Global Context

Immigration has been vital to the American story

Religions for Peace USA organized the National Gathering of Religious Leaders (NGRL) 2020 on the theme of Uplifting Moral Voices for Immigration and Refugees – Faiths in Action on October 19-23, 2020 from 2PM to 3PM ET daily.

On the opening day of NGRL 2020, we issued a call to action titled “A Joint Statement from U.S. Religious Leaders and Communities Regarding U.S. Immigration and Refugee Policies and Practices,“ which is available for organizational endorsements OR is available for individual endorsements.

The most recent joint statement signatories are here.

For video recording of each day of NGRL 2020, please click below:

NGRL 2020 Day 1: Call to Action Interfaith Prayer Service 
NGRL 2020 Day 2: Uplifting Immigrant Stories
NGRL 2020 Day 3: Impact of Colonialism and Racism on Contemporary Immigration
NGRL Day 4: Uplifting Refugee Stories
NGRL Day 5: Our Pathway Forward

Like no other country in the world, America is historically known for its generous immigration. Our rich pluralism is in large part owing to patterns of diversified immigration which have increased since the 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act. Yet, today, in arguably the world’s most religiously diverse nation, the issue of immigration has taken on an added degree of urgency.

We uplift our moral voices, make plain the imperatives of our respective traditions, and act together in solidarity with refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants. We are called to love our neighbors, protect the vulnerable, and care for the sojourner.

Religions for Peace USA has worked on immigration in a number of ways – releasing statements, developing educational materials and fora, knowledge sharing, and collaborating and coordinating on advocacy efforts.

Below, we share one of our past partnerships in this area, featuring Jen Smyers of Church World Service and Michael Livingston of Interfaith Worker Justice addressing immigrant worker rights and the humanitarian crisis on the Mexico – U.S. border.