Month: October 2023

Derek Chauvin Files Petition for U.S. Supreme Court Review of His State Court Conviction for Murder and Manslaughter of George Floyd

As previously noted, on July 18, 2023, the Minnesota Supreme Court in a one-page order denied Derek Chauvin’s petition for review of the Minnesota Court of Appeals ‘ 50-page decision affirming his state court conviction, after a jury trial, for second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the May 2020 death of George Floyd.[1]

On October 18, 2023, counsel for Derek Chauvin filed his petition for U.S. Supreme Court review of his state court conviction for murder of George Floyd.[2] The 38-page petition presented the following questions:

  1. “Whether catastrophic-widespread community harm and threat of harm is a presumed community bias and must be considered as a singular inquiry as an extreme case creating circumstances so inherently prejudicial that jury bias must also be presumed because jurors have a vested interest in the outcome of the case, thereby narrowing a trial court’s discretion and mandating a change of venue, without voir dire, to ensure a constitutionally fair trial under the Sixth Amendment.”
  2. “Whether when evidence of juror prejudice and voir dire misconduct found after trial indicates a juror stereotyped, prejudged, or carried an undisclosed animus against the criminal defendant, the Sixth Amendment requires the trial court to consider that evidence and any resulting denial of the right to trial by an impartial jury. “

The response by the State of Minnesota is due November 20, 2023.

Conclusion

The details of this cert petition and the State’s response will be summarized in future posts.

In the meantime, the Chauvin appeal and arguments in the state case and now his cert. petition seem a waste of effort and money for all concerned in light of Chauvin’s guilty plea in the federal case over the killing of Mr. Floyd when Chauvin admitted in writing that certain facts were true . . .[and] established his  guilt beyond a reasonable doubt].” [3] Those admissions included the following:

  • Chauvin, ‘while acting under color of law . . . willfully deprived George Floyd of . . . the right to be free from an unreasonable seizure, which includes the right to be free from the use of unreasonable force by a police officer. [Chauvin] . . . held his left knee across Mr. Floyd’s neck, back, and shoulder, and his right knee on Mr. Floyd’s back and arm. As Mr. Floyd lay on the ground, handcuffed and unresisting, [Chauvin] . . . kept his knees on Floyd’s neck and body, even after Mr. Floyd became unresponsive. This offense resulted in bodily injury to, and the death of, George Floyd.”
  • Chauvin “admits that in using this unreasonable and excessive force, he acted willfully and in callous and wanton disregard of the consequences to Mr. Floyd’s life. [Chauvin] . . . knew that what he was doing was wrong, in part, because it was contrary to his training as an MPD officer.. .”
  • Chauvin “also knew there was no legal justification to continue his use of force because he was aware that Mr. Floyd not only stopped resisting, but also stopped talking, stopped moving, stopped breathing, and lost consciousness and a pulse.’ [Chauvin] . . .chose to continue applying force even though he knew Mr. Floyd’s condition progressively worsened. . . . [Chauvin] also heard Mr. Floyd repeatedly explain that he could not breathe, was in pain, and wanted help.”
  • Chauvin “knew that what he was doing was wrong—that continued force was no longer appropriate and that it posed significant risks to Mr. Floyd’s life—based on what he observed and heard about Mr. Floyd.”
  • Chauvin “admits that he failed to render medical aid to Mr. Floyd, as he was capable of doing, and trained and required to do.”

================================

[1] Derek Chauvin Will Ask U.S. Supreme Court To Review His State Court Conviction for Murder and Manslaughter of George Floyd, dwkcommentaries.com (July 21, 2023).

[2] Petition for Writ of Certiorari, Chauvin v. State of Minnesota, U.S. Sup. Ct. # 23-416  (Oct. 16, 2023).

[3] Derek Chauvin’s Appeal of State Conviction and Sentencing for Killing of George Floyd, dwkcommentaries.com (Jan. 23, 2023).

U.S. and Cuba Meet and Discuss Various Issues  

On October 10, the U.S. Deputy Undersecretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Eric Jacobstein, met with Johana Tablada de la Torre, [Cuba’s] Deputy Director General for the United States of the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to discuss various issues. [1]

Jacobstein stressed that “the Cuban government [must release] the approximately 1,000 political prisoners unjustly detained” and allow “its citizens to exercise their fundamental freedoms. If the Cuban government seeks to improve relations with the United States, it is essential to achieve progress on these human rights issues.” Jacobstein added that U.S. policy toward Cuba “focuses on promoting accountability for human rights violations and abuses and, at the same time, increasing support for the Cuban people, including promoting safe and humane migration, and independent private sector in Cuba.”

Tablada said to media that the U.S. inclusion of Cuba on its list of state sponsors of terrorism “immediately triggered a disproportionate flow of migrants to the United States.”

The U.S. responded that “US law establishes specific legal criteria for rescinding a ‘country that sponsors terrorism’ designation, and that any review of Cuba’s status on the list would be based on the law and criteria established by the Congress.”

Moreover, the U.S. stated it has a primary objective of  “guaranteeing safe, orderly, humane and regular migration between Cuba and the United States.” To that end, “Over the past year, we have taken a number of steps to facilitate such migration, including the full resumption of immigrant visa services in Havana and the creation of a new parole program for certain nationalities, including Cuban citizens. We continue to urge Cubans to follow legal immigration pathways and not risk their lives through dangerous irregular migration.”

========================

[1] USA: If the Cuban regime seeks to ‘improve relations’ it has to advance human rights, Diario de Cuba (Oct. 24, 2023); Torres, Cuba has ‘urgent’ need for sanctions relief, island’s diplomat tells U.S. officials, Miami Herald (Oct. 19, 2023).

100,000+ Cubans Obtain Humanitarian Parole in U.S.   

As of the end of September, more than 100,000 Cubans had obtained humanitarian parole in U.S. [1]

In addition, the U.S. has opened a new Safe Mobility Office in Ecuador where Cubans and others may submit U.S. asylum applications. Under the ‘Safe Mobility’ program, eligible refugees and migrants will be considered for refugee and humanitarian admission programs, and other avenues for legal admission to the United States or other countries that may offer these opportunities.” This program is supported by UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and other relevant partners.

