More than 30 faith leaders from across North Texas met outside the Kessler Park United Methodist Church in Dallas on Monday afternoon.
More than 30 faith leaders from across North Texas met outside the Kessler Park United Methodist Church in Dallas on Monday afternoon.
The press conference was organized by Faith Commons, an interfaith organization founded in 2018 that promotes the “common good” by addressing issues that affect society and culture.
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Monday’s press conference was to take a public stance on immigration and the removal process of migrants under the Trump Administration.
“People need to have the opportunity to defend themselves and to have a defense with a lawyer and in a court of law,” Dr. George Mason, founder of Faith Commons said. “But when you are (prematurely) convicted and claim to be called a criminal before you even have the opportunities to defend yourself, that's just inexcusable in our country.”
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Mason and those gathered in support called for the community and other leaders of faith to recognize that holding government leaders and immigration agencies accountable.
“Beyond the question of what is legal is the question of what is moral. And for us, that means treating every human being with absolute dignity and respect and recognizing that when our language dehumanizes people in various ways, it diminishes all us,” Mason said. “We want to elevate the language and the humanity of this conversation to begin with. Then we want to recognize that every person is owed due process in this country. And when people are being rounded up and deported without due process, that violates not only our American law, but also our spiritual values.”
According to Amreena Hussain, the vice president of the Indian American Muslims Council Dallas Chapter, people in her community have voiced fears of traveling.
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”My husband is actually in India right now. His father has passed away and his travel has been a source of great anxiety for us,” Hussain said. “There's also a deep fear about almost what it feels like, extra-judicial. Detentions at this point without due process, so there's definitely that that we're affected by.”
This comes as President Donald Trump is set to sign an executive order that is aimed to identify non-compliant cities and states. A list of sanctuary cities and states, according to the Trump administration, could be created within the month.
“To hear from those leaders saying that we as a church, or we as a mosque, or we at the temple have your back, and we're ready to put in the fight for you, that means a lot to people,” Hussain said. “Part of being a person of faith is to not be quiet in times of injustice and that matters a lot.”
The group made reference to the migrants detained inside the ICE Bluebonnet Detention Facility in Anson, which currently houses Venezuelans at risk of deportation. The migrants, in many cases, have been flagged for their tattoos and accused of ties to the Tren de Aragua gang.
The facility is at the center of a Supreme Court ruling on deportation. Last Saturday, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked deportations of Venezuelans under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
“Let's not just make them symbols of something. They matter as individuals,” Mason said. “And when people have been detained, and when we don't know where they are, they have been disappeared, then we have to be relentless in demanding to know where they are. Because they matter to God and they matter to all of us in our communities.”
The interfaith leaders will meet again on Friday to determine dates for prayer vigils that are to be held outside of the Dallas ICE Office in an effort to push for the fair treatment of immigrants.
