1984-03 Position Paper on Central Americans

RESOLUTION 84-1

FLIGH OF CENTRAL AMERICANS

WHEREAS more that 50,000 Salvadorans have been murdered since 1979 and at least 750,000 of the 4,750,000 people of El Salvador have become displaced inside and outside of its borders¹, and

WHEREAS many citizens of El Salvador and Guatemala (in particular) have sought refuge in the United State from political repression as well as personal terror, and

WHEREAS the U. S. government refuses to acknowledge this situation, calling the refuges “economic” (i.e. that they desire to earn a better living and are not in life-demeaning and threatening situations, and thus, rather and granting refugee or Voluntary Extended Departure Status (under which they would return to El Salvador when the situation stabilizes); and

WHEREAS these powerless people are deported back to lives to torture and death, most never making it out of their homeland airports without arrest and subsequent execution², and

WHEREAS the office of the U. N. High Commissioner of Refugees have privately advised the Reagan administration that the U. S. may be violating international law in not granting these refugees temporary legal status³, and

WHEREAS the U. S. government’s policy at present emphasizes U. S. interests in the area over the suffering of the powerless civilian population in the time of great crisis, revolution and war, and

WHEREAS although we as citizens of the U. S. are hearing conflicting reports of the situation in Central American countries, the evidence of the civilian murders committed by both warring parties of government and contras cannot be ignored or minimized, and

WHEREAS firsthand knowledge and personal stories may be obtained (for instance) from Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services (LIRS) in New York, Minneapolis, Los Angles and Chicago, Lutheran Student Movement (in the southwest particularly), National Lutheran Campus Ministry (NLCM) which sent a team to El Salvador and Nicaragua earlier this year), and churches which harbor refuges in cities throughout the U. S., and

WHEREAS we as citizens of the U. S. do no seeks to encourage Central Americans to flee their homelands rather than work out the situation there, but recognize the horror of the situation and do seek to harbor and aid those who chose to seek refuge in our country, and

WHEREAS over 150 Christian congregations across the U. S. and Canada have, in the ancient biblical tradition, declared themselves as sanctuaries as an response to the Gospel, and

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT this assembly and all LSM-USA affiliated group acknowledge that plight of our sisters and brothers in Central America, and especially those in El Salvador, whether within their own borders or without, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT LSM-USA reaffirm the 1983 friendly position paper on Aid to Salvadorans and Other Central Americans Seeking Safe Haven in the United States, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT this assembly both support those congregations and campus ministries which have chosen to become sanctuaries, and encourages affiliated groups and individuals to prayerfully consider responses appropriate to their own consciences, such as letter writing, tax resistance, rallies and other forms of public witness, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT LSM-USA groups and individuals educate themselves and provide information about the Central American horror and the role which the U. S. plays there, promoting as well an appreciation for Latin American culture, through community and/or campus-wide programs, dialogues, cultural celebrations or formation of study action groups in the next 12 months, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT LSM-USA groups and individuals pressure the U. S. government to help reverse the situation in Central America by refusing to grant economic and military aid to any of the fighting parties until human rights violations by the offending party cease, to grant Extended Voluntary Departure Status to those refugees in the U. S. and these who apply to escape persecution and death, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the President of Lutheran Student Movement-USA express this position on Central America and Refugee Sanctuary to the presidents of all Lutheran church bodies in the U. S., to the U. S. Congress, to the State Department, to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and to the President of the United States, and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED THAT LSM-USA groups and individuals recognize that the Gospel of Jesus Christ calls us to show compassion on the suffering and relieve the oppressed, regardless of political ideology, and to work actively for the resolution of a situation in which the importance of people is minimized in the face of economic and political issues.