===============

[1] More than 100,000 Cubans benefit from the humanitarian parole established in the US, Diario de Cuba (Oct. 23, 2023); U.S. Customs & Border Protection, CBP Releases September 2023 Monthly Update Oct. 21, 2023);The US will open an office in Ecuador to process cases of migrants from the region, EFE Agency (Oct. 19, 2023); U.S. State Dep’t, Announcement of Safe Mobility Office in Ecuador (Oct. 19, 2023); General information about the ‘Safe Mobility’ program.

Congressional Opposition to U.S. Helping Cuban Private Businesses  

As previously noted, the Biden Administration has been developing regulations to allow private Cuban entrepreneurs to open bank accounts in the United States to facilitate their operations and allow U.S. banks to clear dollar transactions originating in third countries that involve Cuban nationals. But those proposed regulations have not yet been publicly announced.[1]

The apparent reason for this delay has been opposition by Florida Republican Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart, who has said both in public and in meetings with administration officials that he is against providing any aid to the Cuban government. Díaz-Balart, the chairman of a House subcommittee that makes decisions on the State Department budget, has been for a long time a strong supporter of sanctions against the Cuban regime.[2]

Moreover, the budget bill that Díaz-Balart helped pass in the House to fund the State Department and other foreign aid programs says that the $30 million for democracy promotion programs in Cuba cannot be used “for business promotion, economic reform, entrepreneurship, or any other assistance that is not democracy building.” This bill, however, still needs to be reconciled with the Senate version.

According to a State Department spokesman, however, “Longstanding U.S. policy supports Cuban entrepreneurs and the growth and independence of Cuba’s private sector to maximize benefit to the Cuban people while minimizing benefit to the Cuban government. We have seen encouraging signs that the Cuban government is opening more space for the private sector, and we believe its continued growth provides a window of opportunity to introduce the Cuban people to a different societal model, one fueled by market economics rather than government control.”

=====================

[1] E.g., Signs of Increasing Connections Between Cuban Private Enterprise and U.S., dwkcommentareis.com (Sept. 27, 2023).

[2] Torres, Proposed policy changes to help the private sector in Cuba face opposition in Congress, Miami Herald (Oct. 20, 2023).

 

“The Benediction Never Ends” at Westminster Presbyterian Church

On September 17, 2023, Rev. Dr. Tim Hart-Andersen, Senior Pastor at Minneapolis’ Westminster Presbyterian Church, delivered the second of his last seven sermons, “The Benediction Never Ends at Westminster Presbyterian Church,” before he retires at the end of October. Here is the text of that sermon along with a summary of this Sunday’s worship service.

Call to Confession and Prayer of Confession

(Rev. Alanna Simone Tyler) “O Holy One, you wear a thousand different names, but we hesitate to use any. Forgive us. We depend solely on ourselves, as if you were a figment of someone else’s imagination. We go through the motions, yet our faith has little depth or staying power. We long to be renewed. Help us discover the deep joy that comes from trusting in you, and following Jesus, in whose name we pray.”

Scripture

Isaiah 25: 1-4:

“Lord, you are my God;
I will exalt you and praise your name,
for in perfect faithfulness
you have done wonderful things,
things planned long ago.
You have made the city a heap of rubble,
the fortified town a ruin,
the foreigners’ stronghold a city no more;
it will never be rebuilt.
Therefore strong peoples will honor you;
cities of ruthless nations will revere you.
You have been a refuge for the poor,
a refuge for the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the storm
and a shade from the heat.
For the breath of the ruthless
is like a storm driving against a wall.”

 Romans 8: 32-35, 37-39

“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?  Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.  Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”  

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,  neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The Sermon[1]

“Religion has always tried to help people face the mystery of mortality. Dealing with death is the one constant in every age and culture. It happens to everyone; I hope that’s not news to you!”

“Humanity’s capacity to create symbols, and our need to bring order to the world, gave rise to rituals around death long ago. Those rituals offered the cultures in which they developed ways to find meaning in life and in death. Over time, different religious traditions evolved, each with its own understanding of what happens at death and how to treat the end of life.”

“This summer we visited several archaeological museums in Europe. Each one introduced us to ancient ways of navigating the loss of life. We saw mummies, complex burial vaults, carefully selected items placed in graves – jewelry, drinking vessels, weapons, amulets, and other items. All of that tells us something about how our ancestors dealt with death. We can imagine the gatherings held on such occasions, where laments were lifted, stories told, exploits recounted, gratitude expressed, and religious response offered.”

“That is essentially what humans still do at funerals in every culture and religion, but when death comes in sudden and overwhelming numbers that is not possible. In Derna, Libya, there are now more than 11,000 confirmed deaths from the catastrophic flooding last week, and that number could grow to more than 20,000. Body bags stacked anonymously in mass graves violate the rituals we long for at the time of death and extend the trauma. Let us keep the survivors who have lost so many in our prayers. To offer help, look for information on our website tomorrow on how giving for Libya relief through Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.”

“Death on that scale is not common, but mortality is never very far away. There’s no way to avoid facing death. What matters is how we attend to it. That’s a basic task of any religion, certainly ours. Responding to death with courage and hope is at the heart of Christian proclamation.”

“We may think of our congregation as being primarily engaged in Sunday worship, in justice and service, or education, or music and the arts. We’re known in the community for those things, and they are part of our mission, but there’s another dimension to our ministry that may not be as widely known. We help families move through the loss of a loved one, and we do it often.”

“Last week Westminster held five memorial services or funerals – the latter being when the body is present. And this week we have two more. That pastoral work is central to our life as a Christian community. We have something to say at the time of death.”

“Today’s scripture lesson from Romans affirms the power of God’s love. The Apostle Paul is confident that God’s love conveys us from this life to the next. ‘Who will separate us from the love of Christ?’ Paul asks. ‘Will affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword?’”

“Then he answers his own question – and this is our response to the age-old wondering about life and death.”

“’No,’ he says, ‘In all these things’- the stuff that happens in life –

‘We are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ (Romans 8:35, 37-39)

“I’ve preached on that biblical text than any other in my 40 years in ministry – some 300 sermons. That’s because it’s the scripture of choice at memorial services. It’s the funeral equivalent of the ‘love chapter’ in I Corinthians used at almost all weddings.”

