Dear Mr. President (-elect),

Congratulations on your election as President of the United States. I am inspired by your perseverance. And I want you to know that I’ll be praying for you daily: for your health, your happiness and success in your work.

Last July (2019), I traveled to El Paso, TX, joining hundreds of clergy and spiritual leaders. We were there, troubled in our souls, by stories and images of children separated from their parents by the previous administration’s Zero Tolerance immigration policy. I joined many others lead by Rev. William Barber in prayer at the gate of the facility where migrants were housed in terrible conditions. I went with sickness in my spirit for what was being done to them in our name.

This atrocity needs fixed. I beg of you to put an end to this horrible practice. I am pleased to hear about your Task Force to reunite children and their families. America owes these families a great deal. We must pay the cost necessary to right this terrible wrong: therapy for the whole family, reparation for monetary expenses, even granting them citizenship, or at least free permanent residency in the US. Many of them sought us out for asylum. We have done them great harm in a time of great need. Our penance to them must fit the offense we committed.

I hope you are resting well in this ‘in-between’ time. There is a lot of healing to do in America. I want you to know that you are not alone in this effort. Please know I am doing my part in my community. So are many others across this great land.

Blessings to you as you begin this next chapter in your life of service to the nation.

Prayerfully yours,
Rev. Christopher Gudger-Raines