Fathers

I have many fantastic fathers in my life. I’ve seen dads who work their bodies to exhaustion to provide for their children. I’ve seen breaking backs, and tired eyes, and calloused hands.

I’ve seen dads in princess dresses with their daughters and dads in the Florida sun coaching little league.

I’ve seen patient conversations, long hugs, and hundreds of “one more time, Daddy!”

 

I love these dads.

Not one of them would  think twice before moving heaven and earth to give their children a better life.  Not one of them would let their children go hungry, or keep them in danger, even if it meant breaking the law of the land. 

 

Patriotism over Love // Country over Christ 

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. – Romans 13:1 NIV

When I saw Jeff Sessions quote Romans 13:1 to justify family separation at the border, I was dumbfounded.  Friends, this is the same verse used to justify slavery and segregation (by Christians.) Sit with that for a second.

How can we allow this in a country that claims to be a “Christian Nation?” How can so many Christians turn a blind eye to the suffering of human beings? Have we forgotten Jesus’ simple words: “Let the little children come to me … for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs”?

Please, as with all quoted scripture, I implore you to read the surrounding verses. Just before Romans 13:1 we find:

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.  Love one another with brotherly affection…Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. – Romans 12:9-21

 

Let Love Be Genuine

Love.

It’s easy to love our dads. It’s easy to love our husbands, and brothers, and those who sit next to us at church. These are the dads who raised us, who sacrifice for us, and who love us right back. They deserve our love. They deserve this day.  

It’s a lot harder to love the dads you don’t know, the dads who don’t speak english yet, the dads who crossed a human made border illegally. We are told to fear these dads and think they are here to take jobs. We are supposed to believe these dads are coming here to sell drugs or hurts us, instead of seeing these human beings are reflections of God. These are dads who have left everything behind to bring their children to a better place.

Our government calls these dads “illegal.”

Our government rips children out of their fathers arms and quotes the Bible to support it.

 

This Father’s Day, let your love be genuine. This Father’s Day, remember all fathers- even the immigrant and refugee fathers. 

 

You can help

1. Know the facts:  The Woman’s Refugee Commission has created a detailed report and a shorter primer on the issue here. Highlights:

• No, this isn’t the same law past administrations have followed. Our president is lying.
• There are more than 10,000 children separated from their parents, and the government is running out of places to put them. 

 

 2. Giving: 

• The ACLU is litigating this policy in California.
• Al Otro Lado is a binational organization that works to offer legal services to deportees and migrants in Tijuana, Mexico, including deportee parents whose children remain in the U.S.
• CARA—a consortium of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, the American Immigration Council, the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association—provides legal services at family detention centers.
• The Florence Project is an Arizona project offering free legal services to men, women, and unaccompanied children in immigration custody.
• Kids in Need of Defense works to ensure that kids do not appear in immigration court without representation, and to lobby for policies that advocate for children’s legal interests. Donate here.
• The Legal Aid Justice Center is a Virginia-based center providing unaccompanied minors legal services and representation.
• Pueblo Sin Fronteras is an organization that provides humanitarian aid and shelter to migrants on their way to the U.S.
• RAICES is the largest immigration nonprofit in Texas offering free and low-cost legal services to immigrant children and families. Donate here and sign up as a volunteer here.
• The Texas Civil Rights Project is seeking “volunteers who speak Spanish, Mam, Q’eqchi’ or K’iche’ and have paralegal or legal assistant experience.”
• Together Rising is another Virginia-based organization that’s helping provide legal assistance for 60 migrant children who were separated from their parents and are currently detained in Arizona.
• The Urban Justice Center’s Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project is working to keep families together.
• Women’s Refugee Commission advocates for the rights and protection of women, children, and youth fleeing violence and persecution.

**Taken from this article

 

3. Contact your representatives:

Not sure who to call? https://whoismyrepresentative.com/

– Encourage them to speak out against family separation and hold the administration accountable through statements, letters, and social media.

• Urge them to decrease the funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that enables the administration’s family separation practices.