“For that reason, I’ve been reluctant over the years to preach again from Romans 8 on a Sunday morning. But with retirement coming at the end of next month I decided that the text offers such a strong affirmation of our hope in life eternal it needs to be heard one more time.”

“Most people would rather attend a wedding than a funeral; in contrast, as I’ve said before, most ministers would prefer leading a memorial service. At a memorial service pastors play an essential role in helping those assembled to face death and not be undone by it.”

“A Christian memorial service does three things. First, it invites us to name the sorrow and acknowledge the loss. The pain is real. No matter how long and wonderful someone’s life may have been or how welcome their release from suffering in this world was, there is, nonetheless, an absence, and absence in the heart they once occupied in our lives. So, we express our grief and do not deny it.”

“Second, at a memorial service we remember the life of the one who died. We tell stories of their legacy, the love they shared, the values they lived, the difference they made. We laugh, we cry, we revel in our memory of who they were to us.”

“Memorial services, especially when in a more secular setting, are often called a celebration of life and sometimes the subject of death itself can be oddly taboo. In a Christian funeral, we do not avoid mention of the end of life. This is the third piece: a memorial service gives us the opportunity to face death squarely and proclaim the core of our faith: that God’s love carries us from this life into the mystery of life eternal.”

“During the construction of the US Bank Stadium back in 2016, a worker fell to his death in an accident. I was asked to speak to the workers when they came back onto the site for the first time two days later. I was there at the start of their work day, very early in the morning. The workers assembled on the future football field, in their safety vests and hard hats.”

“I was introduced, and when I stepped to the microphone, 1200 hard hats quickly came off. It was their way of making that construction site sacred space. That moment transcended time. It could have been any community gathered anywhere in any age, to mark the loss of one of their own.”

“I looked out at them and did what I do at every memorial service. I acknowledged the pain of losing a co-worker. I said his name to honor his life. And I spoke of the hope we have in the unseen force of love that is stronger than death. Then I offered prayer for his family and friends and all bearing sorrow that day. With my “Amen,” the hardhats came back on, and a new work day began.”

“I imagine most of those workers were grieving that day, and also  have been facing their own mortality. A construction site, especially a massive one like the stadium, can be a dangerous place. However difficult, that’s important for us to do from time to time.”

“Jews are preparing today for Yom Kippur. It begins at sundown this evening and continues for 25 or 26 hours until nightfall on Monday. Yom Kippur invites Jews to remember those who have died and to examine their own lives as they enter a day of fasting.”

“It is something like our Ash Wednesday, when we reckon with reality and remember that from dust we have come and to dust we shall return. Ash Wednesday invites us to consider the inevitability of our own deaths. We hear that again at memorial services in a part of the liturgy called the Commendation. “

“Imagine for a moment these words being said at your memorial service:

  • “All of us go down to the dust; Yet even at the grave we make our song, Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. Give rest, O Christ, to your servant with all your saints, where there is neither pain nor sorrow nor sighing, but life everlasting.
  • “Into your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend your servant…Tim, Steve, Mary, Alan, Bob, Nancy.” Drop in your own name. “We commend your servant…”
  • “Receive them into the arms of your mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of the saints in light.”

As is often true of anything we don’t fully understand, we tend to avoid the subject of death, as if it might not notice us and slip by. We may not like talking about the end of our lives but ignoring it can lead us to fear it and cause anxiety when it does comes near, as it will. Our time on this earth is fleeting; coming to terms with that truth helps us live with more purpose and live more fully in each day.”

“The Bible is not afraid of human mortality. Throughout the texts of the older and newer testaments we hear the repeated promise that God intends to do away with death.”

“The ancient prophet Isaiah imagines an invitation to a mountaintop feast – and this is proof that even back then when someone dies people started to eat together as a way to process their grief –

‘On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples

a feast of rich food, a feast of well-matured wines…

And God will destroy on this mountain

the shroud that is cast over all peoples…

God will swallow up death for ever (and) …

wipe away the tears from all faces.’ (Isaiah 25:6-8a)”

“In Revelation, we hear that same promise this way: ‘God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.’ (Revelation 21:4)”

“The Apostle Paul puts the promise like this: ‘Behold! I tell you a mystery…We shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.’ (I Corinthians 15:51-52a, 54c)”

“The old hymn echoes the promise: ‘Changed from glory into glory, till in heaven we take our place, till we cast our crowns before thee, glost in wonder, love, and praise.’ (Charles Wesley, Love Divine, All Loves, Excelling; 1747, vs. 4)”

“That is the promise we bear as Christians. We will hear that promise in a few minutes at the font, when we baptize little Roselyn Natasha.”

“The common thread is that death is not final. ‘I am the resurrection and the life,’ Jesus says. (John 11:25)”

“With that assurance we take our place with people of every age, every time, every place who have faced death either on a small or large scale, and wondered what it means. Our response is to hold fast to the Easter promise of eternal life. That’s why we call a memorial service a Witness to the Resurrection. We share the Apostle Paul’s conviction that nothing – nothing – can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

“God is good. All the time. All the time. God is good.”

“In this season as I wind down my ministry with you, we’re thinking a lot about benediction. A benediction is a blessing. Our faith claims that the blessing of life from God continues after our earthly experience into the mystery that ultimately awaits us.”

“Love never ceases. It’s the final blessing. Hope is fulfilled.”

“Life after life. The Benediction never ends.”

“Thanks be to God.”

“Amen.”

Congregational Affirmation of Faith

(United Church of Canada) “We are not alone, we live in God’s world. We believe in God: who has created and is creating, who has come in Jesus, the Word made flesh, to reconcile and make new, who works in us and others by the Spirit. We trust in God. We are called to be the Church: to celebrate God’s presence, to live with respect in Creation, to love and serve others, to seek justice and resist evil, to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen, our judge and our hope. In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. We are not alone. Thanks be to God.”

Music

The congregational hymns were “Open Now Thy Gates of Beauty,” “Precious Lord, Take My Hand,” “You Belong to Christ” (after the baptism of an infant) and “Love Devine, All Loves Excelling.”

