A coalition of churches in Memphis, Tenn., has joined the chorus of voices demanding justice for lawfully resettled Afghan refugees targeted for detention and deportation by federal immigration authorities.
“The challenge we’re finding is that many of the of the immigration arrests in our city are for nonviolent and, in this case with our Afghan neighbors, non-criminal matters, and that’s a deep concern,” said Stephen Cook, senior pastor of Second Baptist Church in Memphis.
Stephen Cook
The congregation, a partner with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, once provided worship space for Christ Community Afghan Church, which since has moved into its own facility. In the process, many at Second Baptist befriended Afghans now facing deportation after an Afghan national was accused of killing two National Guard soldiers in Washington, D.C., in November.
Members at Second Baptist along with residents across the city were stunned the following month when agents arrested an Afghan Christian man as he walked his 5- and 9-year-old sons to school. After calling his wife to come get the boys, Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested the woman and subsequently removed the entire family to a holding facility in Texas, Cook said.
Later that month, Cook’s church welcomed area faith leaders and refugees to a service of song, Scripture reading and storytelling to express solidarity with those already detained and those facing detention.
“For me this is not a political issue, this is a human rights issue.”
“As I said to our congregation, for me this is not a political issue, this is a human rights issue. These are our neighbors, and they are in need and they’re being wrongfully persecuted. And saying nothing and doing nothing is not an option.”
The situation is especially perilous to Afghan refugees who fled the Taliban and were granted legal residency by the Biden administration. The Memphis family now being held in Texas would face heightened danger if deported to Afghanistan.
“She became a Christian in Afghanistan during that time when the Taliban was not in power, and she is known to be on a hit list already,” Cook said of the wife. “So, if she were sent back to Afghanistan, she would face certain death.”
Also last month, ICE arrested a 31-year-old member of the Afghan Christian church, Cook added. “He was taken into custody when he reported for his monthly check-in with immigration officials. Instead, he was taken into custody and he’s now at a detention facility in Louisiana.”
Refugee Memphis, a Christian organization serving refugees from multiple nations including Afghanistan, has been leading the effort to maintain contact with detained refugees and to raise awareness of their plight.
Mark Morris
“We’ve heard the mom and dad are allowed to see their kids during the daytime but the kids are taken away from them every night and the parents are separated,” Cook said.
“All these people need the intercession and care of their brothers and sisters in Christ,” said Mark Morris, a missionary and founder of the organization, during the service at Second Baptist, according to a report by the Institute for Public Service Reporting in Memphis.
Cook followed Morris by inviting the assembly to sign a letter to be sent to government leaders in Memphis and Washington, D.C.
The letter called on those in elected positions “to urgently and favorably consider the serious threats our neighbors are facing if they are deported. We pray that you will join us in speaking up for and standing with our Afghan neighbors in this time of profound instability and deep fear.”
The letter was biblical, not political, Cook explained before giving the benediction: “These people are sisters and brothers in the body of Christ who are here legally and have done everything they are supposed to do. They may die if they are sent back to the place from which they have fled.”