View this email in your browser The Resistance Prays December 12, 2018

By Rev. Emily Brewer Today's top story "After a tense standoff with officials at the U.S.-Mexico border on Monday, at least 30 American clergy were taken into custody over the objections of demonstrators, who had come to protest the treatment of Central American asylum-seekers and to decry the extension of a border wall and the militarization of the border." -- Religion News Service Scripture "For Christ is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us." -- Ephesians 2:14 Why Border Patrol arrested me and dozens of other faith leaders On Monday, I walked down the beach in California with about 400 other people of faith. The ocean was beautiful and vast. We sang and we prayed and we carried signs of hope--signs that declared that #LoveHasNoBorders. We walked until we arrived at the border wall that goes even out into the sea. The ugliness of the wall is jarring set against the beauty of the ocean. And the violence that it represents makes it all the more ugly.

As we approached the wall, we were stopped by Border Patrol agents in full riot gear--masks, weapons, sticks, pepper spray. One veteran noted that it was more gear than she wore in Afghanistan. The Border Patrol agents formed another wall, in front of the steel wall covered in razor wire. “Move BACK!” they shouted, and dozens of faith leaders knelt in the sand in front of them, with hundreds more behind singing “We are not afraid, we are not afraid, we will live for liberation, ‘cause we know why we were made.”

Eventually, 32 of us were arrested. Many of the agents were rough as they arrested us, and noticeably rougher on the people of color (thankfully no one was physically injured). But we were a group of clergy, with authorization to be in the US, and there were dozens of cameras and media present. What about when it’s people without “proper documentation” and there are no cameras around? How does Border Patrol treat people when there’s no accountability and the people have no formal power?

My paperwork says I was arrested for “non-conformity to federal law enforcement officer’s directions.” But when their directions and their orders and the laws of this nation are unjust, how can we conform? When people are sitting on the other side of that wall, living in tents in an old night club, being denied their right to petition for asylum in the United States, how can we not protest?

Especially for those of us who are Christian celebrating Advent, how can we not think about the wrath of Herod that killed countless babies and forced others to flee the violence of their homes? How can we not think of the holy family who had to flee to Egypt? What if Egypt had built a wall and not let them through? If Christ were born today, would we leave him waiting indefinitely at the port of entry?

This wall will come down. But how long will it take? How many people will flee violence and poverty in their homes only to die trying to get to safety? How many people will be denied their right to seek asylum? How many people will be killed by Border Patrol? This wall will come down, but not without a fight. Rev. Emily Brewer (center, purple stole) and others await processing after protesting against U.S. immigration policies on the American side of the U.S.-Mexico border north of Tijuana on Dec. 10, 2018. RNS photo by Jair Cabrera Torres Act This week, Congress is voting on the budget for 2019. Trump wants money for more border wall, and Democrats are saying they won’t vote for money for a wall but they will allocate funding more border security. We don’t need to further militarize the border. It’s already a war zone. Call your representatives and tell them that you’re concerned about the ways that asylum-seekers are being treated and ask them to reduce funding to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and instead demand more accountability for ICE and CBP.



This week is also a Week of Action for Migrant Justice, organized by the American Friends Service Committee. Find and participate in an action near you! Pray God who moves beyond and through all borders, break the walls of hostility and hate that exist in our world and in our hearts. For those of us who live in safety, let us remember that our call is solidarity; for those of us who live with privilege, let us remember our call is to protest violence; for those of us who live with abundance, remind us that our call is generosity.* And for those who flee violence, persecution, and poverty, protect them and lead them to a safe haven. Amen.



*these words were adapted for this prayer from words that Rev. Traci Blackmon spoke on the California beach before leading the group on to the border wall. Share Tweet Forward