The Public Issues Committee has met monthly over the school year ( September through June) to consider social justice issues, including affordable housing, health care, MICAH, immigration, domestic violence, the problem of gangs in our communities and other issues as they come up. During the year the committee has drafted two policy statements representing the position of the Long Island Council of Churches and has sent a recommendation to the Board of governors to vote these documents in as policy.

The first one, on immigration, concluded:

“As people of faith, we are called to protect immigrants against hate, workplace discrimination, and unjust deportation. We need secure borders, but William Penn reminds us that, “A good end cannot sanctify evil means, nor must we ever do evil that good may come of it.” Current laws are so widely ignored that they encourage contempt for the rule of law, and the existence of a vast underground economy undermines our safety and security. When enforced, though, current laws separate families and violate fundamental human rights.

“Many employers and many workers find it nearly impossible to comply with current, complex, and contradictory immigration laws. We support reform of our laws rather than continued disregard of laws that do not serve our nation or our values. Immigration policy should promote reunification of families, meet the needs of our economy, and protect those facing political persecution and humanitarian crises. There should be a relatively simple path to asylum, permanent residence, and earned citizenship at modest cost and reasonably brief waiting period.

“In every generation, immigrants have renewed the American Dream through their hard work, their family ties, and their contributions to our culture and our religious life. We need the gifts that immigrants bring to preserve the vibrancy of our economy and our nation, so we support new federal legislation that would allow badly needed workers to come here legally, work with dignity, and travel home regularly to see their families.”

The second, on health care, supports legislation that

• Is truly universal meaning “Everybody in, nobody out”;
• Honors health care as a human right;’
• Relieves employers from providing health insurance, which presently makes them less competitive in the world economy;
• Reduces consumer costs;
• Reduces profit motive for denying claims;
• Is portable (valid anywhere in the US and perhaps overseas);
• Reduces cost for providing care by up to 400 billion dollars;
• Provides all medically necessary health care;
• Eliminates high deductibles and co-pays;
• Is publicly financed, but privately operated.