Despite Donald Trump’s executive orders attempting to shut down all immigration into the United States, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship says it will continue to serve immigrants and refugees in Jesus’ name.
“We attend to the hungry and thirsty because Jesus is Lord. We welcome the stranger because Jesus is Lord. We take care of the sick because Jesus is Lord. We clothe the naked because Jesus is Lord. We visit the prisoner because Jesus is Lord,” said leaders of CBF North Carolina in a statement Jan. 23.
That group is the largest of all the state and regional organizations affiliated with CBF Global Missions and runs a refugee ministry called Welcome House in Raleigh.
“We profess, unapologetically, that Jesus alone is Lord. Therefore, we will not set aside any of the Christ-centered work before us,” said the letter from Randy Carter, pastor of Temple Baptist Church in Durham and interim director of the Welcome Network; Larry Hovis, executive coordinator; Santiago Reales, director of Red Latina CBFNC; and Kim and Marc Wyatt, who founded and lead Welcome House.
“We will welcome. We will serve. We will build beloved community. Because Jesus is Lord.”
“We will adapt and pivot. We will continue to partner with refugee resettlement agencies who serve our friends and neighbors already here. We will support Red Latina and the Latino communities they serve. We will wrap our arms around the vulnerable and ensure their voices are heard,” the letter says. “We will welcome. We will serve. We will build beloved community. Because Jesus is Lord.”
Elket Rodriguez, global migration advocate for CBF national, also issued a review of the 10 executive orders Trump handed down within 24 hours after the inauguration.
Elket Rodriguez
CBF’s Advocacy office remains “committed to seeking justice for the migrant, the immigrant, the asylee and the refugee among us,” he wrote. “These efforts complement our Global Missions commitment to ministry in the context of global migration.
CBF called its members to “increased advocacy at this critical moment when the future of our country will be shaped by how our generation addresses the brokenness of our current immigration policy.”
The goal should be “a complete reform of our immigration system,” he said. “In so doing, we ask supporters to advocate for and urge our elected leaders to support legislation that respects the following values and contains these core principles:
- The God-given dignity, worth, civil rights and human rights of all people who desire to come to the United States to contribute to our country and way of life.
- The careful attention and protection of migrant children and their well-being.
- The safety of our citizens and protection of our country’s sovereignty, through a nondiscriminatory, humane and modern border security and enforcement system.
- The safety and unity of our communities.
- The protection, care and right of due process for refugees and asylees without prejudice of creed, race, political party, etc.
- The right of every human being to seek asylum from persecution in our country and the guarantee that no person will be returned to a country where they could face torture or persecution.
- Policies that honor and respect the importance of the family. Our laws should continue our tradition of promoting family unity by allowing U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents to petition for legal permanent residency on behalf of their close family members, and for U.S. citizens to petition for citizenship on behalf of family members who are legal permanent residents.
- The equal rights of all U.S. citizens regardless of whether they are citizens by birth or naturalization.
- A path toward legal status and/or citizenship for DREAMers, according to DACA requirements; recipients of Temporary Protected Status; parents of American citizen children; military personnel and service members; essential workers who provided vital services to our citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The commitment to address the root causes of migration and the conditions that generate the forced displacement of families to our borders.
- The workforce and economic needs of our country, immigrant workers and their immediate families.
- The use of community-based alternatives to detention of nonviolent immigrants.
- The accountability of the immigration enforcement agencies and its officials.
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