A church in Hopkinsville held a rally last night (Monday) to support immigrant families being kept together. The rally followed nationwide ‘Families Belong Together’ demonstrations over the weekend.
Hopkinsville Councilman Elect Rev. Dr. Darvin Adams was the keynote speaker for the event at Grace Episcopal Church presented by progressive group Pennyroyal Indivisible.
Adams said the rally was a "people power action event" to raise community awareness of "immoral" ICE practices which he claims were condemned by the United Nations. NPR has reported that U.N. high commissioner on human rights Zeid Raad al-Hussein has criticized the policy.
"They even have the audacity to use Bible, to use the word of God, to use their God as a reason for separating children at these borders," Adams said. NPR has reported that Attorney General Jeff Sessions cited the Bible regarding the policy.
Adams said the country’s immigration policy is an attack on Christian values and it also delivers a blow to the "now declining morality" of the United States.
"As multiple thousands of people cross the United States-Mexican border, the moral challenge of immigration in the United States becomes more and more critical," Adams said.
Jim Garnett, a member of the church and Pennyroyal Indivisible, said the event was intended to be apolitical and says the immigration policy as a moral issue. He said it’s almost impossible to separate one’s worldview from the power structure.
"People with different worldviews are not always going to agree on things and then it becomes political," Garnett said. "We try pretty hard to hold the rhetoric down as far as bashing anybody."
Rev. Alice Nichols of Grace Episcopal Church said people need to realize they have a responsibility to help those who are in need of support.
