Here is the guidance our United Methodist bishop sent out this morning about our Christian commitment to immigrants and our rights in case ICE tries to invade our churches:
Many in our churches are prayerfully working to discern how to navigate the situation regarding immigration under the current presidential administration. We recognize that many are concerned about the potential entry into churches by immigration authorities.
Ephesians 2:12-19 tells us that while we were all once foreigners and strangers, we are now members of the household of God, brought near to one another through the blood of Christ. It is our call as Christians to be merciful and to love newcomers in our land.
Our Social Principles outline our call to “recognize, embrace and affirm all persons, regardless of country of origin, as members of the family of God.” Our Social Principles also state that our churches should be in ministry to immigrant families.
While we continue to serve these communities, we face the realities of a divided political climate and the real fear many in our communities are experiencing. Many of our local pastors and churches have reached out asking for guidance about how the multitude of executive orders will impact their abilities to minister and how to address the potential involvement of federal and state authorities in church life.
This situation is evolving, and because each context is different, any guidance given would be tentative. General suggestions cannot substitute for specific legal guidance if federal enforcement agencies engage your church.
If federal or state law enforcement were to engage your church regarding immigration, your organization is entitled to request a copy of any warrants to be executed upon church property. There are two types of warrants: administrative and judicial, and if you are faced with a warrant, you will want to be in conversation with an attorney who can tell you what each means.
Administrative warrants are generally for the detention of a specific individual and have nothing to do with the right to enter a private area of a church, whereas a judicial warrant may command that you allow entry, not only into public spaces but into the private spaces of your facility. (Officials likely have the right to enter church spaces open to the public even without a warrant).
Obstruction of the business of federal officials is a criminal offense, so it is imperative to have legal resources available for consultation if your church faces such an official operation. If authorities contact your church in relation to an immigration matter, we ask that you contact your district superintendent as soon as possible so that you can be referred for legal assistance.
The UMC Committee on Relief has long offered legal support to immigrant populations through the Immigration Law and Justice Network (formerly known as JFON). Feel free to provide congregants and community members with information on this important ministry, which can be found at https://iljnetwork.org.
A network of advocates has also launched https://readytostay.org, which offers a number of resources for immigrants and those who advocate for them and is being updated regularly.
The conference’s commitment to you is to love our neighbors steadfastly and update you as the newest and best information is available.
Someone should write an app like the Ukrainian one where people can report Russian activity. You could just open the app, note that ICE activity is going on in your building or neighborhood and everyone with the app in that area would get an alert. False alarms might be a problem, but better a false alarm than being arrested.
It’s never been about migrants. It’s been about terrorising Americans.
In order to estimate the costs of a longer-term mass deportation operation, we calculated the cost of a program aiming to arrest, detain, process, and deport one million people per year—paralleling the more conservative proposals made by mass-deportation proponents. Even assuming that 20% of the undocumented population would “self-deport” under a yearslong mass-deportation regime, we estimate the ultimate cost of such a longer operation would average out to $88 B annually, for a total cost of $968 B over the course of more than a decade.
Beyond the direct financial cost of mass deportation, we also estimated the impact on the U.S. economy. Due to the loss of workers across U.S. industries, we found that mass deportation would reduce the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) by 4.2 to 6.8%. It would also result in significant reduction in tax revenues for the U.S. government. In 2022 alone, undocumented immigrant households paid $46.8 billion in federal taxes and $29.3 billion in state and local taxes. Undocumented immigrants also contributed $22.6 billion to Social Security and $5.7 billion to Medicare.
This guy is straight out of central casting for a Nazi or Russian villain. He looks like a combination of Yevgeny Prigozhin, Bond villain Blofeld, and Lawrence Olivier’s Dr. Christian Szell. He also looks like he’s about to bust a spring under the pressure to deliver on Trump’s cruel and inhumane campaign pledge. Imagine this is your life’s work.
Ta, Robyn. We had an all-staff Zoom yesterday, and this was at the top of the agenda. Our FQHCs provide healthcare to immigrants, regardless of status.
The lie here is that any of this is "targeted". Homan is very much a "can't find his ass with both hands" type of idiot. This whole process is unfolding exactly as you would expect with that kind of Nazi numbskull in charge.
And while the SC has held that Trump has blanket immunity, no such priv extends to the idiot team who is executing these obviously illegal schemes. The chickens - coming home to roost chock full of bird flu as they are - will be interesting to watch.
"robert f. kennedy jr. submits his application to harvard university. his application is, in its entirety, a single page with his name "Robert F. Kennedy Jr."
"What would be ideal (other than calling this nonsense off), would be if people knew their rights in every city, town, unincorporated area in the country...."
Actually, I think this should apply to all Americans, not just immigrants. Too many assholes have no concern for the rights of others, and don't even understand the rights they themselves enjoy. Having administration assholes like Homan give out misinformation about rights just magnifies the problem. IN fact, I think it would be a good idea if every FFOTUS admin official be held to account for any and all lies and distortions that they utter, under oath or not.
Yet another reason why Trump loves the poorly educated, it's easier to abuse them.
Die asshole
Here is the guidance our United Methodist bishop sent out this morning about our Christian commitment to immigrants and our rights in case ICE tries to invade our churches:
Many in our churches are prayerfully working to discern how to navigate the situation regarding immigration under the current presidential administration. We recognize that many are concerned about the potential entry into churches by immigration authorities.
Ephesians 2:12-19 tells us that while we were all once foreigners and strangers, we are now members of the household of God, brought near to one another through the blood of Christ. It is our call as Christians to be merciful and to love newcomers in our land.
