DENVER — Representatives of the Buddhist, Christian, Islamic and Jewish faiths stood together in unity on Thursday to call for a more compassionate response to immigrants in the US.
"We are taught over and over, people who are strangers, to care for them, to love them, to remember them," said Rabbi Adam Morris of Temple Micah.
Rabbi Morris spoke at the Interfaith Immigration Network rally in Denver Thursday to push back against the current federal response to immigration.
"[I] don't believe that there's not a problem. I don't believe that there aren't huge complexities and a lot of inconsistencies," he said. "We come to this guided by our faith and tradition and to treat people with justice, compassion and peace. I think we can do that."
Other Coloradans agree.
"All people of faith are called by their faith traditions to love one another, to love the stranger equally as themselves, and not just to passively love but to work for the welfare of all people," said Anne Kleinkopf with the Interfaith Immigration Network.
Following the rally, a declaration signed by more than 1,400 people was to be delivered to Governor Jared Polis and other lawmakers.
"Making sure that families are not torn apart, making sure that people feel safe in their daily lives, in their grocery stores, in their places of worship, in their schools, in hospitals, in public buildings," said Kleinkopf. "Making sure that our neighbors, who have been here for decades working, have a road to citizenship."
It's a cause that gathered the support of dozens of people on a Thursday afternoon.
"Find their hearts," David Silver of Boulder asked of the country's leaders. "To discover the humanity within themselves, the respect for themselves as human beings, so that they could share that with other people."