The choir sang “Hallelujah” by William Walker and “Rest” by Ralph Vaughan Williams

The organ Prelude and Postlude were the “Sarabande and Gavotte” and “Rigaudon” from Edvard Grieg’s Holberg Suite.

Conclusion

This was another inspiring sermon. Thanks to Tim.

=============================

[1] Sermon, The Benediction Never Ends, Westminster Presbyterian Church (Sept. 17, 2023). Bulletin of Service, Westminster Presbyterian Church (Sept. 17, 2023).

 

“The Benediction of Life Together” at Westminster Presbyterian Church 

On September 10, 2023, Rev. Tim Hart-Andersen. Senior Pastor at Minneapolis Westminster Presbyterian Church, delivered the sermon, “The Benediction of Life Together,” which was the first of his last seven sermons before his retirement at the end of October.

Scripture

Psalm 1: 1-3:

“Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.”

John 10: 7-10, 14-16:

“Therefore Jesus said again, ‘Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.’”

“’I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me–just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.’”

Sermon[1]

“As most of you know, I will retire from my role as senior pastor of Westminster at the end of next month. When I told pastor-friends that this fall I’ll preach only seven more sermons from this pulpit, they asked if that was my version of the seven last words from the cross. This will be considerably less dramatic!”

“The prospect of concluding 40 years of ministry does raise the question of what to say, or what you might want to hear, as I prepare to leave. Early in my ministry here someone gave me a copy of Dr. Arnold Lowe’s final sermon, delivered on the Sunday following Easter, in April 1965, following 24 years of service at Westminster. The sermon was titled The Sum and Substance of It All. “

“Since that has been covered already, I’m going in a different direction. I’m conceiving of my last two months at Westminster as a kind of extended benediction, a long Minnesota benediction, for both the congregation and for me, as we part ways this fall and remember the many blessings we have shared over the years. That’s what a benediction is: a bene dictio – a good word. A benediction is a blessing offered and received, an invocation of the holy, a sacred conclusion to time together.”

“What better way to be reminded of the joy of our life together at Westminster than the start of the new church year, with children and music and festivity! We celebrate the blessing we have in our shared faith as followers of Jesus. God’s love is all around us, and we see it when we open our eyes and hearts. In the words of the old gospel song, “What a fellowship! What a joy divine!”

“We commence this year in the life of Westminster rejoicing in the goodness of God. We know not all is well with the world. We know of the fear and injustice, the animosity and anger that engulf our nation. We know of natural disasters, the fires and hurricanes and earthquakes, and pray for those impacted by them, especially the people of Morocco. We know of humanity’s complicity in climate-related calamities. We know, in the words of the Apostle, that ‘the whole creation is groaning in travail, awaiting the promised redemption.’”

“But all that difficult reality doesn’t overwhelm us because hope finds a home in the hearts of those who trust in the goodness and justice of God. There’s a tradition in African American worship that I have long admired. When the preacher says, ‘God is good,’ the congregation replies, ‘All the time.’ Then the preacher says, ‘All the time,’ and the congregation replies, ‘God is good.’”

“Given the events of the last few weeks in Jacksonville and Montgomery and other American cities – and given the long trajectory of racial injustice in this land, those words continue to sound in sanctuaries where people refuse to give up hope. We cannot change the past, but we can transform the future. ‘God is good’ – ‘all the time.’ ‘All the time’ – ‘God is good.’”

“The words offer an acclamation of praise, an affirmation of the power of life together in the church, a benediction of gratitude for the goodness of the God we worship and serve. Like the Hebrew poet’s trees planted by streams of water, if we draw on the goodness of God we are nourished, and we flourish – no matter the circumstances.”

“When the world bears down on us and squeezes us hard, in the systems we encounter or in our own personal situations, we can still claim the goodness of God. When the diagnosis is tough to hear and the future seems devastating, or when grief grips us, we can still claim the goodness of God. When loneliness and despair and mental illness grow to crisis levels, especially among young people, we can still claim the goodness of God. When the social order is coming unglued and vitriol is unchecked, we can still say, ‘God is good,’ ‘All the time.’ ‘All the time,’ ‘God is good.’”

“Christians are not Pollyannas who only look at things through rose-colored glasses. We’re not relentless optimists who see only the good in all situations. On the contrary, the followers of Jesus are realists. All of us are realists. We know how challenging it is to be a teenager in America today. We understand how new laws can create hardship for some. We see the crisis of drug overdoses and gun violence, including by suicide. We bemoan the cruelty and mendacity in politics and culture in our land in recent years. We don’t look away from the tough stuff that confronts us every day – sometimes personally, at other times in our communities or nation.”

“But we trust in something beyond all of that, beyond the powers of this world. The God we worship is sovereign over all things seen and unseen. Our resilience arises from trusting that Jesus came that all – that all – may have life and have it abundantly. That’s the blessing of life together in Christian community. No matter what we face, we have confidence that the light will not succumb to the shadows; that the dawn will follow the whatever our night be.

‘The early morning,’ Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, ‘Belongs to the Church of the risen Christ. At the break of light, it remembers the morning on which death…lay…in defeat and new life and salvation were given to humankind.” (Life Together)

“‘God is good.’ ‘All the time.’ ‘All the time.’ ‘God is good.’”

We also know that our time is not the end of time. We who follow Jesus reject the temptation to surrender to the fatalism and conspiracies that creep in if we are not vigilant. Yes, these are difficult days, but it is hubris to think of ourselves as facing the worst humanity has ever seen.

That’s not to say nothing needs addressing. Take a look around. We don’t lack for challenges. As the church we’re called to meet those challenges head on, to speak up and act up, if we must, and stand up for what is right and just. We do not let go of our pursuit of a better way and a better day simply because it will be hard to get there.”

“We follow one who came that all may have life and have it in abundance. That gives us hope that refuses to let go. We’ve seen communities in other times and places find courage to work for change – even when the world seems to have defeated them – rather than lose heart.

In 1934 in Germany, in the face of the rise of Nazi ideology and its influence on the church, a small group of Protestants assembled in the city of Barmen and wrote a credal statement of resistance. It’s called the Barmen Declaration. It rejects the many falsehoods that were swirling through Germany and its churches at the time, and instead insisted on the truth of Jesus Christ.

