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Official Statement From Mormon Women for Ethical Government on New Asylum Rule and in Defense of Fair and Just Policy Solutions
July 16, 2019 Yesterday the Trump administration published a new rule designed to end most asylum protections for migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border. The administration claims this action is necessary in order to stop the flow of migrants, but the change certainly violates the spirit of asylum and is likely illegal under both U.S. law and international conventions. Mormon Women for Ethical Government recognizes that our nation is suffering real consequences as a result of poor public policy surrounding human migration and immigration. However, we feel a moral imperative to sound a watchword following the intensification of defamatory language and uptick in extra-legal policies produced by the President and…
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Official Statement From Mormon Women for Ethical Government on the Victimization of Children in Our Broken Immigration System
June 6, 2019 Last week, the Acting Inspector General released a report recommending that the Department of Homeland Security take immediate action to address the dangerous and inhumane treatment of detainees, including family units and unaccompanied minors, at a border patrol processing center in El Paso, Texas. On Monday, we learned that 37 migrant children between the ages of five and twelve were kept in vans in the sweltering Texas heat last July for between 23-39 hours, depending on the child, while waiting to be processed for reunification with their parents. This happened after public outrage forced the administration to backpedal on its inhumane zero-tolerance policy that led to thousands…
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Official Statement from Mormon Women for Ethical Government on Continuing Government Shutdown
January 24, 2019 This afternoon, the Senate failed to pass a continuing resolution that would have ended the government shutdown and given Congress two weeks to come to a compromise on border security and immigration reform. It is unconscionable for Congress to allow hundreds of thousands of federal workers and their families to continue to suffer because of a purely political crisis. We have been praying for our leaders to have wisdom and humility, and we have persistently contacted their offices to ask that they bring an end to this unnecessary shutdown. We are especially grateful to Senator Lamar Alexander, Senator Susan Collins, Senator Cory Gardner, Senator Johnny Isakson, Senator Lisa Murkowski, and Senator Mitt…
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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…
