A group of clergy and immigrant justice advocates have called for President Barack Obama to pardon undocumented immigrants with nonviolent, low-level offenses.
Members of PICO National Network, a collection of 45 faith-based groups in 150 American cities and towns, joined other national faith, labor and community organizations last week and asked that Obama’s administration protect what they feel to be the most vulnerable people in the U.S.
“This is about protecting families,” said Richard Morales, immigration policy director for PICO, in a statement. “There is tremendous fear in our communities. This is a moral rather than legal issue. The president does have the constitutional power to grant these pardons and he needs to act.”
PICO’s currently circulating a petition to deliver to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. on Dec. 15. The petition addresses pardons, clemency and sanctuary and includes signatories from the National Employment Law Project, the Peoples Action Network, the Alliance for Citizenship, Unite Here, America’s Voice, Auburn Seminary and Michelle Alexander, author of “The New Jim Crow.”
“As people of faith, we are requesting immediate action for relief in two ways,” the petition states. “We want clemency for those convicted of low-level federal drug offenses, and for civil immigration infractions. Granting federal clemency for individuals with a nonviolent, low-level drug offense due to the War on Drugs would give thousands of individuals—primarily people of color who were disproportionately impacted by harsh sentencing policies—a second chance.”
PICO’s petition also stated that by pardoning civil immigration infractions such as visa overstays, unlawful entry and unlawful employment, it would prevent families from being broken apart by mass deportations.
“Though there is much we do not know, we do know what President-elect Trump has promised,” the petition continues. “And from his first appointments, we know what is likely to happen.”
During the presidential election campaign, candidate Donald Trump pledged to deport 2 to 3 million undocumented immigrants, expand stop and frisk, repeal Obamacare and implement a registry for Muslims. Members of PICO have promised to fight Trump by using the opposite of his behavior.
“One of the major tenets of the Christian faith is to love thy Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind,” said Pastor Greg Holston, executive director for Philadelphians Organized to Witness Empower & Rebuild, in a statement. “Second to that is to love your neighbor as yourself. Our neighbors are under attack. We are urging preachers and leaders all over this nation to find those who are in danger, undocumented immigrants who need a safe place. Unless we stand up together, we will all be attacked. We have to learn to follow the tenants of our faith.”
“When I think about the moment we’re in, I think about a nation that is completely divided, without compassion and without seeing each other,” added Reyna Montoya, an Arizona-based faith leader and a beneficiary of the deferred action for childhood arrivals policy, know an DACA. “Every single person in the nation has the opportunity to walk in the light or in the darkness. This is about people, our neighbors, our communities.”