The states of Illinois and Minnesota filed lawsuits against the Department of Homeland Security Jan. 12 in an effort to protect citizens from aggressive and even deadly federal immigration enforcement tactics. The legal actions came in response to violence waged…
Kentucky church foregoes FEMA aid because of demands made
A Baptist church in Frankfort, Ky., turned down a much-needed federal grant for facilities repairs because the award mandated cooperation with immigration enforcement efforts and elimination of diversity, equity and inclusion policies. First Baptist Church on St. Clair was awarded…
Trump preparing to warehouse immigrants like cargo
On Christmas Eve, the Washington Post broke the news that the Trump administration plans to convert seven large warehouses across the country into holding pens to collectively hold 80,000 humans. One of the selected sites is Hutchins, Texas, 30 miles…
Churches deliver Christmas to immigrants detained, deported and in hiding
Earlier this month, the Rev. Pilar Pérez, a United Methodist minister in the denomination’s Western North Carolina Conference, called up a parishioner who hadn’t been to worship in a while. The pastor encouraged the congregant to attend Christmas services, even…
Trump administration targets Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande
The Trump administration has suspended federal funding to Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande pending the outcome of an investigation into alleged “incomplete and inaccurate” record keeping by the faith-based agency. The ongoing review also could result in a period…
Travel ban expansion will do more harm, advocates warn
The expansion of President Donald Trump’s travel ban will subject more refugees and immigrants to grave danger and diminish opportunities for foreign professionals and students to work and study in the U.S., immigration and education advocates warn. “With the U.S….
Are all undocumented immigrants criminals?
In the debate over U.S. immigration policy, MAGA conservatives begin with the premise that anyone who crosses the border into the U.S. without advance permission is breaking the law. Therefore, the very act of entering the country is a crime….
Advent messages urge United Methodists to defend immigrants
As President Donald Trump’s administration has pursued immigration enforcement aggressively this year, The United Methodist Church has intensified multiple avenues of immigrant support. Now United Methodist leaders are using their Advent messages to urge pastors and church members to protect…
Let’s change how we talk about immigrants
Conversations about immigration, especially on social media, reveal hard lines in the sand, a closed binary line of thinking, along with disgust, anger and outrage. Bring up immigration at the family Thanksgiving gathering, and the turkey may burn in the…
How The Son Of Jewish Immigrants Became The King Of American Comedy
“The Dick Van Dyke Show,” “All in the Family,” the riffs and routines of Johnny Carson and Larry David. His writers included Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Neil Simon and Woody Allen.
A conversation with Michael Woolf about ICE and Chicago
On Halloween, ICE agents carried out a number of raids in and around Chicagoland — including in Evanston, home of Lake Street Church, an Alliance of Baptist congregation. In response, Lake Street’s senior pastor, Michael Woolf, joined protests at the…
All are welcome — except those we don’t like
While white evangelicals like to brand their churches to their neighbors as cool and kind, their behavior toward their neighbors often is cruel. I recently came across a perfect example of this through the social media posts of Nate Schlomann,…