PC (USA) Stated Clerk opposes order banning refugees' entry into U.S.
Seattle Presbytery
Stated Clerk opposes order banning refugees’ entry into U.S.
JANUARY 28, 2017
Office of the General Assembly
J HERBERT NELSON II
Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A)
LOUISVILLE
Yesterday President Donald Trump signed an executive order to allegedly protect the nation from terrorists entering the United States. In practice, however, this order serves to further harm those who are the very victims of terrorism, genocide, religious and gender-based persecution, and civil war.
Right now, across the globe, there are families grabbing their bags and clinging to each other as they tearfully flee the home they love, the home they never wanted to leave, because home is no longer safe. And many, after being fully vetted by a legal refugee entry process, are not being allowed to enter the U.S. and are being wrongfully detained at airports across the country.
This is a miscarriage of justice and goes against everything we stand for as a country shaped and formed by people who emanated from other lands.
As the top ecclesial officer of the nation’s largest Reformed body, I urge the president and his administration to reverse this very harmful decision regarding refugees. Presbyterians are not afraid of this so-called terror threat. We are not afraid because we profess a faith in Jesus, who entered the world a refugee.