Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and Immigrants

ELCA Churchwide Assembly Action CA05.06.26

Resolved
To receive with gratitude the memorials of the Southwest California Synod; Northeastern Minnesota Synod; Nebraska Synod; Central States Synod; Southwestern Texas Synod; Metropolitan Chicago Synod; South-Central Synod of Wisconsin; New Jersey Synod; Metropolitan New York Synod; Northwestern Pennsylvania Synod; Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod; and Lower Susquehanna Synod that welcome and encourage task forces to:

1. empower this church in its engagement with refugee and immigrant issues; and
2. strengthen collaboration between the ELCA and the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) to carry out this church’s work with newcomers;

To acknowledge that this commitment to welcoming the stranger is rooted in the faith tradition of this church;

To reaffirm the principles articulated by the ELCA in its Message on Immigration and recommit this church to live out the message boldly and compassionately;

To call upon the U.S. Congress and administration:

1. to end immediately the detention and imprisonment of noncriminal asylum seekers, undocumented laborers, and others in jails or jail-like facilities; and
2. to implement just, consistent, and humane practices regarding the treatment of asylum seekers, such as those suggested in the February 2005 study of asylum seekers in expedited removal by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedoms; and

To refer these memorials related to refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants to the Division for Church in Society (or the appropriate churchwide unit) for implementation in consultation with the Conference of Bishops and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service.