Immigration advocates pressed a federal appeals court Sept. 3 to reinstate injunctions against the Trump administration’s indefinite suspension of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. A three-judge panel of the Ninth District Court of Appeals in Seattle heard oral arguments that…
As one born among us
“When an immigrant resides with you, you shall not oppress the immigrant. The immigrant shall be to you as one who was born among you; you shall love the immigrant as yourself.” Those words from Leviticus 19:33-34 belong to…
Trump administration arrests ‘Interfaith Imam,’ setting off protests
Tensions are boiling over in Ohio as immigration authorities continue to detain Imam Ayman Soliman, a former Cincinnati Children’s Hospital chaplain whose asylum status was revoked last month. More than a dozen demonstrators have been arrested at vigils organized since…
Trump administration ordered to admit pre-screened refugees
The Trump administration has been ordered by a federal judge to admit about 12,000 refugees whose arrival plans were canceled when the president took office in January. U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead in Seattle said his order includes refugees from…
BJC leader calls Trump’s new travel ban ‘dangerous and discriminatory’
President Donald Trump’s new travel ban against nationals from a dozen countries is “dangerous and discriminatory” and is a significant threat to religious freedom, according to Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. BJC Executive Director Amanda Tyler said the ban,…
The Episcopal Church refuses to help Trump Make Apartheid Great Again
On Wednesday, May 21, President Donald Trump once again sullied the presidency and our nation’s reputation by ambushing South African President Cyril Ramaphosa with a made-for-social-media propaganda stunt that was peppered with lies and misleading video about an alleged white…
At the border, an Episcopal priest finds stories to tell
When Cristina Rathbone decided to head to the U.S.-Mexico border in 2019, she believed God was calling her there. What happened there is told in her new book, The Asylum Seekers. Working with marginalized people was nothing new to her….
The church helped me when I was a refugee. It’s called to do the same today.
In the late 1970s, the church sent a missionary pastor to the refugee camp in the Philippines where my parents were living to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. A little over a year later, the church sponsored our family…
Four new lawsuits challenge Trump immigration actions
The Trump administration faces at least four lawsuits from activist groups, migrants and U.S. citizens for eliminating deportation protections that have saved hundreds of thousands of migrants from war, poverty and persecution in their home countries. One of the federal…
As Trump tries to kill refugee resettlement, groups issue ‘Ash Wednesday Declaration’
The American Baptist Churches in the USA and The United Methodist Church are among a host of religious bodies joining Church World Service in issuing an “Ash Wednesday Declaration” in support of refugee resettlement work. The declaration comes as the…
Bishop Budde’s sermon, one month later
Unless you’ve been in a coma, you’re no doubt aware of the sermon Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde gave at a “Service of Prayer for the Nation” held at Washington National Cathedral Jan. 21. The bishop preached a gospel message and…
Wake up
There was an urgency to his whisper: “Mary, wake up!” Like any new mother, she was instantly awake, asking, “What’s wrong? Where’s Jesus?” “He’s fine. But we have to go. I’ll explain on the way.” Her husband’s face, lit only…