Fifty years later Christians in South Africa gathered in the town of Belhar and wrote a similar creed that rejected false claims being made by some in the church of that time that provided theological rationale to prop up apartheid. ‘Any teaching,’ the Belhar Confession says,

‘Which attempts to legitimate…forced (racial) separation by appeal to the gospel…must be considered ideology and false doctrine.’”

“Both in 1930s Germany and 1980s South Africa, in the midst of those crucibles of suffering and hatred, Christians reaffirmed the power of the gospel. They resisted the prevailing ethos in the culture and politics of their time – and even in the religion of the day, as expressed by some. They refused to let the blessing of life together be undone. The church today in our land should be doing the same.”

“Our denomination, the Presbyterian Church (USA), adopted both the Barmen Declaration and Belhar Confession into our church’s constitution.”   (https://www.pcusa.org/site_media/media/uploads/oga/pdf/boc2016.pdf)

“Let us be clear: “Our faith is about life, not death. I came that all may have life, Jesus said, and have it in abundance.  Our faith embraces hope, not fear. Let not your hearts be troubled, Jesus said, neither let them be afraid.  Our faith tells the truth, not lies. You shall know the truth, Jesus said, and the truth will set you free.  Our faith shows mercy, not judgement. God did not send the son into the world to condemn the world, the Apostle Paul said, but that the world might be saved through him.”

“The benediction of life together. The joy of being the church. What a fellowship. What a joy divine! We are like trees, planted by streams of living water, nourished by the love of God, invited to seek and reflect the goodness of God’s presence and God’s justice in all we do.

An enduring image of this congregation’s faithfulness and resilience can be found outside in Paul Granlund’s sculpture on Westminster’s Upper Plaza. It’s called The Birth of Freedom. It’s on the front of today’s bulletin and we’ll see it up close after the service for the all-church photo.

The figures leaping up out of broken chains reach toward the heavens, rejoicing in the fullness of life granted them as those who bear the image of God, as we all do. They’re leaping out of all that had bound them – as we hope to do, out of everything that binds us – into the freedom of serving God.”

“’The joy of God,’ the theologian Irenaeus is reported to have said in the second century, ‘Is a human being fully alive.’”

“Like those figures in the sculpture, a human being fully alive is given freedom – not to indulge in selfish pursuits, but to love God and to love others. An old prayer borrows from words attributed to St. Augustine:

‘Lord God, light of the minds that know you, life of the souls that love you, and strength of the hearts that serve you: Help us, so to know you that we may truly love you, and so to love you that we may fully serve you, whose service is perfect freedom.”

“‘I came that all may have life, ‘Jesus said, ‘and have it in abundance.'”

“God is good. All the time. All the time. God is good. ”

“Thanks be to God.”

“Amen.’”

Affirmation of Faith

The congregation together said the following words from the Belhar Confession of South Africa, adopted by the PCUSA (2016):

‘We believe

  • that God wishes to teach the church to do what is good and to seek the right;
  • that the church must therefore stand by people in any form of suffering and need, which implies, among other things,
  • that the church must witness against and strive against any form of injustice, so that justice may roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream;
  • that the church as the possession of God must stand where the Lord stands, namely against injustice and with the wronged;
  • that in following Christ the church must witness against all the powerful and privileged who selfishly seek their own interests and thus control and harm others.
  • Therefore, we reject any ideology which would legitimate forms of injustice and any doctrine which is unwilling to resist such an ideology in the name of the gospel.’

Music

The congregation sang the following hymns: ‘All Creatures of Our God and King,’  ‘O God Beyond All Praising,’ ‘What a Fellowship, What a Joy Devine,’ and ‘God of Grace and God of Glory.’ And the Choir sang ‘Yonder Come Day,’ with the following words:

‘Oh day, yonder come day. Day done broke inna my soul, yonder come day. Good mornin’ day, yonder come day. A brand new day, yonder come day. Oh come on child, hush, hush, somebody’s callin’ my name. Oh my Lord, oh my Lord, what shall I do? Oh day, yonder come day. I was on my knees, yonder come day. When I heard him say, yonder come day. Oh come on child, Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus. Steal away, steal away, I ain’t got long to stay here. Swing low, sweet chariot, comin’ for to carry me home. Oh day, yonder come day…’

Commissioning of Church School Students and Teachers

As this was “Coming together Sunday” to mark the beginning of the church school year, there was Commissioning of Church School Students and Teachers,” gathered together in front of the church.

Conclusion

This was a very significant and moving service and sermon in the life of Westminster.

==========================

[1] Sermon, The Benediction of Life Together, Westminster Presbyterian Church (Sept. 10, 2023); Bulletin of Service, Westminster Presbyterian Church (Sept. 10, 2023).

 

U.S. Report on Latest Session of U.N. Human Rights Council 

The U.S. State Department on October 17 delivered its report on the just-concluded 54th session of the U.N. Human Rights Council.[1] Here are the highlights of that report:

“Establishing an investigative mandate in Sudan . . . [The U.S.] was a member of the core group that established an international fact-finding mission to investigate human rights violations and abuses in Sudan. . . as reports of atrocities and other abuses continue, such as conflict-related sexual violence, ethnically motivated killings, and burning of villages in Darfur and elsewhere.”

Renewing the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Russian Federation . . . [The U.S. co-sponsored this renewal as] Moscow’s campaign has worsened life for Russia’s citizens and made it dangerous for civil society organizations, media, and other independent voices to provide information or express dissent.  Russia continues to hold hundreds of political prisoners, including many sentenced for their criticism of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Impunity for human rights abuses in the North Caucasus region, including enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings, also remains an urgent concern.”

“Renewing the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Afghanistan . . . [The U.S. co-sponsored this renewal] as the Taliban continues to target women and girls, government critics, former officials, and human rights activists through detentions, physical abuse, intimidation, and killings.”

