 My name is Eric Fulkerth. I'm one of your pastors in the North Texas Conference, and I've been asked to share a brief witness. My witness and my faith always starts with the scripture. As it says in the scripture, there shall be one law for the nativeborn and the foreignborn. Why? Because you were an immigrant. Will you say that last phrase with me? Because you were an immigrant. Every time I say why, will you repeat that phrase? Why? It says that in Exodus, there shall be one law for the nativeborn and the foreignborn. Why? It says that in Deuteronomy, there shall be one law for the nativeborn and the foreignborn. Why? It even says it in Leviticus. Best thing in all of Leviticus, actually. There shall be one law for the nativeborn and the foreignborn. Why? My abrogant story starts in 1754 with a guy named Christophel Volkart, who at the age of 17 boarded a ship called the Brothers and came to the United States of America. Everybody with the name Volkerth is descended from that one 17-year-old guy. We don't know much about him, but we know he was given the opportunity to live out his faith and live out his dreams in this country. We know that the people of his time, maybe they treated him well, maybe they didn't. But they gave him an opportunity. Why? My life has been somewhat complex in my married life. I am married to a beautiful, fiery Latina woman. And I get to see the world through her eyes and the eyes of her family to the best that I can. You can laugh about that. Everybody knows the Latina women are quite fiery. And it's wonderful to hear her family's story. On one part of her family, they traced their roots back to San Antonio, back during the time when Texas, around the time when Texas was a republic. When she was in the seventh grade, she was studying Texas history. And she came home from school and she told her mom they're in Irving, Texas. Mom, we learned about the Alamo. Her mom said, oh, you had relatives who fought in the Alamo. She said, I did? She ran back the next day and she told the teacher, I had relatives who fought at the Alamo. The teacher said, which side? She'd never thought about that. She was a Texas girl from way back, generations back. So she went back and she asked her mom, ma, which side? And her mother said, oh, Miha, the side that won. You know and I know, all of us from Texas know, these idea of permanent borders is a myth. The border has moved over so many people in our state, yes? And so it's not to say we should not have laws, but it is to say we must, through our faith, compel our government to treat people with compassion. Why? That's right. So I want to take you, let me share just a couple of things that I have seen in the past few years or done. In August of 2014, I was in Washington, DC and I was sweating profusely. And my hands were tied behind my back and I was in a paddy wagon about 100 feet from the White House. And right next to me was my brother Owen Ross, who better be here, and 113, mostly United Methodist clergy from all over the country. And we went there to get arrested to defend families like Adriana's because a president that I admired greatly had not done enough for the DACA families. I admired President Obama greatly, but he was wrong on that. He didn't act fast enough. And you learn if you talk to immigrants that they called Obama a deporter in chief, by the way. And I say this to say that my faith tells me that people on both sides of our political system have not done enough to fix things. And that has created a vacuum into which the current administration has stepped and nature abhors a vacuum. Because we as people of faith, because our government, hasn't years ago fixed the system and been more compassionate to immigrants, that is what created the vacuum that gives us what we have today. So we have done this, all of us, all of us. I cannot say President Trump did this or Republicans did this. We, I, you did this. And it's a shame. Why? That's right. So you're here today because I hope you want to take some action. And I hope you'll go to those workshops and I hope you will take action. You don't have to get arrested at the White House. Well, I mean, if you want to, maybe we should arrange that again. But the situation on the border is intolerable. It's inhumane. I saw the hands, as I have seen, both in Matamoros and in two weeks ago in Juarez. It's intolerable. We have created a humanitarian crisis on our border that people who have seen refugee camps tell us are worse than refugee camps. We have done this. We have. And so the political system is broken. And the only thing I can think is that God's going to use us as people of faith to change it. That we can step in and use our voice. You call your representatives. You tell them you're from your church. They'll listen to you. They really will. See, Maria Robles knows this from Faith in Texas. She said, she said, yeah, they'll listen to you. They really will. So take an action. Listen to how God is leading you and make a difference. Because we can change things. We must change things. Because they cannot stay as we are now. So work for positive change. Work out of your faith. Let your faith lead you. Why? I'm in.