By Bill Mefford
Several years ago, on President’s Day in 2014 I joined a small group of faith leaders and undocumented immigrants in an act of civil disobedience in front of the White House to protest the Obama administration’s use of mass deportations. Our protest was not met with open arms by the Obama administration - as expected - as well as by other DC-based immigrants’ rights groups or supposedly progressive faith leaders. Though President Obama had deported 2 million immigrants, others in DC thought we were pushing too hard too fast. I countered that it was quite convenient to think we were pushing too hard too fast and if their families were being separated they might want us to push harder and faster.
Even though some of the DC-based “leaders” cared more about the political access they had to the White House than they did about justice for undocumented immigrants and their families, it was about six months later that President Obama initiated the DACA program which allows DREAM-Act eligible students the ability to study and work. It has been a life-saver for so many and I think our action was one of the steps which paved the way for this to happen.
And that is the power of civil disobedience. It is a tactic; a dramatic tactic intended to pierce the hearts of specific groups of the public and especially the heart of the decision-maker, who in that case was President Obama.
I am getting arrested on Tuesday, October 15 to protest the latest draconian effort by the racist trump administration which will set the number of refugee admissions at an all-time low of 18,000 (it was around 75,000 under Presidents Bush and Obama), and it will also allow local communities to block resettlement in their communities, therefore allowing local communities to determine foreign policy for the United States. This is part of the ongoing effort by the trump administration to instill state-sponsored terrorism against migrants and to whiten America by dehumanizing migrants of every kind, including refugees.
It used to be, just a few years back, that far too many people made the unsupported and unbiblical distinction between “good” migrants and “bad” migrants. People would - again without any biblical support - argue that undocumented migrants were “bad” and refugees were “good” because they were victims of violence. This is just cleaned up racism and classism, but at least conservatives tried to have some level of dignity through making this argument. But no longer. Now trump and his mindless, heartless, and soulless followers are raging against all migrants unless they magically appear from Norway. This is nothing more than an especially vile type of overt and ugly racism and that includes trump, his supporters, and practically the entire Republican Party who absolutely refuses to stand up to him. This is evil.
So, as I prepare to get arrested on Tuesday the 15th there is nothing in my heart or mind who thinks that trump, the Republican Party, or his mindless, heartless, soulless followers will have their heart pierced by our collective act of civil disobedience. I mean, to have your heart pierced you have to actually have a heart, right? And yes, I believe in Jesus and I believe Jesus can truly change any person’s heart. I am not just saying that. I honestly believe that because Jesus changes mine every day (almost). But I am not expecting it for trump or his rabid followers at all.
Why am I doing this then? Well, for a number of reasons really. I do believe that we need more people protesting and marching and screaming out against this lawless, reckless, heartless, amoral administration. So, I am hoping you - the reader - will get off the bench if you are not already. We cannot get tired or give up and there is one reason for that: because those perpetrating evil are not resting either. While the day is long we cannot afford to rest.
I am also getting arrested for the most selfish and unhelpful reason I know: I am pissed off. I am utterly tired of this administration’s contempt for non-white lives and their complete disregard for anyone who does not benefit them financially or politically. I am pissed off and I am tired of being pissed off. I am gonna get arrested and I am gonna yell out loud every chant I can think of for my own edification and sanctification on my way to the slammer. I believe God is a God of love and justice and God is screaming and yelling chants that resound throughout creation so my action on Tuesday will hopefully be a physical manifestation of the anger burning in God’s heart towards this administration and 85% of so-called evangelicals who have stopped worshiping God so that they can give themselves fully over to their idolatrous one true love: donald trump. Yes, I think God is pissed off too. Scratch that. I KNOW God is pissed off. And if you aren’t, then you’re not paying attention.
Lastly, and closely tied to me and God being pissed off, I am doing this because I know refugees and they are some of the most remarkable people I have ever met. Refugees are people who have lived in the most violent places in the world - the places that we see safely from our couches on TV news and shake our heads at the senseless harm taking place oceans away. Refugees live through that and somehow make it out. Then, with practically nothing but the clothes on their backs, they make the long and arduous trip to the US (or most often, other places in the world) and begin their lives over from scratch. Doctors in other countries become cab drivers, lawyers bag groceries; they do anything they need to do to give their children a safer space in the world to grow up. Refugees come to this country to pursue their dreams, to escape religious, economic or political oppression, or to reunite with family members. They contribute to the United States in so many ways. They are our neighbors, they are our colleagues at work, and they are members of our congregations - some of them are our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Taking them in is not only our duty to the world, it is the greatest blessing of our lives.
And so it is a mixture of hope and anger that I engage in civil disobedience Tuesday. Hope and anger for a new country and a new world without the evil impact of a man too stupid and too demented to care about the harm he does every day. I am hopeful that every thing we do as an act of justice and compassion will ultimately have a positive impact on the world and I am angry that we are so far away from even any semblance of the dream that God has for our world. Hope and anger fuel me. I cannot keep from speaking out, from acting out. Hope and anger are in my bones. Be hopeful and angry with me.