As people of faith, we know the budget is a moral document. Through dollars and cents, our federal budget reveals the nation’s priorities—which is why, as Christians, we must urge Congress to vote NO on the current proposal that increases funding for immigration enforcement at the expense of lifesaving benefits that serve our most low-income neighbors. 

The budget resolution passed by the Senate and House is devastating for immigrant and low-income families. The plan cuts $880 billion from the Medicaid program and $230 billion from SNAP in order to fund over $4.5 trillion in tax cuts that primarily benefit the rich. The plan also provides over $200 billion in funding towards mass detention and deportation of immigrants, escalating the criminalization and dehumanization of immigrant communities. 

We must help our members of Congress understand how cuts to Medicaid and SNAP to fund greater immigration enforcement and tax cuts for the wealthy will impact the American people. 

This budget reconciliation bill would make it so more families will struggle to pay their bills and afford groceries; more children will live in poverty; and fewer people will have access to lifesaving health care coverage, all while billionaires grow wealthier through expensive tax cuts heavily skewed toward them. The exorbitant immigration and border enforcement funding within the bill, in contrast with the cuts to human needs made in the bill, demonstrates a concerning shift in federal government priorities away from supporting the basic needs of Americans. 

Increasing funding for agencies that cause harm to immigrants and infringe on basic human rights contradicts our faith’s moral call to love our neighbor as ourselves and welcome the immigrant. ICE and CBP have significantly escalated their actions in the past few months with hundreds being detained in foreign prison camps, without any access to due process. Green card visa holders with no criminal records have been detained or deported by ICE, and ICE has detained and sought to deport valid visa holders who participated in public protests. U.S. citizen children of undocumented immigrants have been deported and indigenous people with U.S. citizenship have been detained.   

As Christians, we know that people should not live in or die from poverty in our rich nation. And our sacred texts and traditions offer a clear and consistent call to love immigrants. To welcome them. To value them. To give them justice. To work to address their needs. We must urge Congress to heed the call to welcome the sojourner by rejecting increases in funding for immigration enforcement, especially when it would be paid for by cutting benefits for our low-income neighbors. Instead, we must turn toward policies that strengthen our communities so we all can thrive.