The Kairos Center for Religions, Rights and Social Justice at Union Theological Seminary in New York stands in solidarity with 50 migrant detainee hunger strikers in Canada. We are heeding an urgent call for international solidarity for 50 hunger striking Black and Brown migrants in a Canadian maximum-security prison. These migrants have been on strike since July 11 to call for an end to their maximum security imprisonment, and indefinite detention. They are demanding to meet with Canadian Minister of Public Safety responsible for prisons and border enforcement, Ralph Goodale.
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This past week, detainees have faced repression for their courageous civil disobedience. They have been on lockdown, kept in their cells for up to 22 hours a day, and threatened with segregation. But they are continuing their fight for freedom. This repression and treatment of these migrants is not just. All of our faith traditions stand against the exploitation and exclusion of any people, especially migrants and immigrants. In the words of Isaiah 58:
6 Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you,
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.
If you remove the yoke from among you,
the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
10 if you offer your food to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
and your gloom be like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you continually,
and satisfy your needs in parched places,
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters never fail.
12 Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to live in.
We believe the struggle for dignity and freedom of movement for all migrants everywhere is an international one. We see this struggle as the struggle against global capitalism, against environmental destruction – it is a struggle against displacement. Let us build bridges across borders and create a stronger, more international, migrant justice movement. Please spread the word. You can sign and share this petition, write a letter of support (and send to migrantstrike@gmail.com) and share on Twitter and Facebook. We stand for the just treatment of migrants and all human beings.
In solidarity,
Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis and Larry Cox,
Co-Directors, Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice at Union Theological Seminary