“Advancing Gender Equality. . .[as the U.S.] reaffirmed its support for eliminating discriminatory laws and practices against women and girls in all their diversity, advanced the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, and underscored the importance of the right of everyone to education.  We co-sponsored and helped defend resolutions that advance gender equality, including Preventing Maternal Mortality and Morbidity and Girls Education.  The United States helped defeat a slate of hostile amendments seeking to weaken inclusive gender language from these and other resolutions.”

“Supporting Racial Equity and Justice . . . [the U.S.] demonstrated its deep commitment to addressing the challenges of systemic racism both at home and abroad, . . .[by joining] consensus on the renewal of the Mandate of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, [and by co-sponsoring] the resolution entitled Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples, which laid the foundation for enhancing the participation of Indigenous Peoples in the work of the Council.”

“Other Priorities: . . .[The U.S.] co-sponsored resolutions to continue reporting on Burundi and provide assistance to Somalia in the field of human rights . . . [and by joining] consensus on resolutions providing human rights assistance in Cambodia, Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Central African Republic; [and by co-sponsoring] thematic resolutions on such topics including enforced or involuntary disappearances; centrality of care and support from a human rights perspective; the promotion of truth, justice, reparation, and guarantees of non-reoccurrence; the human rights of older persons; the World Programme for Human Rights Education; and the International Year of the Family.”

“Joint Statements: . . . [The U.S. led joint statements on [a] the heightened risks associated with surveillance technologies, including commercial spyware, and the importance of safeguards and responsible practices in the development and use of these tools to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms and [b] safeguarding the human rights of women and girls across the Americas.”. . .[In addition, the U.S.] joined joint statements on Syria, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, Ethiopia, the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, President Nelson Mandela’s Commitment to the UDHR and VDPA, sexism in sport, antisemitism in sport, rights of intersex persons, the rights of LGBTQI+ persons, reprisals, social reintegration of prisoners, and enhancing access to assistive technologies for older persons, and vaccination, immunization, and the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health.”

“Side Events: [The U.S. co-sponsored events] … on combatting antisemitism, … the Holocaust, and on human rights in Russia, Yemen, and Ukraine.”

=====================

[1] U.S. Dep’t State, Outcomes of the 54th Session of the UN Human Rights Council (Oct. 17, 2023).

World Communion Sunday at Minneapolis’ Westminster Presbyterian Church Celebrates Its Global Partners

October 1 was the Sunday for Minneapolis Westminster Presbyterian Church’s joyous celebration of World Communion Sunday and its global partnerships in Cuba, Cameroon and Palestine.[1]

The Calls to Worship

The three Calls to Worship were provided in their native languages by Joseph Mukete (a Westminster member from Cameroon), Reinerio Miguel Arce (a Cuban pastor involved with our Cuban partners and the General Secretary of the Presbyterian-Reformed Church in Cuba) and Rihab Fitzgerald (a Westminster member from Lebanon). Here are the English translations of those Calls:

  • “From the nations of Africa, we come to worship the God whose image we bear, and who created us to be one community, united in love.”
  • “From the islands of the Caribbean, we come to worship the God whose image we bear, and who created us to be one community, united in love.”
  • From the ancient land of Palestine, we come to worship the God whose image we bear, and who created us to be one community, united in love.”

The Call to Confession

 The following Call to Confession was provided by Westminster’s Rev. David Tsai Shinn, who is Taiwanese:

  • “Merciful God, in your gracious presence we confess our sin and the sin of this world. Although Christ is among us as our peace, we are a people divided against ourselves as we cling to the values of a broken world. The profit and pleasures we pursue lay waste the land and pollute the seas. The fears and jealousies that we harbor set neighbor against neighbor and nation against nation. We abuse your good gifts of imagination and freedom, of intellect and reason, and have turned them into bonds of oppression. Lord, have mercy upon us; heal and forgive us. Set us free to serve you in the world as agents of your reconciling love in Jesus Christ.”

The Holy Scripture

Matthew 28: 16-20: “Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Rev. Dr. Tim Hart-Andersen’s Sermon: “We Are the Church: Go forth into the world in peace” [2]

“As I enter my final month with you before retirement, I begin a five-part sermon series on the Charge and Benediction I have used to conclude worship every week that I have preached here. I learned it from my father, and always figured he thought it up, only to learn later in seminary that it’s actually from scripture – that’s even better.”

“I heard it every Sunday growing up. It starts like this: “Go forth into the world in peace”.

“That line echoes the scripture text from Matthew 28: ‘Go, therefore, into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.’”

“We call it the Great Commission, and that one sentence has had more definitional impact on how the church engages with the world than any other particular part of the Bible. It has had profound impact on the Church and the world. In the 19th century, Christian churches in North America and Europe heard the words of Matthew 28 as a compelling call to move out across the globe to bring the good news of Jesus Christ.’

“So we went. We taught the faith, started churches, set up schools, established hospitals, and spread the practice of Christianity. We also brought Western culture and ideas to those living in the global south and other areas of the world. It was the theological corollary to the doctrine of Manifest Destiny.”

“When Jesus says, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me,’ many in the Church mistakenly heard that as ‘all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to us.’ We tended to assume that authority unto ourselves. Well-intentioned or not, the impact of this missionary zeal often caused abrupt, and even devastating change – the opposite of what the love of Jesus would have wanted.”

“Some American churches sent missionaries overseas; others focused on North America. The westward movement of white settlers in the 1800s brought the new nation into conflict with indigenous peoples living on the land. As we know from our history lessons, military conflict and violence accompanied the displacement of first nations. A different, lesser-known kind of violence followed, often with the church’s complicity.”

“The ‘educational’ institutions established by churches in collusion with the federal government were part of a 19th century systematic campaign of assimilation. The federal government aimed to take away Native culture, language, religion, practices, and traditions in order to Americanize and Christianize them. And they started with the kids; we started with the kids. Children.”

