Letter to the Mayor and DC Council Chairman

Dear: Honorable Mayor Muriel Bowser, Mayor, District of Columbia and Honorable Phil Mendelson, Chairmen, DC Council

We, diverse clergy, peace, justice and faith organizations, and people of conscience and goodwill, call upon the Mayor of the District of Columbia, the DC City Council, and the Office of the Attorney General to do whatever is necessary legally and otherwise to hold the governors of Texas, Florida, and any other state accountable for dereliction of duty by transporting migrants across state lines without permission, knowledge, or consent.

It seems that by transporting migrants to other states without their consent amounts to kidnapping, or human trafficking, and at the very least is an act that is morally reprehensible, dishonest, lacking any human compassion or decency, and is racist upon its face. These political tactics by these governors are designed to make headlines, incite a constituent base with xenophobic proclivities, and to advance these individual governor’s political careers while treating immigrant women, men, and children with the utmost disregard for their value as human beings or respect for their safety.

Many of these migrants have been loaded onto busses, and in some cases airplanes, to be transported to locations somewhere in the United States unbeknownst to them. They have traveled, sometimes days, without proper nutrition, medications, or clothing. From any perspective these governors and their states have trafficked human beings, endangering them for the purposes of personal gain. These governors have sought to advance their careers through these immoral, unethical, and possibly illegal acts.

These governors wanted to put a financial burden on the cities and states that have declared themselves “sanctuary” communities, of which the District of Columbia is one. But given the fact that the states of Florida and Texas only expend less than $1,500 per capita in social services ordinarily, according to the Urban Institute, in comparison to a “sanctuary city,” like Washington, DC, (which is not a state yet) which expends more than $2,500 per capita — these numbers demonstrate that the issue for these governors is not about immigration but ideology. Or put another way, Texas and Florida is forty-second and forty-fifth in the country in respect to public welfare expenditures. Which means that these states are not even offering adequate services to their own citizens, and yet they want to pass on costs to places like Washington, DC, which has not shirked in its responsibility to its citizens, and to others. As the Statute of Liberty declares, the “…Tired…poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore”.

Serving these arriving migrants coming into Washington, DC, and as a “sanctuary” city, faith communities, mutual aid groups, peace and justice organizations, and people of conscience have risen to the occasion of offering the best of US values, while the states of Texas and Florida have done exactly the opposite. Texas and Florida’s political theatrics have impacted negatively and unfairly Washington, DC, which works to repair the wrong perpetuated by these states, and therefore reimbursement and damages are warranted to DC, the faith communities, mutual aid groups, and other organizations delivering relief and aid to these migrants.

Therefore, we are asking that the Mayor of the District of Columbia, The DC City Council, and The Office of the Attorney General request that the Department of Justice investigate the governors of the states of Texas and Florida as to whether they have engaged or are engaging in kidnapping and/or human trafficking. That the District of Columbia bring suit against the Governors of Florida and Texas for reimbursement to The District of Columbia for expenses incurred, and that faith communities, mutual aid groups, and others be reimbursed and receive punitive damages for services offered by those groups which should have been rendered by Texas and Florida. We the undersigned humbly ask that our request be considered and taken with the utmost urgency.

Signed:

Ariel Gold,
Executive Director,
Fellowship of Reconciliation USA

Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler, Director and Chief Visionary, Faith Strategies, LLC

Rev. George C. Gilbert, Jr.
Executive Director,
The Center for Racial Equity and Justice

Rev. Dr. Wanda Thompson, Ward 8 Elder Serena K. Parks, Ward 5

Rev. Daryl M. Washington, Pastor, St Mary’s Baptist Church, Ward 4

The Wednesday Clergy Fellowship

The Downtown Cluster of Congregations, Terry Lynch

Rev. Patricia Fears, Pastor, Fellowship Baptist Church, Ward 4

Rev. Dr. Christopher L. Zacharias, Pastor,
John Wesley African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church

The Missionary Baptist Minister’s Conference

Rev. Keith Byrd, President,
The Baptist Convention of DC and Vicinity

Rev. Dr. Lewis T. Tait, Jr. Pastor/Teacher
The Village

Bishop Allyson Abrams, PhD
Pastor & Founder,
Empowerment Liberation Cathedral.
President, Empowerment Justice Center Corporation

Rev. Freeman L. Palmer
Conference Minister,
Central Atlantic Conference of The United Church of Christ

Rev. Marvin Silver
Associate Conference Minister,
The Central Atlantic Conference of The United Church of Christ, Director, Justice & Witness Action Network

Rev. Jason Carson Wilson, Founding Executive Director, Bayard Rustin Liberation Initiative

Rev. Amanda Hendler-Voss Senior Minister
First Congregational UCC Washington, DC

Rev. Lionel Edmonds
President
Missionary Baptist Ministers Conference of Washington, DC and Vicinity

Rev. Frank Tucker, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Washington DC

Dr. E. Gail Anderson Holness, Senior Pastor,
Adams Inspirational African Methodist Episcopal Church

Reverend Clarence L. Cross, Jr,
Washington District Social Action Committee, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church

Rev. Darryl! LC Moch (Ward 7) President/CEO,
Innergy, Inc,
Senior Associate Minister, Inner Light Ministries, UCC,

& CoChair, Places of Worship Advisory Board

Rev. William H. Lamar, IV, Pastor
Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, Washington, DC

Bishop Dwayne D. Royster, SFJ
Senior Pastor, Faith United Church of Christ Founder, The Society for Faith and Justice

Rabbi Yosef Berman
Rabbi, New Synagogue Project

Rabbi Charles Feinberg, Executive Director Interfaith Action for Human Rights

Imam Johari abdul-Malik
Soulful Muslims of Washington Metro Area www.soulfulmuslims.org
CAIR National Board-member
Muslim ARC, President