As President Trump considers revoking the legal status of Ukrainian refugees, a Monmouth pastor is advocating for families who fled violence and religious persecution and settled in western Illinois.
A group of residents launched a Sponsor Circle program and helped three Ukrainian families settle in Monmouth a couple years ago.
The Rev. Jamie Gallagher of First Lutheran Church in Monmouth said some members of the congregation were part of that community-wide effort.
“Our congregation specifically provided housing initially for each of the families as we have an apartment space here,” Gallagher told TSPR. “We were able to work on getting all their initial stages taken care of, including getting jobs, and each of the families has been able to secure housing."
The church has a history of helping refugees. In the 1970s, the congregation worked with Vietnamese refugees. More recently, they worked with Chin refugees from Myanmar, whose Christian Church in Monmouth is kitty-corner from First Lutheran.
“So it's kind of ingrained in this congregation's history to work with people like that because we recognize their plight and we recognize they have needs and that our community has something to offer for them,” Gallagher said.
The Trump administration could revoke the temporary legal status of 240,000 Ukrainians, who fled to the U.S. after Russia’s invasion, as well as people from countries including Cuba, Haiti, and Venezuela. That could lead to them being deported.
Gallagher is asking his congregation and the community to contact legislators and share concerns about a potential executive order that would affect refugees who are legally in the United States.
“If you have not been politically active before, if you have never contacted your representative before, that is okay,” Gallagher wrote in a Facebook post. “This is a perfect time to reach out and let them know we want our friends protected and to keep confidence that the U.S. is a safe and welcoming place.”
Gallagher said refugees are refugees because they aren’t safe in their countries of origin, either due to warfare or religious persecution.
In Monmouth, they are contributing members of society, and Gallagher said they need further protections,
“We are thinking about and trying to figure out how best to protect the people in our community that we know and who came here trusting that this home would be their new home and that they have finally escaped the dangers back in [their countries of origin], especially in Ukraine,” Gallagher said. “But this also impacts the Haitian population. We have some Haitians here in our community.”
Tri States Public Radio produced this story. TSPR relies on financial support from our readers and listeners in order to provide coverage of the issues that matter to west central Illinois, southeast Iowa, and northeast Missouri. As someone who values the content created by TSPR's news department please consider making a financial contribution.
