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Official Statement from Mormon Women for Ethical Government on New Revelations About the Separation of Children from Their Families at the Border
January 17, 2019 This morning the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a report indicating that “thousands” more children had been taken away from their families and guardians at the border than previously reported. This news is horrifying and completely unacceptable. It underscores the inescapable moral responsibility that we have as a nation to fix our broken immigration system. This kind of thing—the separation of children from their families—must never again happen on American soil. We echo the statement from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints asserting that “immigration reform should strengthen families and keep them together. The forced separation…
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A Citizens’ Proposal for Ethical Immigration Reform
We are a nation in crisis. We are in the midst of a partial government shutdown that is threatening to become the longest in our nation’s history. Real people, real families are being hurt by the inability of our government to find solutions through bipartisan compromise. It is time for the citizens of this government of, by, and for the people to show the way forward. Mormon Women for Ethical Government has spent the past year working in collaboration with immigration scholars, law professors, and attorneys to craft the following citizens’ proposal to the current gridlock over immigration reform. This proposal is an attempt at genuine compromise and focuses on…
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Official Statement from Mormon Women for Ethical Government in Response to the Supreme Court’s 5-4 Decision to Uphold Travel Ban
June 26, 2018 As members of Mormon Women for Ethical Government, we are deeply disappointed and dismayed at today’s Supreme Court ruling upholding the latest iteration of the Trump administration’s travel ban. We believe there are multiple factors that make this travel ban unprecedented, and we cannot discount or ignore the greater context in which the ban was issued. Therefore, we feel we must take this opportunity to speak out against any policies or practices rooted in animus towards Muslims. God’s parenthood of all humankind makes us literal sisters and brothers. We are one family. As Russell M. Nelson, our current living prophet, said only recently, “That understanding inspires us…
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MWEG-Arizona Holds Vigil at the Border
Powerful moments at the Arizona vigil at the border wall. Participants were intently watched by border patrol agents the entire time, and the media turned up in force. One participant wrote: We had two television stations, two local newspapers, and a reporter from Buzzfeed. All stayed nearly the entire time. We sang, we prayed, and we shared our light – all with a backdrop of daily life in Mexico playing out behind us. As two children curiously watched us from the stoop of the bodega on the other side of the wall, I was moved by our common humanity. #familiesbelongtogether #MWEGvigil #arizona
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Official Statement from Mormon Women for Ethical Government in Response to the June 20, 2018, Executive Order
June 23, 2018 Although an executive order signed by President Trump on Wednesday ended some family separations at the U.S. border, it did so primarily by allowing children to be detained together with their parents. The order does not require immigrant families already separated to be reunited, nor does it guarantee that family separations will not resume. The problem is, therefore, far from solved, and over 2,000 children still need to be returned to their families. Mormon Women for Ethical Government calls upon the U.S. government to immediately reunite these families and to implement humane and ethical alternatives to the indefinite detention of families with children. We also call upon…
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Official Statement from Mormon Women for Ethical Government on the Separation of Children from Their Families at the Border
May 31, 2018 Under the direction of the White House, the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security are engaged in the unconscionable practice of separating children from their parents at the border in a horrific and misguided effort to discourage immigration. Many of these families are refugees who are fleeing unspeakable horrors in their home countries and are seeking asylum in the United States. As members of Mormon Women for Ethical Government we join with other individuals and groups from all across the political spectrum to unequivocally denounce this practice as cruel, inhumane, and entirely indefensible. Our democracy is founded on principles of honor, justice, and an absolute respect for…
