In conjunction with our 16th annual National Gathering taking place in Washington, D.C. this April 20 – 22 weekend, Rev. Dr. Leslie Copeland Tune, Director of Ecumenical Advocacy Days and the EAD Leadership team announce the #EAD2018 Congressional Ask which advocates will take to Capitol Hill on our April 23, 2018 Lobby Day:
Our world is experiencing massive upheaval and displacement due to violent conflicts, our changing climate and corruption. Ecumenical Advocacy Days for Global Peace with Justice calls on Congress to act to help the world’s uprooted peoples, the majority of whom are children and women. Congress must:
- Implement just and compassionate immigration policies; and
- Confront root causes of forced displacement in light of U.S. policy.
We believe that God is with Dreamers, refugees, immigrants, outcasts and people struggling to overcome poverty. God calls us to offer hospitality to the immigrant and the sojourner, and to break down the dividing walls that separate us. Our faith teaches us the importance of keeping families together, welcoming newcomers with compassion and dignity, and aiding our neighbors in need across the world.
We call on Congress to act with compassion and exercise fiscal responsibility by redirecting funding used for deportations, detention and border militarization, and invest instead in our communities and support for refugees while increasing poverty-focused and peacebuilding international assistance to address the root causes of forced migration.