Clergy and leadership from Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal, Lutheran, Catholic and Muslim congregations of COPS / Metro delivered a joint statement calling on the President and Congress to demonstrate hospitality to children arriving on the border from Central America.

"Don't send them back as if they were animals," argued Fr. Walter D'Heedene of Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Speakers underscored that each child should have an attorney, get thorough processing (accorded in the 2008 Wilberforce Act) and have more exposure to vetted religious and social service organizations so that they do not become isolated.

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At a press conference organized by The Metropolitan Organization of Houston (TMO), religious leaders from Lutheran, Catholic, Episcopal, Methodist, Presbyterian, COGIC and Baptist denominations called on the President and Congress to "welcome" unaccompanied children from Central America and guarantee protections afforded to them in the Trafficking Victims Act of 2008.

Nineteen local clergy signed the letter, including former Catholic Archbishop Joseph Fiorenza, Episcopal Bishops C. Andrew Doyle and Jeff Fisher, Lutheran Bishop Michael Rinehart, General Presbyter Mike Cole of the Presbytery of the New Covenant and Bishop Rufus Kyles Jr. of the Church of God in Christ.

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Austin Interfaith is calling for an organized, coordinated effort to receive a large number of unaccompanied minors. This, they say, shouldn't be subject to partisan bickering. For Ofelia Zapata, a strategy team member of the organization, the future of migrant children hits close to home. She sees the face of her own grandchild when she looks at the children.

In a presentation to the Travis County Commissioners Austin Interfaith described the arrival of unaccompanied children a humanitarian crisis that requires a thoughtful and proactive response. Specifically they are asking the County to coordinate the use of public buildings to temporarily house children before they are sent to relatives or a foster family and wait for their day in immigration court.

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