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Committee on the Judiciary
Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Honorable Senators,
On behalf of The Hive, a wellness and spirituality community that supports women as we grow in our faith and wellness, we urge you to take action to end the inhumane treatment of people in detention centers, support the Keep Families Together Act (H.R. 541 / S. 292), and speed the asylum process.
As Americans and people of faith, we believe that all humans have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We are daughters, sisters, mothers, grandparents, lay people, teachers, ministers, and people of various faith and spiritual backgrounds who believe in upholding the dignity and worth of every human being. We believe that to feel loved and safe are among the most basic and important of human needs.
The immigrants seeking asylum or who cross the border for other reasons are children, siblings, parents, grandparents, lay people, teachers, ministers, and all sorts of people, just like us, who seek love and safety. They are seeking the American promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, yet the way these immigrants are being treated at the hands of our government does not honor the American spirit. The reported conditions in the detention centers and treatment of the people within them are cruel and dangerous. The treatment of immigrants at the border denies their human dignity and has lasting, harmful effects on mind, body, and spirit.
We are compelled to speak out against our government’s response to immigration at the southern border. We are opposed to the separation of children from their parents or caretakers—it is abusive and harmful. We speak out against the prolonged detention of immigrants at detainment centers and decry the inhumanity of overcrowded detainment centers where there are multiple reports of children being malnourished, sick, and abused. We mourn the deaths of the seven children who have died in American detainment centers over the past year. Finally, we are enraged by the lack of transparency with the American public about what happens in these centers. What is happening on our border is cruel, unsafe, and inhumane. We cannot stand by as children of God in any place are being harmed, and we are horrified that this is happening in our country, under the authority of our elected leaders. We cannot stand by or remain silent. This must stop.
Your support of the Keep Families Together Act (H.R. 541 / S. 292) enables children and families to remain together, significantly reducing lifelong trauma to children. This bill must allow children to have the basic things every child needs—medical care, hygiene, protection from all forms of abuse, humane sleeping conditions, the love of a trusted caregiver, and the ability to play and learn. Furthermore, requiring border agents and officers to receive training on child trauma is crucial to the safety and wellbeing of children at the border. We ask that you not only vote in support of this bill, but to not accept any version of this bill that lacks rigorous protections for children and their basic needs. This bill must protect children in government custody.
We support an approach to the crisis at the border that allows children and families to stay together, and practices that are transparent and accountable to the American people. We believe well-vetted organizations should have the ability to donate basic necessities to the people housed in the detention centers, and to offer other types of assistance that honor their dignity. Furthermore, we believe in community supported efforts to aid and speed the process of granting asylum, which would reduce the number of people and time spent in unhealthy detainment centers.
Please join us in demanding practices that uphold the human dignity of the immigrants in detention centers at the border. Your support of the Keep Families Together Act (H.R. 541 / S. 292) is crucial.
Thank you,
The Hive
www.thehiveapiary.com
A home for wellness, spirituality and growth.
The Rev. Dr. Hillary Raining, Founder
The Rev. Michelle Bullock
Kristen Spiegel
Phyllis Drackley
Teresa Mithen Danieley
Jane Gober
Connie Fegley
Victoria Hoppes
Dorothy Shaw
Liz Wendt
Jessica Anschutz
Hanieh Razzaghi
Erika Bower
Heather Gullo
Lauren Robbins Holder
Elizabeth Wilson
Helen Svoboda-Barber
Jennifer L. Burkhardt
Katie Churchwell
Katie Gorman Sojewicz
Jennifer Lee Gamber
Kate Smith
Lucia Lloyd
Diane Faison
Kristin White
Wendy Claire Barrie
Sarah Ann Henderson
June Hardy Dorsey
Erin Bakal
Katherine Kanto Doyle
Heidi Hart-Gorman
Vanessa Miller
Sarah Tax Wilkins
Reverend Julie M. Hoplamazian
Allison Schultz
Anna Roope Carmichael
Cathy Bailey
Mary Cat Young
Paige Taylor
Kathleen Knaack
Lindsay Balance Collins
Carrie Schofield-Broadbent
Eleanor C. Hamlin
Emily Norton Ashinhurst
Robin Hoffman
Whitney Rice
Emily Mellott
Meredith Doster
Becky Drebert
Kay Drebert
Stephanie Barnes
Linda Kent McConnell
Elizabeth Daniel Zajac
Christina Stearns
Meredith Kadet Sanderson
Laura Popa
The Rev. Kimberly A. Reinholz
Dianne Stone Fussaro
Joann Schriner Saylors
Stephanie Sorge
Emily Jean Ballentine Erb
Naomi Sorrwar-Randall
Molly Wills Carnes
Natalee Hill
Jennifer Rieg Gellert
Susie Shaefer
Gina Mitchican
Kay Houck
Carolyn Bond
Christine Martocchio
Melissa Edwards Cutshall
Maddy Pessin
Debbie Filliettaz Dowling
Lexa H. Shallcross
Jeanne Hansknecht
Katie FitzGibbons Budosh
Julie Solpietro Forget
Deacon Shelly Banner
Leslie Forstadt
MaryLou Sellin Clark
Rebecca Edwards McTavish
Karen Mangan Lash
Liz Maxwell
Megan Stewart-Sicking
Cathy Carpenter
Vicki Zust
Trula Hollywood
Cristy Chory
Molly Bosscher
Miriam G Willard McKenney
Susan Norman Hurlburt
Gillian Barr
Colleen Bernabei
Catherine Bennett Jones
Holly Sando Rieck
Andrea Marie Hendry
Justina Barrett
Susan E. Schaffner
The Rev. Rebekah Hatch
The Rev. Sarah D. Odderstol
Kay Joseph
Joanna Hollis
Janet Salsman
The Rev. Canon Betsy S. Ivey
Felicia Salventi Pompa
Beverly Dodds, BSN, RN
Barbara Little
Beth Bernard
Hannah E. Atkins Romero
Rev. Mary Elizabeth Hanchey
Pamela Johnson
Adrien Dawson
Sara Klingner
Rev. Dr. Mary Ann Brown Mertz