Faith & Action for New New Yorkers
A message from Rev. Dr. Chloe Breyer on welcoming the stranger, ICNY's new House of Worship Sanctuary Guidelines, and a resource to understand Trump's immigration related Executive Orders.
Faith in Action
I am excited to announce that the Interfaith Center of New York will be running a recurring series on our "Advocacy Blog: Faith & Action for New New Yorkers." This series will compile advocacy updates and resources to help you support new New Yorkers. It will also offer spiritual reflections from different faith leaders about why we do this work.
As an Episcopal priest, for example, I count among my motivations for supporting new New Yorkers the Gospel of Matthew's passages that show us Christ revealed in the face of a stranger. In Matthew 25, Jesus tells the story of the sheep and the goats being separated by the King on Judgement Day. One measure of the flock at the end of time, is whether the members welcomed the stranger. “Truly I tell you” the King says, “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. It is because Jesus himself is revealed in the stranger, in the one who hungers and thirsts, and in the one who is imprisoned, that we know God is calling us to be generous hosts and caring neighbors.
Rev. Dr. Chloe Breyer is Executive Director of the Interfaith Center of New York and an Episcopal Priest in the Diocese of New York.
Resources
Here are the resources you need to see this week.
The Interfaith Center of New York is excited to announce the publication of our full Sanctuary Guide.
President Trump may have rescinded the Sensitive Locations Memo, which barred ICE activity inside of Houses of Worship, but you and your community still have rights! To that end, ICNY's pro-bono immigration attorney Eugene Nam developed a robust guide, which helps congregations understand how they can effectively and safely serve vulnerable people, ensure their services fall within their rights and entitlements, and learn how to advocate for and alongside all New Yorkers.
Access and share the guidelines from ICNY's website: https://interfaithcenter.org/general-sanctuary-guidelines/
Are you trying to wrap your head around what Trump's Executive Orders mean for immigrant New Yorkers?
On his first day in office, President Trump signed a dozen Executive Orders which target immigration. In order to help people understand the executive orders' meaning, Immigration ARC put together a digestible resource which outlines all of Trump's immigration related executive orders. The informative article, found here, details the contents of each executive order, its implications for all New Yorkers, and the status of each order — as lawsuits have already sprung up to halt various actions.
We hope these resources help you meet this moment. You're encouraged to share this substack with others in your network who are committed to serving the most vulnerable amongst us.