Interfaith Council of Southwestern Connecticut

Communities of Faith United Against Executive Order

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The Interfaith Council of Southwestern Connecticut opposes the current Administration's immigration policy, which seeks to ban more than 130 million people from the United States and to deny entry to all refugees, especially from war-torn Syria and seven Muslim-majority countries.  We are deeply troubled by the injustice of the proposed "religion test" and decry the discrimination against individuals based on their religion.

 

Our organization represents interfaith understanding and safe spaces in a state that historically has welcomed immigrants and refugees. The first -- mostly from Europe -- came in the 1840s. Today, about half-a-million state residents –- nearly 14 percent -- are foreign-born, the majority from Europe, Asia and Latin America but also from Africa and the Middle East.According to the US Census Bureau, that number rises to nearly 33 percent in southwestern Connecticut, where over 170 of the world’s 6,500 languages are spoken.

 

The State of Connecticut has been designated a sanctuary state by the Center for Immigration Studies. Immigrants and refugees contribute greatly to and strengthen our growth, economically and culturally. All immigrants and refugees are entitled to dignity, respect and human rights. 

 

Human rights has an individual as well as a collective face -- yours, theirs and now at this most critical time ours. 

 

The Interfaith Council of Southwestern Connecticut represents many faiths -- Baha’i, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Sikh, Unitarian Universalist, Post-Christian, and Buddhist among others.  We raise our voices today as Americans of many faiths.  We do so knowing that freedom of speech and of religion have been bedrocks since the founding of our great nation.

 

We ask that each of you, knowing the individual and collective power of hope and love that resides in us all, will take a stand today and reject the closing of America's doors to those who seek refuge.

 

The Board of Directors of

The Interfaith Council of Southwestern Connecticut

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Dr. Kareem Adeeb

Azra Asaduddin 

Inni Kaur Dhingra

Sara Hakim

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman 

Rev. Michael Hyman

Rev. Mark Lingle

Jack Penfield

Marie Orsini Rosen

Rev. ReBecca Sala

Rev. Dr. Frances Sink