The weekend before Donald Trump’s inauguration, I was at a worship service. However, it was not among the privileged of society in one of the numerous American megachurches; it was with a group of asylum seekers on the Mexican side of the border who were raising their hands and calling out to God for help.
Although these individuals always have been in a dangerous situation, I found their situation particularly precarious this trip. Many had been waiting months for the chance to start the asylum process through the U.S. government’s CBP One app, but that was all now in limbo as the incoming Trump administration had called for the end of the app and essentially the end of asylum.
Will McCorkle
The only choice these individuals now have to enter the U.S. is to pay thousands of dollars to the cartels and risk their lives through a hundred miles of barren terrain. Some, including small children, will die on that journey.
We are at this point because of many factors, but perhaps most specifically it is because of the white American church. Although the white evangelical church is notorious for its support of Trump and supported him overwhelmingly, the majority of white Catholics and Mainline Protestants also voted for Trump. This trend also was seen among Latino evangelicals. Although some may have voted for him despite his immigration rhetoric and policies, there is strong evidence many voted for him because of it.
Sadly, much of the American church has betrayed its brothers and sisters to the South. The ironic part is so many of these in need come from the same churches and denominations that are part of the growth of Pentecostalism in Latin America. The Pentecostal American church prayed for Trump’s victory and cheered on his “strong borders” rhetoric while their brothers and sisters in Latin America became the victims of his xenophobic policies.
It is a sad time for the American public, but it is perhaps an even more grim moment for so much of the American church. We have lost our way and, in the process, we have chosen an earthly king over our heavenly one. We have embraced the flag and nationalism over our brothers and sisters in Christ. We have rejected Jesus who comes to us in the form of an immigrant and stranger.
May we one day begin to act more like the sheep of Matthew 25 than the goats. Jesus sits with sorrow as he cries when you rejected the least of these, you rejected me.
Will McCorkle serves as an education professor in Charleston, S.C., and is a board member with Practice Mercy Border Ministries. He writes on the topics of immigration, peace and faith.
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