Concerns for the rights of immigrants are not new to Presbyterians.

Here are some of the statements of previous General Assemblies, taken from ACSWP’s compilation of social witness policy statements:

The 196th Assembly (1984) indirectly addressed the issue of Sanctuary:

1984 Statement * PC(USA), p. 736

Therefore, the 196th General Assembly (1984):

1. Continues to oppose as both illegal and immoral the policy of the current administration to deny safe haven to Central American refugees in the United States;

2. Expresses deep concern about the attacks by the current administration on church workers who in ministering with refugees from Central America are trying to prevent them from being sent back to their countries of origin where they face great personal danger;

3. Expresses its firm support and encouragement for those individuals and churches, who, from the base of their Christian convictions or for humanitarian reasons, have risked imprisonment in order to save the lives of refugees from Central America by helping them to avoid being sent back to the countries they have fled; . . . [CR]

This was in response to the government's actions in Central America and the wars there.

Also:

1985 Statement * PC(USA), p. 767

[The General Assembly]:

1. Protest[s] the clandestine eavesdropping on church meetings by U.S. government undercover agents without warrants or judicial supervision as a serious threat to the Constitutional guarantee of religious freedom and the separation of church and state;

2. Demand[s] that all charges against the refugees and sanctuary workers based on or connected with such surveillance be dropped and any deportation proceedings be halted; . . . [CR]

AND:

The 211th General Assembly (1999):

a. Reaffirm[s] the guiding theological and ethical principles contained in the historical review of Presbyterian policy on immigration and refugee issues, and commit[s] to rediscover its identity as a church of the stranger.

(1) Christians are obligated by the loving will of God to seek to ensure that the basic needs of persons for food, clothes, shelter and safety are met (Matt. 25:35-40).

(2) Christians believe in the intrinsic worth of each human as a person made in the image of God.

(3) The Christian confession of Jesus Christ as Lord transforms "strangers" into neighbors who are welcomed into our communities.

(4) Churches are called to ministry with refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants, and to public witness on their behalf.

(5) Christians have the responsibility to challenge and to shape government policy regarding refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants.

(6) Love of neighbor requires Christians to seek justice for refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants.

(7) Faithfulness to Christ means Christians always live in tension with national values and policies.

(8) Christians may affirm certain values in national and international life as consistent with their theological vision of human community.
 

b. Reaffirm[s] the guiding policy principles contained in the historical review of Presbyterian policy on immigration and refugee issues and to utilize them to rediscover its identity as a church of the stranger.

(1) Christians should engage in pastoral, compassionate, educational, and prophetic ministries with refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants.

(2) The provision of sanctuary for asylum seekers may be an appropriate moral response for churches even though the Untied States government regards this witness as illegal.

(3) Churches should vigorously advocate the church's right to religious freedom in their ministries with refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants.

(4) Refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants should be treated humanely and justly in government policies and in our communities.

(5) The United States should respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and adhere to international laws and accords that seek to implement standards of universal human rights.

(6) Christians should seek the elimination of discrimination and racism from government policies and community responses.

(7) The United States government should ensure that the constitutional rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants to due process of law are protected.

(8) Sovereign nations should exercise their authority to regulate immigration with a presumption toward generosity rather than restrictiveness.

(9) The United States should open jobs to neighbors with a strong and continuing historical connection who need and want to work so long as there are jobs available and the poor already residing in the United States are not further disadvantaged.

(10) Restrictions on immigration should be enforced humanely.

(11) The United States government should make the causes of human displacement a major priority in United States foreign policy.

c. Direct[s] the General Assembly Council, through its Ministries Divisions, to coordinate the various initiatives for ministry with immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers by:

(1) Urging sessions and presbyteries to develop new approaches to ministry with new neighbors and to share those models that are successful in order to be mentors and models for others; and encouraging presbyteries and synods as the locus of support to congregations and individuals called into caring ministry with immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.

(3) Encouraging Presbyterians to express pastoral concerns and prayers for those whose [sic] service [sic] in the Immigration and Naturalization Service, acknowledging that they often find themselves faced with difficult, morally ambiguous, and even morally indefensible situations in the enforcement of U.S. immigration policy.

(4) Identifying and/or developing resources for pastoral care with asylum seekers and immigrants who are in detention.

d. Reaffirm[s] the 209th General Assembly (1997) Resolution on "Welfare and Poverty" policy on the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, urge[s] presbyteries and congregations to respond to the plight of refugees and immigrants during the next year when public assistance ends, and to advocate publicly on their behalf so that their basic needs will be met.

e. Reaffirm[s] the consistent witness of General Assemblies on behalf of due process in legal proceedings and urge[s] Presbyterians, presbyteries, and congregations to engage in advocacy efforts to ensure that foreigners in the United States have the same legal protections that citizens enjoy, including the right to legal counsel.

f. Advocate[s] for the repeal of those sections of the 1996 immigration law that provide for the expedited removal of asylum seekers and immigrants without a full hearing, including the right of appeals, urging presbyteries and sessions to do similar advocacy. Until these sections are repealed, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) of the United States government should cooperate with efforts to monitor independently the way "expedited removal" is applied.

g. Advocate[s] for the repeal of those sections of the 1996 immigration law that removes review of that law and its administration from the jurisdiction of immigration judges and the federal courts, urging presbyteries and sessions to similar advocacy.

h. Oppose[s] the routine use of detention as an enforcement tool in addressing common immigration violations, noting the particular hardship this puts on women and children, urging presbyteries and sessions to similar advocacy.

i. Advocate[s] for use of the credible fear standard for releasing asylum seekers from detention, and assuring a more speedy adjudication to reduce unreasonably lengthy stays in detention, urging presbyteries and sessions to do similar advocacy. The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) should ensure asylum seekers are not held in local jails, nor detained with local criminals, and that they are provided humane conditions including adequate and appropriate food, personal treatment, medical care, prompt access to legal help, family, and friends.

j. Urge[s] that numerical limits used by the United States on allowing adjudicated asylum seekers adjust to a legal permanent residence (LPR) status be lifted, urging presbyteries and sessions to do similar advocacy.

k. Urge[s] restoration of a more generous admission of refugees, giving particular attention to the annual report of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, and ensuring that those refugees identified and screened as being in urgent need of resettlement (rescue) be a priority for United States admissions, urging presbyteries and sessions to do similar advocacy.

l. Advocate[s] for the repeal of sections of the 1996 immigration law that require state and local governments, and publicly funded institutions and programs (such as hospitals, battered women's shelters, WIC, church feeding programs) to report undocumented persons to the INS, urging presbyteries and sessions to do similar advocacy. The 211th General Assembly (1999) further calls on Christians who are under such reporting requirements to weigh in their conscience the claims of this requirement against the biblical injunction to shelter and welcome the stranger.

m. Advocate[s] for review of the sections of the 1996 immigration law that defined misdemeanors as felonies for purposes of deportation and removed the possibility of an immigration judge granting a discretionary waiver from deportation based on a person's whole case, urging presbyteries and sessions to do similar advocacy. The 211th General Assembly (1999) affirms that Christian belief demands that we make an allowance for atonement and redemption of those who have made a mistake but are working to overcome it.

n. Express[es] concern and encourage study of the militarization of our nation's borders for the purpose of dealing with immigration.