created<\/a>\u00a0an Office of Migrant Services.<\/p>\nGiovana Oaxaca, the program director of migration policy with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, said the human stories of migrants are all too often missing in the political conversation.<\/p>\n
Though her work is on the policy side of migrant affairs, Oaxaca hosted a family that arrived by bus from Texas and called it a powerful reminder of why she has dedicated herself to the question of immigration.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy apartment was filled with the sound of laughter and music. I was cooking arepas with my guests. They also opened up to me about their experience, telling me about the hardships they had endured, their determination, and, of course, the disorientation they were feeling having arrived to Washington, D.C., with the bags that they could carry with them, essentially,\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust having that personal encounter with this family felt like it was a reaffirmation of what policy is trying to do right. If the experience for them had been so dehumanizing \u2026 connecting to them at that individual personal level felt like a return to what values we speak of when we talk about a more just, a more humane immigration system,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Stanley-Rea, noting that \u201cour Scriptures call us to welcome the vulnerable, to be the balm in Gilead, to offer healing to those who have been traumatized,\u201d said that healing cannot come only from handing out benefits. \u201cIt\u2019s got to also come through relationships, it comes through prayers, it comes through the sharing of hearts and the warmth of friendship,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd all of those are special strengths and gifts I think that faith communities have to offer.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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