“The federal Commissioner for Indian Affairs said in 1886, ‘The government aid furnished (to churches) enables them to sustain their missions, and renders it possible…to lead these people, whose paganism has been the chief obstacle to their civilization, into the light of Christianity.’” (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/national/u-s-report-details-church-state-collusionon-indigenous-schools)

“Ben Sherman, who was taken as a child to Oglala Community School in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, remembers the pain. ‘The government was not done with war,” he said, “So the next phase involved war against the children’”

“At one point in the late 19th century, 85% of school-age indigenous children in this country were living at one of the nation’s 523 boarding schools. According to a report by the U.S. Department of the Interior, “thousands” of children likely died while at the schools. The cemeteries are now being uncovered. Half of those schools were operated by churches under a contract with the federal government, or run independently by religious groups, including Presbyterians. Some of them kept operating through much of the 20th century.” (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/08/30/us/natice-american-boarding- schools.html) (https://www.pcusa.org/news/2022/2/23/restorative -history/)

“American Christians went ‘into all the world,’ intending to bring the Good News, but the news was not always good for those on the receiving end. Denominations – including ours – are only now coming to terms with what they did in the name of God. Repairing the harm begins with facing the truth and listening.”

“Missionaries brought with them, wherever they went, their predilections and prejudices. The impact of the coming of Christianity was traumatizing in some contexts. Dutch Reformed leaders, Presbyterians from the Netherlands, provided a theological rationale for racist apartheid policies in South Africa, much as Christian preachers had done in this country in support of the enslavement of Africans. Missionaries cut people off from their own language and culture and indigenous religious practices.”

“Jesus did not command us to take children from families and send them to boarding schools and strip them of their culture, their identity. Nowhere does Jesus tell us to reject long-established traditional ways of life that had been sustaining and identity-giving in communities for multiple generations – to wipe all that out, and insist that one culture or ethnicity or race would dominate others.”

“In the 19th century, in an act of ecclesiastical hubris, major American Protestant denominations divided up the globe as if it were theirs alone, in order to be efficient and not duplicate efforts. European Christians were doing the same, and our collective efforts were successful. There are 75 million Presbyterians in the world today; only 1.1 million are in our denomination. On any given Sunday in South Africa and South Korea and in Cameroon, there are more Presbyterians in worship than in the U.S.”

“What about Westminster? We were established in 1857, right at the time when the great missionary movements were gaining steam, and we joined in with enthusiasm in trying to fulfill the Great Commission. We “went into all the world.” In the 1870s our congregation began supporting missionaries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and continued doing so into the middle years of the 20th century. The work centered around education, healthcare, and evangelism. We had a story to tell, faith to spread, information to teach, and help to offer. We don’t know much about the specifics of the efforts of the people we supported, but we can imagine they had both positive and negative effects.”

“The helpful impact of efforts to fulfill the Great Commission is evident in the lands where Westminster engages in global partnerships today. In English-speaking Cameroon, for instance, the country’s towns and villages are covered by a network of Presbyterian schools, clinics, hospitals, and training centers. In Cuba the best high schools in that island nation before the 1959 revolution were run by Presbyterians and Presbyterians have played a key ecumenical role there since the triumph of the revolution. And in the Holy Land, in ancient Palestine, Presbyterians started churches in those places – Syria and Iraq – where we were giving the assignment in agreement with other denominations. We had historic relationships with other denominations in the region, which includes the Lutherans, which led us to partner with Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem.”

“Our current global partnerships began in early 21st century with a visit to Cuba. That visit marked the shift of our congregation’s understanding of the Great Commission, a movement that had begun in Protestant churches across the north in the latter half of the 20th century. We began to change from the old ways of doing ‘mission.’”

“In Cuba we met a pastor named Carlos Piedra. He had attended La Progresiva, the top Presbyterian school on the island before it was nationalized by the revolution. From there he went on the seminary. Piedra was raised as part of the extended family of our two Cuban guests here today, Reinerio and Dora Arce.”

“When we met him, Piedra was serving as pastor of a Presbyterian congregation called El Redentor, The Redeemer, in the city of Matanzas. We spent several days with him, and he opened our eyes to a different understanding of the Great Commission, new ways of encountering and engaging the world. Piedra helped us see that so often in ‘going forth into all the world’ the North American church defines ‘mission’ by what we think is needed, without pausing to listen to people in other contexts – as if Jesus Christ did not exist in other lands and other cultures until we brought him there. This re-thinking has happened not only in global mission but locally, as well, including right here in our city, in our own outreach beyond the church.”

“I remember how Piedra said to us, ‘We don’t need your solutions to what you see as our problems. We don’t need your answers to what you see as our questions. We don’t want what you think of as your abundance to resolve what you see as our scarcity. But if you want to come pray with us, worship with us, study the Bible with us, eat and drink and dance with us, please come. What we want with you is amistad cristiana, Christian friendship, and solidaridad, solidarity.’”

“He was dismantling – deconstructing – the old way we had been doing ‘mission,’ and guiding us into a new way. That visit set the trajectory for Westminster’s relationships with the three global partnerships that developed and are still active, in Cuba, Cameroon, and Palestine – and also for how we would try to live out our ministry right here in Minneapolis, in the local context. We don’t parachute in to do something that we think needs to be solved and that will make us feel good about ourselves, and then move on to solve problems elsewhere.”

“Instead, we have created covenants with the local partners in each nation, five-year commitments to a defined mutual relationship, primarily about respecting and listening to each other. We agree to share our lives with one another – either in person or, now, through the Internet – as an expression of the love and grace of God.”

“From our Cameroonian partners we have learned the joy of praising God in music and dance. On our first visit to Kumba Town Presbyterian Church there were 11 adult choirs, and they all sang in worship – dancing and praising God. We saw their emphasis on educating children as we visited the elementary school the congregation supports. We visited agencies where they teach young people to develop job skills. We saw clinics and hospitals and their work to diminish the scourge of HIV/AIDS. The Presbyterian Church is strong and growing across the country.”

“From our Palestinian partners we have learned the importance of creative resistance to injustice. When Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem was shot up and occupied by the Israeli military to use as a base for assaults in other parts of the city, they gathered up the colorful shards of glass and created beautiful things. They discovered the power of art as a way to persevere through trauma, a different way of responding to violence that can lead to healing. Today the university they started, Dar AlKalima, focuses on the arts, and thrives in that context as a beacon of a different way through conflict.”

