1. United States
2. Ohio
3. Letter

I am writing as a member of the Catholic Social Justice Committee in Holy Trinity Parish, a Roman Catholic Church in Zoar, Ohio and affiliated with St. Joseph’s Parish in Dover, Ohio. As a member of the Social Justice Committee, we are emphasizing the 7 Principles of Catholic Social Teaching and working to integrate these values into our weekly masses and within our wider Catholic Community. These principles are: The Dignity of the Human Person To Live as a Family and Community The Rights to Food, Work, Clothes, Shelter, School and Medical Care Stewardship of Life and Our Earth as God’s Creations To Care for the Poor and Vulnerable…” Whatever you do for the least of my brothers and sisters, you do for me”. The Dignity and Rights of Workers Building Solidarity with Our Brothers and Sisters and Working for the Common Good Our community of Tuscarawas County has many immigrant families. This isn’t by chance. We (the Catholic churches and other denominations in our community) have invited and encouraged our neighbors from Latin America to resettle in our community. This has long been a tradition of open arms, of mission work that has its roots with Moravian missionaries welcoming native Americans in the 1700’s into their communities and churches. Over the last ten to fifteen years concerted efforts have been made to invite and support the relocation of people from Mexico, Cuba and Guatemala to our community. Many families in Tuscarawas County have adopted children from these countries, and other countries like China. These immigrant families are now an integral part of our communities. Our workforce has grown and our local economy is strong, in part because of the dedication and hard work of these immigrant families. Our communities have grown, and our churches have grown and become vibrant because of these immigrant families; families who own their own businesses own heir own homes, pay city, sate and federal taxes, and contribute in many ways to the good of the community. We are concerned that these legal, law-abiding immigrant members of our community will be plucked from our midst by the brutal and even lawless ICE and border patrol thugs that ware wreaking havoc in other communities in our country. Their actions are un-American. We implore you to speak out and prevent this kind of invasion into our community. If you want to lose voting support for ou, the Republican Congressional delegation from Ohio, and the Executive Office, ICE and border patrol in our community will surely do it! The actions of the current U.S. administration are completely contradictory to the principles of Catholic Social Teaching, and you as an elected official should be doing everything you can to stop these un-American and un-Christian actions.