‘It’s a hard time to be a pastor,’ refugee advocate says

Leading churches with ministries to internationals or with multi-ethnic congregations is becoming more challenging under a federal government hostile toward immigrants and refugees, faith leaders said during a recent webinar hosted by World Relief.

Panelists focused on how the Trump administration’s ongoing immigration raids, its suspension of refugee resettlement and elimination of asylum rights are affecting those populations and the churches that serve them. The session moderated by World Relief President Myal Greene also touched on how the new anti-immigration policies are weighing on clergy.

“It’s a hard time to be a pastor,” said Eric Costanzo, lead pastor of South Tulsa Baptist Church, a Southern Baptist congregation with a refugee resource center that provides economic and transportation support, job training, English-language and citizenship classes for local refugees and immigrants.

Operating the program has become more challenging since Trump took office, he said. For starters, the administration ordered an immediate freeze of all funds budgeted to assist new refugees. And because Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents are now allowed to make arrests in churches and schools, the English teachers the church employs had to be instructed on how to interact with authorities during raids.

“We’ve had lots of no-shows for appointments, which are open to immigrants of all different statuses and even American-born folks. We are beginning to recognize the no-shows are probably related to fear of detention and deportation.”

While Costanzo said he is uplifted by his congregation and by the strength and courage of refugees and immigrants, he remains concerned about an approaching “breaking point” that will require an even bolder witness. “But what will that look like? I think for pastors there is a little bit of fear and hesitancy to step into this, but I pray we will have the boldness, as the Spirit leads, to speak when we need to speak.”

The anti-immigrant fervor of the Religious Right has added another layer of difficulty to ministering in the Trump era, he added. “It’s discouraging for me to see how some of my fellow Christians, at least in name, speak about the people we serve and the people the Lord has given us the opportunity to welcome. And it’s hard to see that as a Baptist. I know from their study of Scripture they ought to know better.”

Refugees have been affected in multiple ways by Trump’s inauguration-day order suspending admissions for 90 days, said Matthew Soerens, vice president for advocacy and policy at World Relief.

First, some were just days or weeks away from coming to the U.S. when the order went into effect Jan. 27, leaving them in the lurch as they fled dire conditions in their home countries. The pain has been even deeper in cases where refugees overseas were about to be reunited with family members already in the U.S.

Newly arrived refugees have been further affected by a State Department notice prohibiting resettlement agencies like World Relief from using federal dollars to provide housing, food and other necessities typically granted during the first 90 days of U.S. residency, Soerens said.

“That was very discouraging to hear and has been very disruptive. So, we are doing the very best we can with private resources, with support from our church partners and our donors, our volunteers to continue to meet these basic needs and to ensure we can help refugees who have already been resettled to our communities at the invitation of our government.”

Executive orders closing the southwest border, ending asylum and eliminating the CBP One app migrants used to schedule asylum hearings already have caused significant suffering to those fleeing persecution in their home countries, he added.

“People waiting their turn in Mexico, sometimes for many months, had the really hard news that they would not be allowed to come and pursue asylum in the United States. Asylum for the moment has effectively been shut down, but that will face some legal challenges.”

“This could very potentially impact people who have not been convicted of any sort of crime.”

Trump’s order requiring the detention and eventual deportation of undocumented immigrants has sent shockwaves through the nation’s immigrant community, especially now that actions no longer will be limited to violent criminals, Soerens said. “This could very potentially impact people who have not been convicted of any sort of crime, who have been here for a long time and who have U.S. citizen children from whom they would presumably be separated if they were to be deported.”

The raids are well under way. ICE reported on X it arrested more than 5,530 immigrants from Jan. 23 to Jan. 29. According to NBC News, more than half of those were criminal arrests and the rest were those without legal status.

Allowing ICE to enter schools and churches has served to multiply the fear in immigrant communities, Soerens said. “This is an issue of religious liberty. Government should not do anything to scare people from going to church and hearing the gospel.”

Churches with ministries to immigrants or refugees have experienced deep emotional pain since Trump returned to office, said Tish Harrison Warren, an Anglican priest and author of several books including Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life.

“My former church in Pittsburgh has a refugee ministry, and many people in the congregation have become close with refugees, have become dear friends with them and care for them. And some of those who recently arrived are gone.”

Many of those congregations are currently scrambling to meet the needs of adopted families since the freeze in federal funds formerly available to cover rent and other expenses for refugees, she added. “So, they’re doing the best they can. They’re loving their refugee neighbors, but these families are suffering and it’s leaving churches sort of high and dry.”

The consequences of Trump’s immigration policies reach into every part of communities’ and families’ lives, said Paco Amador, pastor of New Life Community Church in Chicago.

“We are in a largely immigrant community within the city of Chicago and it’s affecting me in every way. Kids are afraid to go to school — what’s worse than kids being scared to go to school? Restaurants are not having people going to eat. It’s affecting family, it’s affecting church, it’s affecting business. Fear is impacting the community.”

Yet, Amador said he also has seen his congregation and community grow in faith over these threats to their families. “There’s a sense of boldness about their faith. There has been a sharpening of faith and mission. There is a passion, a sense of God responding to our prayers and a sense of unity. I am encouraged on one side by the people of God and on the other side we are living in times I never imagined.”

Daniel Yang, national director of Churches of Welcome at World Relief, urged churches with refugee programs to contact federal representatives during the 90-day hold on admissions. He provided a tool Christians can use to share stories with Congress about the benefits of resettlement.

Soerens encouraged churches to become advocates for immigration and refugee resettlement. “If the church would step up now and respond in such a surprising way, that would not only help meet the very intense urgent needs financially for organizations like World Relief, but it would also send a message that evangelical Christians believe that the U.S. has a moral responsibility to receive refugees.”

 

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