The head of the US Jesuit Conference has written to the Congressional alumni of Jesuit schools, urging them to do more on immigration reform, and live up to the principles they were taught in school.
The Jesuits specifically called for an end to deportations, and more aid for the victims of human trafficking, and unaccompanied minors who came to this company seeking asylum. The letter was sent to 12 Republicans and 31 Democrats in the House who were Jesuit-educated, and was written by the Rev. Thomas Smolich, the US head of the order.
“We must welcome the refugee, the victim of trafficking, the child who has been abused or abandoned,” Smolich wrote in the July 29 letter. “Let us follow in the footsteps of Jesus when he said, ‘Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.’”
Rev. Smolich’s letter didn’t achieve exactly what he wanted; Congress couldn’t manage to pass any sort of legislation on this issue, and went into recess for the rest of the summer.
Read the whole article in the Huffington Post here.