Editor’s note: This piece has been submitted by: The Hagerstown Area Religious Council Board of Directors
The Hagerstown Area Religious Council, whose members come from a variety of different religious traditions across Washington County, are all committed to core religious values that stress welcoming the stranger and loving thy neighbor as thyself.
Despite our differences of religious and political beliefs, the HARC Board is unified in our opposition to the conversion of a warehouse site in Washington County into a proposed detention facility for immigration enforcement. We hold this position based on the following:
- The inhumane treatment of our foreign-born neighbors through I.C.E. enforcement and within immigration detention centers has been well documented and goes against our most sacred teachings. Many detained immigrants are held interminably in poor conditions without access to family, legal counsel, or spiritual support. We have grave concerns that our immigrant neighbors will not be treated fairly or with dignity, and people detained at the proposed facility will suffer mentally and physically, while our surrounding communities may lose access to overwhelmed health and emergency services.
- The mass incarceration of people – most of whom pose no threat to our community or country – is fundamentally inhumane and will cause trauma through fear and family separation, create and worsen health problems, and threaten the financial, housing, and food security of local families. This takes a toll on affected families and our entire community.
We are aware of real stories of actual people in our community who have been harmed by these enforcement and detention practices and it grieves us deeply.
Just to be clear, we are not saying that there should not be rational and constitutional enforcement of immigration law and we, of course, want anyone who has committed criminal acts to be held accountable in a manner that’s appropriate. However, we also want our neighbors, many of whom have been building peaceful and law-abiding lives for many years in this country, to be treated fairly and with dignity.
The bottom line is this: our shared values, rooted in loving our neighbor and honoring the God-given dignity of every person, compel us to speak and to act. We cannot look away. We will not be silent. We stand with our neighbors, and we call on our community and our leaders to do the same.
In faith and solidarity,
The Hagerstown Area Religious Council Board of Directors
