Lawyers working with Safe Passage Project were among those offering assistance to travelers detained at JFK airport over the weekend.

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Please pass on.

Dear friends and colleagues at the Safe Passage Project,

I am writing to you this Sunday morning, as our people gather in our churches for prayer to let you know how proud and thankful we are for your heroic actions these past few days in coming to the aid of immigrants seeking entrance into the United States.

As the Bishop of Long Island, I recommit our full support and cooperation for your work. Please know that you will always have partners in the Diocese of Long Island. If there is anything we can do to be of immediate assistance to you or the people your serve, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. Know also you will aways have a “home” in our School of Theology and in the midst of the staff of our diocese. We are all humbled to be associated with the holy work you engage.

Personally, my wife Jeanne and I stand with you and your efforts, and look forward to our continued good work together in serving this vulnerable population.

The present administration in Washington is dead wrong on the issue of immigration. Fear and bigotry can not be what motivates the actions of people of good will.

As a Christian leader I reject the the bigotry and fear reflected in the president’s executive order – it finds no place in Holy Scripture, or in the longest tradition of our nation. It is just dead wrong. It is sinful and misguided.

Keep up the good work! You have our full support.

God bless you and keep you safe,

The Right Reverend Lawrence C. Provenzano

Bishop of Long Island