Dear Friends,
After 461 days of prayers and the support of thousands of people across the nation, on November 11 Rosa Robles Loreto was able to safely leave sanctuary and return to life in Tucson without fear that she would be torn from her family through deportation.
Our hearts are overflowing with gratitude and joy! Rosa and I both wish we could travel around the United States, knock on each of your doors, and throw our arms around you, because without your support Rosa would not be home with her families for the holidays.
We learned a lot in 461 days about the sacred work of sanctuary. We learned how to keep prayer vigils going every single evening; how to get enough volunteers to provide for the 24 hour accompaniment that Rosa had at all times; how to deal with hate mail and threatening phone calls. We learned about high level meetings in DC and (the more powerful) low level meetings in church basements. We learned how to knock on doors and tell Rosa’s story as we put out over 9,000 yard signs across Tucson that say We Stand With Rosa. We learned the power of a Groundswell petition to galvanize support and elevate our voice.
But more than all of that we learned about power; the power of our faith traditions and the call to hospitality and justice that is at the heart of all of them; the power of solidarity between documented and undocumented communities; and the power of a mother’s love for her children.
After 461 days we are grateful to each and everyone of you for standing with Rosa. But while our hearts are filled with joy because Rosa will be able to stay in Tucson with her family, we are also painfully aware that while communities of faith practice the radical hospitality of our faith, our politicians are preaching a message of hatred, fear and exclusion – particularly when it comes to our refugee brothers and sisters who are running for their lives.
The good news of Rosa’s story is propelling us into standing up for others who had to leave their homes searching for safety. We need to continue the work of sanctuary – and part of that work is demanding that our government do our part in welcoming Syrian refugees and others who are looking for sanctuary from war, poverty and environmental degradation.
We ask that in thanksgiving for Rosa leaving sanctuary you join us to advocate for the sojourner, the immigrant, and the refugee. Our friends at Church World Service, who were instrumental in helping Rosa, started a petition: “Tell politicians: Refugees fleeing violence need help, not hate.”
Here’s what it says:
As people of faith, we are outraged by the growing number of American politicians responding to attacks by terrorist groups by opposing the resettlement in the United States of desperate refugees escaping violent conflicts.
These men, women, and children are fleeing terror; they do not bring terror with them. Public officials must hear from us, as people of faith who believe welcoming the sojourner and loving our neighbors is not a political game, but a critical and urgent need that must be addressed NOW!
I hope you’ll sign it and join me in the next journey to justice.
Thank you for loving your neighbors, including Rosa,
Rev. Alison Harrington
Southside Presbyterian Church
Rev. Alison Harrington started this petition on Groundswell.
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