Our Social Principles outline our call to “recognize, embrace and affirm all persons, regardless of country of origin, as members of the family of God.” Our Social Principles also state that our churches should be in ministry to immigrant families.
While we continue to serve these communities, we face the realities of a divided political climate and the real fear many in our communities are experiencing. Many of our local pastors and churches have reached out asking for guidance about how the multitude of executive orders will impact their abilities to minister and how to address the potential involvement of federal and state authorities in church life.
This situation is evolving, and because each context is different, any guidance given would be tentative. General suggestions cannot substitute for specific legal guidance if federal enforcement agencies engage your church.
If federal or state law enforcement were to engage your church regarding immigration, your organization is entitled to request a copy of any warrants to be executed upon church property. There are two types of warrants: administrative and judicial, and if you are faced with a warrant, you will want to be in conversation with an attorney who can tell you what each means.
Administrative warrants are generally for the detention of a specific individual and have nothing to do with the right to enter a private area of a church, whereas a judicial warrant may command that you allow entry, not only into public spaces but into the private spaces of your facility. (Officials likely have the right to enter church spaces open to the public even without a warrant).
Obstruction of the business of federal officials is a criminal offense, so it is imperative to have legal resources available for consultation if your church faces such an official operation. If authorities contact your church in relation to an immigration matter, we ask that you contact your district superintendent as soon as possible so that you can be referred for legal assistance.
The UMC Committee on Relief has long offered legal support to immigrant populations through the Immigration Law and Justice Network (formerly known as JFON). Feel free to provide congregants and community members with information on this important ministry, which can be found at https://iljnetwork.org.
A network of advocates has also launched https://readytostay.org, which offers a number of resources for immigrants and those who advocate for them and is being updated regularly.
The conference’s commitment to you is to love our neighbors steadfastly and update you as the newest and best information is available.
Someone should write an app like the Ukrainian one where people can report Russian activity. You could just open the app, note that ICE activity is going on in your building or neighborhood and everyone with the app in that area would get an alert. False alarms might be a problem, but better a false alarm than being arrested.
It’s never been about migrants. It’s been about terrorising Americans.
In order to estimate the costs of a longer-term mass deportation operation, we calculated the cost of a program aiming to arrest, detain, process, and deport one million people per year—paralleling the more conservative proposals made by mass-deportation proponents. Even assuming that 20% of the undocumented population would “self-deport” under a yearslong mass-deportation regime, we estimate the ultimate cost of such a longer operation would average out to $88 B annually, for a total cost of $968 B over the course of more than a decade.
Beyond the direct financial cost of mass deportation, we also estimated the impact on the U.S. economy. Due to the loss of workers across U.S. industries, we found that mass deportation would reduce the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) by 4.2 to 6.8%. It would also result in significant reduction in tax revenues for the U.S. government. In 2022 alone, undocumented immigrant households paid $46.8 billion in federal taxes and $29.3 billion in state and local taxes. Undocumented immigrants also contributed $22.6 billion to Social Security and $5.7 billion to Medicare.
https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/mass-deportation
I'm imagining Homan in the traditional German uniform raising his fist in the air groaning, "Hoooogaannnn!"
Thanks and love from Chicago
ICE is probably hiring people based on how well they mimic a German accent while softly, menacingly asking for, “your papers, please.”
This guy is straight out of central casting for a Nazi or Russian villain. He looks like a combination of Yevgeny Prigozhin, Bond villain Blofeld, and Lawrence Olivier’s Dr. Christian Szell. He also looks like he’s about to bust a spring under the pressure to deliver on Trump’s cruel and inhumane campaign pledge. Imagine this is your life’s work.
Ta, Robyn. We had an all-staff Zoom yesterday, and this was at the top of the agenda. Our FQHCs provide healthcare to immigrants, regardless of status.
Why won't Homan wade wombs?
The lie here is that any of this is "targeted". Homan is very much a "can't find his ass with both hands" type of idiot. This whole process is unfolding exactly as you would expect with that kind of Nazi numbskull in charge.
And while the SC has held that Trump has blanket immunity, no such priv extends to the idiot team who is executing these obviously illegal schemes. The chickens - coming home to roost chock full of bird flu as they are - will be interesting to watch.
So annoying, educated people, amirite?
They hate educated people. Always have.
Too often the stupidest, laziest people want to be in charge in this country whether they are actually qualified to be or not
"remember stuff like this when they tell you that diversity means a lowering of standards"
https://bsky.app/profile/jamellebouie.net/post/3lgvfhl5zik2w
"robert f. kennedy jr. submits his application to harvard university. his application is, in its entirety, a single page with his name "Robert F. Kennedy Jr."
he is accepted immediately."
https://bsky.app/profile/quoproquid.bsky.social/post/3lgvdmt7ux22s
There are no standards for legacies.
Egg supplies continue their decline under Sir -- yet no shortage of the vilest assholes is anywhere in sight. Even using satellites. Or the Hubble.
Timely article - This is information that I did not know/have. Especially appreciate the link to the Spanish translation card.
"What would be ideal (other than calling this nonsense off), would be if people knew their rights in every city, town, unincorporated area in the country...."
Actually, I think this should apply to all Americans, not just immigrants. Too many assholes have no concern for the rights of others, and don't even understand the rights they themselves enjoy. Having administration assholes like Homan give out misinformation about rights just magnifies the problem. IN fact, I think it would be a good idea if every FFOTUS admin official be held to account for any and all lies and distortions that they utter, under oath or not.
There is an undercurrent: “we’d have law and order if we could just curtail civil rights, especially when we know the person is guilty.”
And you know this doesn't cover wypipo's civil rights.