Statement of Mary Meg McCarthy, Executive Director, Heartland Alliance’s National Immigrant Justice Center
Heartland Alliance's National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) condemns Senator Mark Kirk's (R-IL) call for a moratorium on Syrian refugees. Senator Kirk's actions betray Americans’ moral values and compassion for people seeking safety from persecution and war, and defy Illinois’ history of welcoming refugees and immigrants.
Our country’s immigration system has evolved through a constant negotiation of how we uphold our commitment to providing refuge for people fleeing violence, with the need to defend our national security. Refugees are subject to the most stringent security and screening measures of any group seeking to enter the United States. Promoting the categorical exclusion of any group based on their nationality reveals a shameful ignorance of both U.S. immigration law and foreign policy, and neglects the disastrous cultural and security impacts that would be wrought by such policies. Using the lives of vulnerable people as fodder in election year politics is shameful and dangerous.
In this time of crisis, Illinois must remain a compassionate voice for the men, women, and children who are fleeing Syria. To know the terrible violence they face, and turn our backs on them, is unconscionable.