More than a dozen Southern Baptist ethnic ministries have joined the chorus of other evangelical voices calling for immigration policies that protect religious freedom and show compassion toward migrants.
A statement signed by the leaders of 13 ethnic groups aligned with the SBC recognizes the “federal government’s desire to protect citizens, promote legal immigration and refugee policies, and robustly safeguard the country’s borders” but urges that “enforcement must be accompanied with compassion that doesn’t demonize those fleeing oppression, violence and persecution.”
Along with the SBC Asian Collective, the joint statement provided to Baptist Press was signed by the heads of African American, Burmese, Chinese, Filipino, Ghanaian, Haitian, Hispanic, Korean, Liberian, Nigerian, Thai and Vietnamese unions or conventions.
“We call on our Southern Baptists leaders to stand firm for religious liberty and speak on behalf of the immigrant and refugee.”
The document comes more than two months into President Donald Trump’s ever-widening actions against documented and undocumented immigrants through deportation, family unity, birthright citizenship, refugee resettlement and asylum for persecuted migrants.
The stated concerns range from immigration raids on churches, to efforts to rescind Temporary Protective Status for Haitian, Cuban, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan immigrants and to the deportation of migrants, including those without criminal records, to home countries to face government persecution, gang violence and civil unrest.
Attendance at more than 10,000 ethnic congregations is dropping as a result of the hostile atmosphere for immigrants and refugees fostered by the administration’s practices, the statement explains. And it urges alternatives to the Trump administration’s current tactics.
“We call on our Southern Baptists leaders to stand firm for religious liberty and speak on behalf of the immigrant and refugee. We ask that consideration be given to their paying a fine and/or other penalty in lieu of deportation,” the letter pleads.
Brent Leatherwood
Brent Leatherwood, president of the SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, expressed sympathy for the plight of immigrants in the U.S. but affirmed the Trump administration’s approach on immigration, BP reported.
“The administration’s efforts to secure America’s borders and cut illegal entry into our nation represents a serious attempt to restore order for a system that, for decades, has been overwhelmed,” Leatherwood said. “Moreover, many of these moves are consistent with elements of a comprehensive approach to border security and immigration reform long called for by the Southern Baptist Convention.”
But Leatherwood also recalled Trump’s 2019 State of the Union Address in which the president claimed to welcome immigrants who arrive in the U.S. legally.
“Fostering an environment that creates uncertainty in those who are permitted to be here is at odds with that goal,” Leatherwood said. “Given that, as I have said previously, we’d ask the administration to provide more clarity in this area so that our pastors, churches and compassion ministries will be free to minister and proclaim the good news of Christ’s life, death and resurrection to all.”
In their letter, the ethnic leaders also acknowledge and agree the federal government has the right and responsibility to secure borders and protect citizens, but in a way that honors the humanity of migrants.
“We are concerned about the current impact on religious freedom as worshipers decide not to attend worship services out of fear that federal agents will carry out law enforcement duties in non-exigent circumstances inside a church building,” they say.
The document places ethnic groups and pastors in the SBC squarely among a majority of American evangelicals who support legal immigration, refugee resettlement and pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
According to a Lifeway Research study released in February, 90% of evangelicals support legislation that would secure the nation’s borders and the same support laws upholding family unity and the “God-given dignity” of immigrants.
A majority of U.S. evangelicals (74%) favor paths to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally while 81% say secure borders should come with citizenship for Dreamers and providing enough migrant workers for U.S. farms, Lifeway reported.
When asked about deportation, 67% of respondents said immigrants convicted of crimes should be targeted and 63% said immigrants who pose national security threats should be forcibly removed from the country. Only 19% said Dreamers should be deported, while only 14% believe undocumented immigrants married to U.S. citizens should be deported as the Trump administration now is doing.
“Seven in 10 evangelical Christians believe that the U.S. has a moral responsibility to receive refugees, including about two-thirds of evangelical Christians who voted for President Trump last November,” said Myal Greene, president of World Relief, a Christian humanitarian organization whose work includes refugee outreach.
Myal Greene
“My prayer is that President Trump will heed the voices of evangelical Christians and restore the U.S. refugee resettlement program, a longstanding, lawful immigration process that protects persecuted Christians and others fleeing persecution, while also pursuing a broader range of immigration policies that protect family unity, ensure secure and orderly borders and respect the dignity of all people as made in God’s image,” Greene said.
The administration’s immigration policies also threaten immigrants and the nation’s character, said Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition.
Gabriel Salguero
It is right to focus on border security and the removal of violent criminals, but expanding beyond those goals has endangered hard-working immigrants and their families across the country, he said. The targeting of “churches, schools and hospitals, attempting to repeal birthright citizenship, removing TPS for people who want to contribute to our nation, halting the refuge of those who desperately need safety, and causing unnecessary suffering for those who are fleeing violence and persecution not only undermines our values but also puts innocent individuals at risk.”
The National Association of Evangelicals, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and World Relief responded with a report detailing specific consequences deportations may have on American families: “The findings are stark: Roughly one in 12 Christians in the United States are vulnerable to deportation or live with a family member who could be deported.”
The purpose of the study is to inspire Christians in the U.S. to take a compassionate view of the plight of immigrants and “to recognize that, if even a fraction of those vulnerable to deportation are actually deported, the ramifications are profound — for those individuals, of course, but also for their U.S.-citizen family members and, because when one part of the body suffers, every part suffers with it, for all Christians,” the report explains.
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