At the next Hillsboro City Council meeting scheduled for 7:00pm on Tuesday, March 7th, the City Council will vote on whether or not to become a Sanctuary City. I am part of a group of clergy serving congregations in Hillsboro that meets regularly for coffee and conversation pertaining to ministry in Hillsboro. We have recently been in conversation with Mayor Callaway, City Councilors and other City of Hillsboro staff about this issue. I will be joining many of these colleagues at the Council meeting this Tuesday to urge the Council to vote in favor of becoming a Sanctuary City. If you are a Hillsboro resident and this issue is important to you, I encourage you to consider attending this meeting as well.
I want to be clear that I do not presume to speak for everyone at ChristChurch when I do this. I know that people of good faith and bound conscience approach this issue from a variety of viewpoints. My concern for this issue and the people it affects comes out of my faith, my understanding of scripture and our rich Christian tradition. Our clergy group has composed a letter, which we will send to the City Council tomorrow morning. I have included the letter below in its entirety because it does a good job of summarizing my understanding of sanctuary cities and my reasons for participating in this conversation. If you have questions for me, or would simply like to learn more, please contact me so we can talk.
God’s peace,
Pastor David
March 2, 2017
Dear Hillsboro City Council Members,
We are a group of pastors who serve local congregations in Hillsboro. Among us, we are Episcopalian, Methodist, United Church of Christ and Lutheran. We are writing this letter to encourage you, as a matter of conscience, and good public policy, to pass a resolution designating the City of Hillsboro a Sanctuary City. Why is this important for the city in which we live and work? There are several reasons...
First, we have colleagues and friends who are immigrants themselves, living and serving in Hillsboro. They have shared their own stories and their concerns with us. What they have said is that many in their community are living with an increased level of anxiety and fear due to the dehumanizing rhetoric in the public sphere, which seeks to criminalize and further marginalize immigrants in this country - many of whom are hard-working people who pay their taxes and contribute positively to our local economy and culture. Our neighbors are now looking over their shoulders, worried that at any moment they, or someone they know and love, may be swept up in a raid, arrested, detained and possibly deported, separating them from their families, their partners, and their children. Recent incidents of cooperation between the Multnomah County Sheriff’s office with ICE, and of the arrest of migrant workers with no prior criminal records in Woodburn, have shown that our neighbors concerns are well-founded. Designating Hillsboro a Sanctuary would send a clear message to these individuals and families that their city leaders support them, appreciate their contributions to our community, and will not use our local tax dollars and city resources to participate in or assist federal immigration enforcement.
Second, we believe that our immigration system is broken. In a part of Oregon where our agricultural economy depends on immigrant labor to thrive, migrant workers find it nearly impossible to attain and maintain the proper paperwork needed to work and live in our country. Many who come to our country legally under work programs are not able to renew their papers due to long backlogs in immigration offices. When their papers expire, they are threatened with deportation. If they can gain access to immigration legal aid assistance, the hearings can take up to two years. For those who wish to become full citizens, the entire process can take over 15 years. In the meantime, families can be separated and children become the victims of a broken system, through no fault of their own. The vast majority of undocumented immigrants are here because they love their families and want to provide them with opportunities for a safe, healthy, and good life. Declaring Hillsboro a Sanctuary City would show that our local leaders desire to offer safe space and breathing room for vulnerable families while our national leaders gather the necessary political will to fix an immigration system that has clearly been broken for many years.
Third, we believe our faith demands it. Our religious traditions teach us to honor God’s commandment to love our neighbor, welcome the stranger, and care for the alien in our midst. From the Law given to the Israelites as they fled persecution, to the prophets exhorting the people to care for the widow and the orphan, all the way through to the Gospels where Jesus makes it clear that welcoming the stranger is no different than welcoming the Son of God… over and over again, our faith teaches us to practice hospitality, compassion and grace for our neighbor. We believe this is not only good faith practice, but a way of living which brings life to the entire community.
We plan to be present at the March 7th Hillsboro City Council meeting, to stand with our immigrant brothers and sisters, and bear witness to the historic decision we pray you will make. We urge you all to vote, YES, to make Hillsboro a Sanctuary City.
In Faith,
Rev. Clay Andrew
Rev. Matthew Eagan
Rev. David Eppelsheimer
Rev. Adam Hange
Rev. Jorge Rodriguez
Rev. Julie Smith
Rev. Karen LaJoy Smith
Rev. Karen Tiegs
