Action for Mother’s Day

Written on: May 10, 2019

Join the Interfaith Immigration Coalition as we Honor Mothers by Acting to Stop Separation of Immigrants Families this Mother’s Day—May 12. Click the link for a .pdf version to print and share Mothers Day 2019

MOTHER’S DAY – MAY 12^th 2019
HONOR MOTHERS BY ACTING TO STOP SEPARATION OF IMMIGRANT FAMILIES

On Mother’s Day we honor the mothers in our families and act on behalf of mothers and children separated at the U.S.-Mexico border.   The U.S. administration’s policy of separating migrant families has been a chaotic disaster.  Even nine months after the administration rescinded its separation policy, it is possible that more children have been separated than the official count of 245 due to the failure of DHS to keep accurate records.  In mid-April, a federal judge ordered the administration to identify the potentially thousands of children separated from their families in 2017.  On April 30^th, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) reported that children who travel with an adult other than their parent are often designated as “unaccompanied,” and sent to an “emergency influx” detention center in Florida that is not subject to federal rules that normal govern child detention.  Mother’s Day is a particularly significant time to draw attention to the suffering inflicted on mothers and children separated from each other or who are living under family detention.

SCRIPTURE:
Isaiah 49:15:  “Can a mother forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the child of her womb?  Even though these may forget, yet I will not forget you.”
Qu’ran: Prophet Muhamad (peace and blessing be upon him) said: “Paradise is at the feet of the mother.”
Luke 2:51: “He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart.”

STORY:
In December, 2018, a mother traveling from El Salvador with her three children was arrested and put on a bus to an immigration detention facility in Arizona while her children 5, 8, and 15 were sent to foster care in New York.  It was nearly six weeks before the mother talked with her children who were devastated and could not understand why they were separated.   On March 1, the eldest daughter was transferred to a hospital after threatening to take her own life.  “All I want is to hold my children and be with them,” the mother cried.   https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/09/us/migrant-family-separations-border.html

ACTIONS:
Join a Mother’s Day Rally on May 12, in DC or a city near you:  https://mothersdayrally.com/
Call your senators and representatives to support legislation:
Reunite Act S 557 introduced by Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA)
and H.R. 1012 introduced by Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-13^th NY)
Keep Families Together S 292 introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)  and H.R. 541 introduced by Rep. Jerry Nadler ((D-10^th NY)

PRAYER:
God of dignity and life, today we honor the mothers who have borne and raised us.  We remember the struggle of many mothers to raise their children, especially mothers who have been separated from their children due to our broken immigration system.  We ask You to bless all mothers and give us guidance and courage to work for an end to family separation and detention.

Amen.

This entry was posted in With a Heart for Justice and tagged: Act 557, Adriano Espaillat, Arizona, child detention, DHS, Diane Feinstein, disaster, El Salvador, failure, Florida, H.R. 1012, H.R. 451, immigrant families, Interfaith Immigration Coalition, Isaiah, Jerry Nadler, Kamala Harris, Luke, migrant families, mother, Mother's Day, Qu'ran, S292, separated, suffering, US Mexico Border