“From our Cuban partners we have learned a theology of resilience. Congregations there have held on and continued to worship God and serve God through many difficult decades. The seminary has persisted in spite of enormous obstacles, and is now planning to expand to Havana, with the help of Westminster’s Enduring Hope capital campaign mission component. The people in our small partner congregation have virtually nothing, so they depend on and support one another. We are part of their WhatsApp group and watch as they seek and offer help, especially around medicine, asking who has a couple pills of this or that, or if anyone has a particular treatment a neighbor needs. It’s like a first-century Christian community, freely sharing the little they have.”

“Each of the churches with which we have developed partnerships finds itself in a nation living with conflict of one sort or another. And each shows bountiful signs of deep, unwavering desire for peace and justice. In Cuba, the longstanding U.S. policy of economic blockade causes significant suffering. In Cameroon the English-speaking minority finds itself in conflict with the French-speaking majority, backed by the U.S. In Palestine, the Israeli occupation supported by the U.S. continues to harm Palestinians.”

“We hear about these struggles and recognize the importance of trying to influence our government’s positions, as we can. The covenants with our partner churches include a commitment to advocate for change in our government’s foreign policy toward their nations, for the benefit of both nations.”

“ When we visit our partners, and then return again and again, and when they come visit us as they are today, we are building bridges of hope for change for a more just world.”

“Go forth into the world in peace. Go forth not to dominate, not because you think you know what others need, not because you see yourself at the center.”

“Go forth into the world in peace. That line casts the Great Commission in a different light, making it less triumphant, a bit more gentle and modest, respectful, willing to listen and learn.”

“And isn’t that how the church should live here and everywhere! That is what Jesus was after in the Great Commission.”

“We are the church. We are the church. We have a message to share as Christians – and we are called to do that in ways that reflect the love and justice of God.”

“Go forth into the world in peace – knowing that Christ is already there, at work in the communities and in the lives of individuals we will meet.”

“Thanks be to God.”

“Amen.”

Music

 

Beautiful music during the service was provided by Charanga Tropical (a Cuban jazz group led by Doug Little, a Westminster member); CamChoir (a Cameroonian choir), which led the congregation in singing a Cameroonian hymn (“Bend Low”), whose refrain is “Bend low . . . and see what the Lord can do”; and by Community Sing (a Westminster choir) led by Dr. Amanda Weber (Westminster’s Director of Worship and the Arts). This choir sang “ Ghanu Lil Hayat (A Hymn for Life) in Arabic and “Santo, santo, santo” in Spanish (the latter’s English translation: “Holy . . . holy is our God. God, the Lord of earth and heaven. Holy, holy is our God. God, the lord of all history. Holy, holy is our God. Who accompanies our people, who lives within our struggles, of all the earth and heaven the one and only Lord. Blessed are they who in the Lord’s name announce the holy gospel, Proclaiming the good news that our liberation comes.”)

Post-Service Reception

 After the service, a reception was held in Westminster Hall to celebrate our global partners with comments, videos, coffee and snacks.

Conclusion

 What a wonderful, enriching worship service!

=======================

[1] Westminster Bulletin, World Communion Sunday (Oct. 1, 2023),

[2] Rev. Tim Hart-Andersen, Sermon: We Are the Church: Go forth into the world in peace, (Oct. 1, 2023).

Increased U.S. Food Exports to Cuba

For August 2023, U.S. food and agricultural product exports to Cuba increased 35.8%, which is 17.9% higher than the eighth month of 2022, which placed the Island as the 52nd market of those U.S. exports.[1]

According to Cuban economist Pedro Montreal, the chicken exports, both in value and tons, reached all-time records. Other U.S. food exports were pork, rice, puddings, grapes, coffee, coffee extract, cookies, waffles and wafers, beer, palm oil, hams, pasta, corn chips, yeast, carbonated soft drinks, salt, and sugar.

For the eight months ending in August, according to the Cuba-US Economic and Commercial Council, Cuban purchases in the US totaled 232,487,283 dollars, $35 million more than the $197,037,244 in the same period of 2022.

===========================

[1] Chicken exports from the US to Cuba reach records in August . . . who do they reach?, Diario de Cuba (Oct. 10, 2023).

Congressional Dysfunction Hampers U.S. Immigration Policies and Actions

A New York Times’ Editorial correctly castigates congressional dysfunction for hampering U.S. immigration policies and actions.[1]

The editorial simply states the dysfunction. “In the past year, more than a million people have entered the United States through the southern border, overflowing shelters and straining public services. Most of the newcomers claim asylum, a status that allows them to be in the country legally but leaves them in limbo. They often must wait years for their cases to be heard, and it can be a lengthy process to obtain legal permission to work.”

This dysfunction is a direct result of the Congress that “has failed to provide the necessary resources to welcome those who are eligible and to turn away those who are not. Instead, overwhelmed immigration officials allow nearly everyone to stay temporarily, imposing enormous short-term costs on states and cities that the federal government hasn’t done enough to mitigate.”

As a result, “the federal government’s negligence is fueling anger against immigrants and stoking divisions” and a “devastating failure to protect people from smugglers, who have made sneaking people into the United States a big business, or from exploitation after they arrive.”

Yet the U.S. needs immigrants to satisfy the demand for more workers. Congress could “raise the level of legal immigration — by increasing the quotas for employment visas and other categories that allow people to come to the United States legally and have the chance to become permanent residents and then citizens.” [2]

The editorial notes that “Gov. Spencer Cox of Utah and Gov. Eric Holcomb of Indiana. . . [are] offering to sponsor immigrants, citing more than 300,000 job vacancies between the two states. ‘In meaningful ways, every U.S. state shares a border with the rest of the world, and all of them need investment, markets and workers from abroad,’ they wrote. ‘That border can remain an embarrassment, or it can become a big asset to us once again.’” These two states, therefore, can join the State of Iowa, which has established state agencies to welcome the resettlement of refugees and other immigrants to meet Iowa’s need for more workers.[3]

============================

[1] Editorial, The Cost of Inaction on Immigration, N.Y. Times (Oct. 7, 2023),

[2] E.g., U.S. Has Long-Term Labor Crisis, dwkcommentaries.com (Sept. 26, 2023).

[3] Iowa State Government Encouraging Refugee and Migrant Resettlement, dwkcommentaries.com (Feb. 3, 2023).