August 13, 2009
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper

Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) commended the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for taking steps to improve the immigration detention system and remains "hopeful" that such comprehensive reform continues. LIRS is one of the nation's leading agencies in welcoming and advocating for refugees and immigrants. Based in Baltimore, LIRS works on behalf of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement – the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security – announced Aug. 6 it will provide more oversight and direct management of immigrant families and individuals held in federal custody, move away from utilizing a penal detention system and develop alternatives to prison and jail detention for immigrants who pose no threat to the community or flight risk. It also plans to ensure timely provision of health care for immigrants held in federal custody and discontinue the use of the T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility in Taylor, Texas, for family detention.

"Our nation must commit to a major shift in its view of immigrants who seek freedom, protection and opportunity on America's shores," said Anne P. Wilson, LIRS executive vice president. "It is time to recognize that indefinitely imprisoning families and those fleeing prosecution – who have committed no crime in seeking this protection – is fundamentally anti-American and goes against our core values of ‘liberty and justice for all,'" she said.

ELCA News Service