Sign and Distribute this Faith Statement

One of the key arguments against Hutto and family detention is its inherent immorality. Many in the faith-based community have objected to the incarceration of children and the suggestion that this is the best way to promote family values.

Click here to download the Faith Statement and join those formally objecting to Hutto on moral grounds. It may be returned to: Texans United for Families, c/o Grassroots Leadership, 904 Capitol Court, Austin, 78756.

For more information, contact faith[at]texansunited4families.com or (512) 971-0487.

Below is the text from the body of the Statement. (However, rather than just copying this text, please take a moment to download it from the link above.)

The T. Don Hutto Detention Center in Taylor, Texas imprisons children and their families every day right in our backyard. Corrections Corporation of America, a for-profit private prison company that operates the Hutto detention center, and Williamson County both make a profit from every family incarcerated through this reprehensible government contract. These precious immigrant children and their families have not been charged with a crime, yet are incarcerated at a prison-like facility, their health, safety, education, and well-being put at risk with no foreseeable benefit.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, says that Hutto is necessary “to maintain the unity of alien families.” We as faith communities believe that we must find a solution that ensures that children do not spend their days in prison, a more humane solution, a solution in which all men, women, and children, regardless of their country of origin, are treated with dignity and respect as children of God while their immigration cases are being reviewed.

We cannot stand idly by and let innocent children be treated so inhumanely. While the world’s faiths are different in practice and traditions, they share the principle of human dignity. We see an example of this belief in Proverbs 31:8-9: “Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all the destitute. Speak out, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

Thus, we the below-signed members of the central Texas faith community, call for the immediate closure of the T. Don Hutto Detention Center. To end the detention of children and their families, I add my voice. Please use my name publicly. For evil to triumph, all that is necessary is for good people to keep silent. We cannot keep silent anymore.