JESUIT REFUGEE SERVICE – LEO O’DONOVAN
DEAR FRIENDS:
Leo O’Donovan, S.J., renowned theologian and philosopher, at present, Interim Director of the Jesuit Refugee Services, addresses the present challenges and executive injustices in clear and prophetic words. Kindly read below
We Must Uphold the American Values of Opportunity and Welcome
March 06, 2017
| (Aleppo, Syria) |
| At JRS/USA, we are responding to the needs of refugees by fighting to uphold the American values of opportunity and welcome. |
Jesuit Refugee Service/USA is greatly disappointed by the Trump Administration’s issuance of a revised Executive Order banning the entry of travelers from six Muslim majority countries into the United States for ninety days, suspending the U.S. refugee resettlement program for 120 days, and slashing the number of planned refugee admissions by more than half.
While this new order has been artfully reworded to remove some of the most obvious legally-objectionable provisions of the original order, it still arbitrarily asserts that the security of the United States demands extreme measures to prevent the entry of persons of certain nationalities into our country. The UNHCR explains more about refugee resettlement in the US.
Both orders severely limit the ability of the U.S. to rescue suffering victims of war and persecution – the vast majority of them women and children – by denying them access to resettlement in communities eager to offer them a welcome home. This shameful policy flies in the face of American humanitarian values and does damage to our international reputation as a caring and responsible society.
“The world is deeply troubled, and many of our brothers and sisters are justifiably terrified. Our Catholic and Jesuit identity calls us to welcome the stranger and to approach different faith traditions and cultures with openness and understanding. We must not give in to fear. We must continue to defend human rights and religious liberty,” said Fr. Leo J. O’Donovan, S.J., Interim Executive Director of Jesuit Refugee Service/USA.
