Rev. Dr. John H Bennett
Jefferson City
Dear editor:
It is an astounding irony that President Donald Trump was in Columbia inveighing against immigration, Birthright citizenship, and the “caravan invasion” on All Saints Day. The saints would find his words and arrogant demeanor repulsive. Someone should call to his attention, and that of his legion of followers, the words of the poet Ema Lazarus, which are inscribed on the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”… 0r passages in scripture which call the faithful to care for “the sojourner in your midst” and “ the least of these.” Instead of sending thousands of troops to the border, our government should increase its capacity to responsibly receive and process with caring, these Central American refugees who are fleeing violence, oppression and “yearning to breathe free. “Agencies like the American Jewish World Service, Catholic Charities, Church World Service, and similar refugee resettlement agencies could give compassionate assistance in this endeavor, living out the tenants of their faith and the core values of our Statue of Liberty democracy.