” cities have risen to the occasion and served these migrants, offering the best of US values, while the states of Florida, Texas, and Arizona have done exactly the opposite. Their political theatrics have impacted negatively and unfairly those who are working to repair the wrong perpetuated by these states.
As Cornell law professor Michael Dorf points out, along with other possible violations of state and federal laws, Governor Ron DeSantis, by deceiving migrants – telling them he was flying them to Boston to waiting jobs and instead transporting them to Martha’s Vineyard – clearly violated Texas’s laws against “unlawful restraint.”
As the poem on the based of the Statue of Liberty declares, “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.” Both DeSantis and Abbott claim to practice the Christian faith, yet fail either to ‘welcome the stranger,’ as is an obligation of all three Abrahamic faiths or the practice the lesson of Matthew 25:40 that declares, “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
We respectfully ask that:
- the Department of Justice investigate the governors of the states of Texas and Florida as to whether they have engaged or are engaging in kidnapping and/or human trafficking.
- Governors, mayors, and city councils put pressure on the Justice Department to investigate any states that send migrants across state lines without permission, knowledge, or consent faith and commend and support the faith communities, mutual aid groups and others serving migrants.
We the undersigned humbly ask that our request be considered and taken with the utmost urgency.
Initiated by Faith Strategies and the Fellowship of Reconciliation – USA
Sincerely,
200 | Dr. Barbara G. | Alexandria, VA | ||
199 | Dr. Marcia S. | Shaker Heights, OH | ||
198 | Anonymous | Lyndhurst, OH | ||
197 | Mr. Brandon A. | Cleveland Heights, OH | ||
196 | Ms. Linda W. | Shaker Hts., OH | ||
195 | Mr. Stevben V. | Oberlin, OH | ||
194 | Ms. Julie W. | Chicago, IL USA | ||
193 | Anonymous | Omaha, Nebraska | ||
192 | Anonymous | St. Louis, O | ||
191 | Ms. Christine S. | Beaver Falls, PA | ||
190 | Miss. Phyllis B. | Saint Louis, MO | ||
189 | Ms. Sister Angelica S. | Lodi, NJ | ||
188 | Miss. Dorothy Y. | Las Cruces, NM | ||
187 | Ms. Rosemarie G. | San Antonio, TX | ||
186 | Ms. Sister Jeremy M. | Chicago, IL | ||
185 | Ms. Susan P. | Simi Valley, Ca | ||
184 | Ms. Suzanne G. | Saint Louis,, MO | ||
183 | Ms. Marilyn P. | Kansas City, MO | ||
182 | Ms. Barbara J. | St. Louis, MO | ||
181 | Dr. Thomas W. | Fernandina Beach, FL | ||
180 | Ms. Nancy M. | Anamosa, IA | ||
179 | Ms. Sister Mary M. | Rochester, MN | ||
178 | Mr. Robert M. | Washingtonville, NY | ||
177 | Mr. Frank R. O. | LYNDHURST, OH | ||
176 | Dr. Sr.Ruth S. | Sioux City, IA | ||
175 | Ms. Jeannine D. | Brentwood, Mo | ||
174 | Ms. Peggy R. | Rochester, NY | ||
173 | Ms. Patricia H. | Richester, Minnesota | ||
172 | Ms. Kimberly E. | Charlottesville, VA | ||
171 | Ms. Brenda W. | Dubuque, IA | ||
170 | Ms. Teresa H. | Dubuque, IA | ||
169 | Mrs. Marjorie W. | Clinton, IA | ||
168 | Ms. Kathryn L. | Dubuque, IA | ||
167 | Ms. Donna F. | Bellevue, NE | ||
166 | Ms. Marie C. | DUBUQUE, Iowa | ||
165 | Anonymous | Dubuque, IA | ||
164 | Ms. Eileen H. | Dubuque , IAp | ||
163 | Ms. Nancy M. | Dubuque, Iowa | ||
162 | Mr. Daniel C. | New Port Richey, FL | ||
161 | Anonymous | Dubuque, IA | ||
160 | Ms. Betty K. | West St. Paul, MN | ||
159 | Mr. David T. | Flemington, NJ | ||
158 | Ms. Susanne P. | Clinton, Iowa | ||
157 | Miss. Sister MARYANN M. | ENFIELD, CT | ||
156 | Ms. Shawn K. | Clinton, IA | ||
155 | Ms. Teresa K. | Clinton, IA | ||
154 | Ms. NANCY T. | Riegelsville, PA | ||
153 | Ms. Jaye L. | Stonington, Ct | ||
152 | Ms. Barbara and Jim D. | Decorah, Iowa | ||
151 | Ms. Anne B. | White City, OR | ||
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Register now to attend FOR-USA’s next Gathering Voices conversation with Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler of, Director of Faith Strategies (co-initiator of this petition) and recently retired Senior Minister of Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ in Washington D.C. next Tuesday, October 18 at 4:00 PM ET.
