Evangelical leaders are calling for compassion toward the migrants, many of whom are fleeing violence and persecution in their homelands. “We encourage churches—both in the U.S. and in Latin America—to respond with Christ-like love to the vulnerable families and individuals who form this caravan,” stated the group Evangelical Immigration Table.
“People fleeing for their lives are not to be used as political props,” says Russell Moore, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission President of the Southern Baptist Convention. “Those escaping violence and persecution…bear the image of God and should be treated with dignity and compassion. As Christians, we should share the heart of Jesus for refugees and others imperiled.”
Galen Carey of the National Association of Evangelicals disputes Trump’s characterization of the caravan as an invasion. “A few thousand desperate people fleeing violence and seeking a better life does not mean that our country is about to be invaded,” he says. “We urge our leaders not to overreact, and to allow those seeking asylum to have their day in court.”
Referring to Trump’s demonization of the migrant caravan, Washington Post columnist and evangelical Christian Michael Gerson says that attitude is “tainted by bigotry.” He asks, “How can young people look at the GOP as a realistic option for moral people?”
In June, more than 600 United Methodists brought church law charges of child abuse against Attorney General Sessions. The complaint stemmed from the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance immigrant policy and the child-parent separations that were occurring at the U.S.-Mexico border. Sessions addressed the “church friends” who disagreed with him, defending the separations as legal and short-term.
The church complaint against Sessions was dismissed on a technicality by regional church officials, who said the attorney general was acting in his capacity as a government official, not as a church member. Sessions is a member of the UMC, as well as a longtime Sunday school teacher.
The Rev. David Wright, who spearheaded the complaint against Sessions, said the goal was to prompt discussions about Trump’s controversial immigration policies. Those policies have indeed sparked ongoing debate among Methodist leaders and Christians of all denominations.
