Tag: tps

Relief (and Grief)

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

Who belongs and who doesn’t? Who is a citizen and who is “alien”?

Steven Miller, advisor to the President and architect of the plan to deport millions of people out of the United States, and the Heritage Foundation (Project 2025) would have us believe that being born on US soil should NOT confer automatic citizenship. But today, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of birthright citizenship! Those born in the US are “US citizens” without regard to the status of the parents.

I’m breathing a sigh of relief! “Thank you, God!” Any other decision would have put millions of people (including scores of people in my circle) at risk of being stripped of their citizenship and potentially deported — which is Steven Miller’s ultimate goal.

At the same time that I’m relieved, I also am grieved. Last week, the same Supreme Court stripped Haitians and Syrians of their Temporary Protected Status despite dangerous conditions in their home countries, and it permitted the administration to continue the practice of turning away asylum seekers at the US – Mexico border before they set foot on US soil, thereby forcing them to remain in Mexico without a clear pathway to asylum.

As I recall, God’s instructions to the Israelites in the Torah were this: “The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt.” (Leviticus 19:34 – NIV) and Jesus announced blessing on those who welcomed the stranger. (Matthew 25:35)

The question of belonging and who is an American citizen has only been partially answered. If you’re born on US soil, the answer is, “you are.” But if you came into the country without documentation, or you came seeking asylum, or you arrived in this country as a child, or you were given temporary permission to come, you are and will remain an alien, vulnerable to the whims of people like Steven Miller, J.D. Vance, Mike Johnson, and Supreme Court Justices Alito, Thomas and Gorsuch who voted to end birthright citizenship..

ATTENTION: ALL BIRTHRIGHT AND NATURALIZED CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES. There are only 125 days until November 3. Exercise your citizenship wisely.

Delivered Back to Death

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

“Deliver the poor and the needy; rescue them from their…oppressors.” Psalm 82:4 (The Voice)

Yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security posted the following announcement on its website:.

“Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem today announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status for Afghanistan. The TPS designation for the country expires on May 20, 2025, and the termination will be effective on July 14, 2025.

“After consultation with interagency partners, Secretary Noem determined that conditions in Afghanistan no longer meet the statutory requirements. The Secretary’s decision was based on a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services review of the country conditions and in consultation with the Department of State. The Secretary determined that, overall, there are notable improvements in the security and economic situation such that requiring the return of Afghan nationals to Afghanistan does not pose a threat to their personal safety due to ongoing-armed conflict or extraordinary and temporary conditions. She further determined that permitting Afghan nationals to remain temporarily in the United States is contrary to the national interest of the United States.”

This DHS decision means that all Afghans who received protection following the US military withdrawal in 2022 will now be required to return to Afghanistan voluntarily or face prison sentences and/or forced deportation. Many of these Afghans had assisted the US military during the war against the Taliban, the same Taliban that now controls the country. And among the 200,000 Afghans losing their protected status are more than 300 Christians who faced harsh persecution under Taliban rule and who were pursuing asylum in the US. Delivering any of these Afghan individuals and families to the Taliban will likely result in imprisonment or even death.

In a letter sent to President Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, faith leaders urged the “Administration to act swiftly to protect Afghan Christians from deportation to Afghanistan, where they face grave threats to their safety and their very lives because of their faith.” Opposition to ending the protections is appropriate and necessary. Will the letter make a difference? If the acts of DHS and ICE in the past are any indication, it is not likely.

Psalm 82 reminds the “judges” (ie political leaders) that their role is to “rescue the poor and needy from their oppressors.” The ending of TPS for Afghans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans is inconsistent with our faith and our values. Silence isn’t an option.

Today, my Congresswoman, Delia Ramirez (IL – District 03) will not be silent as she repeats her call* for the resignation of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem ” for the unconstitutional, illegal weaponization of DHS to pursue a campaign of persecution, mass incarceration, and deportation. Now she can include the reckless and immoral rescinding of Afghani Temporary Protected Status to the list.

* Ramirez first called for Noem’s resignation on April 8 in a press conference after witnessing children being processed by immigration officials at the southern border without legal representation.