The new campaign is being organized by the Orthodox and mainline Protestant churches affiliated with the National Council of Churches and Church World Service, a charity that resettles refugees.
It calls on congregants and pastors to appeal to their elected officials, sign poster-size copies of the declaration displayed in their houses of worship, dedicate one Sunday in the next three months to honor refugees and immigrants, and raise $1 million to support them.
Hundreds of churches and synagogues across the country have already offered to provide sanctuary or other support to undocumented immigrants in fear of deportation.
And other faith-based resettlement agencies have spoken out against the refugee and travel ban, including World Relief, an evangelical agency; HIAS, a Jewish group; and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The president’s executive order gave preference to refugees who are Christians and other religious minorities, but the declaration opposes that move, saying it “actually places them at greater risk in some countries.”
“This is so counterproductive,” said Erol Kekic, executive director of the immigration and refugee program at Church World Service. “It makes Christians and minorities in those countries an even bigger target, because the perception is already that they receive preferential treatment. And singling them out even more would probably not help.”
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