“I asked my mother to sing.

She begins and my grandmother joins her.

Mother and daughter sing like young girls.”

So begins Li-Young Lee’s poem about an immigrant family remembering their homeland. Such intimate aspects of the changes immigrants face lie hidden behind the overwhelming numbers reported in immigration statistics. Poems like these remind us that each number represents human lives.

Human movement has magnified in recent years due partly to massive environmental challenges and climate change, and partly to increasing global conflict. In the US, attorneys charged 4,550 defendants with immigration offenses in U.S. District Courts in March of 2025, up 36.6 percent over February, when 3,332 defendants were charged. (tracreports.org). There are 3.6 million immigration cases pending in the U.S. The information we absorb can be overwhelming and largely negative: detention centers, deportation, ICE, and parent-child separation, all of which generate anxiety.

Humans have not evolved to manage such a significant cognitive overload. For thousands of years, we lived in villages, functioning with a memory circle of about 150 people. In this complex present world of overwhelming news and information, what can we do not only to manage our personal stress but also to participate positively in welcoming the stranger into our community? The Bible highlights this welcome as a core tenet of faith that reflects God’s character.

I became involved in immigration work through the Episcopal Migration Ministries, working in a subgroup today labeled as “Migration with Dignity.”  We compiled data from past General Conventions and studied global immigration data. We wrote and passed two national resolutions, one on Stopping Detention and one on Migration with Dignity. I enjoyed leading two educational programs on immigration with my Companion chapter.

By far, the most satisfying work for me has been to work directly with immigrants.  Together with members of my parish, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Maumee, Ohio, one year I cooked and served fresh hot burritos to bus travelers waiting at the Toledo bus station for transfers to new routes. We provided warm clothing and baby supplies. A singular and holy memory is that my granddaughter, with a major in Spanish, spent the night in the locked, closed bus station to help a frightened young immigrant girl. The girl, who spoke Spanish, then communicated to her mother and other stranded travelers in their language from the Guatemalan mountains. My granddaughter’s presence was both informative and calming.

Dream about how you would like to participate. To start, consider how the positive aspects of immigration can lift us: new artforms, technical innovation, a burst of productivity. I propose that you envision your part in God’s reign as one defined cognitive space, rather than trying to grasp or manage the national and international challenges. Draw a line around this space in your brain and focus on the human reality around us. Learn to distinguish rhetoric from reality.

Here are some of the actions that Episcopalians and some from other faiths are taking now. We celebrated World Refugee Day on June 20, honoring the resilience of refugees worldwide. Local communities offered vigils, programs, and festivals. Consider engaging in virtual weekly Episcopal Immigration Updates, sponsored by the Episcopal Migration Ministry. Check out the National Immigration Justice Center, which is focused on the legal rights of immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.

Look for the next Migration with Dignity Pilgrimage sponsored by the Episcopal Migration Caucus. This June, volunteers from five states and Washington DC prayed and held vigils near detention centers along the southern border. Join the Episcopal Migration Response Network’s virtual meetings to share creative ideas for local engagement. Check out local support groups such as ERICA (Episcopal Refugee and Immigration Center Alliance) in Baltimore, or AMIS (Americans Making Immigrants Safe) in Ohio.

Ideas flow easily from the pen and sometimes to the heart. In God’s reign already so near, we will sing beside the immigrants as they remember and cherish their hopes for a better world.