“While those convicted of serious violent offenses should face deportation,” the letter reads, “any initiative to deport all unauthorized immigrants — the vast majority of whom have lived within the United States for at least a decade and have not been convicted of any serious crime — would result in family separation at an unconscionable scale.”
In an email to RNS, Soerens argued the Trump campaign “is making not just a moral error in using dehumanizing language and proposing policies that would separate families on a large scale, but also a political misstep.” He said that while Trump has long enjoyed ironclad support from white evangelical voters, his approach to immigration could damage the former president’s prospects come Election Day.
“I’m obviously not predicting that most white evangelicals in Wisconsin or any state are going to vote for Harris, but if even a small share of 2020 Trump voters make that switch or — perhaps more likely — are so dismayed by both candidates that they simply stay home, it could be decisive in states like Wisconsin, North Carolina and Georgia, where the margin of victory is sure to be very close,” Soerens wrote.
The signers of the letter, who hail from all 50 states, include Myal Greene of World Relief, president of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities David Hoag and an array of local faith leaders in states such as Wisconsin, among others.
“As you seek to appeal to evangelical voters, we urge you to reflect each of these biblically-informed values in the rhetoric you employ and the policy solutions you propose,” the letter concludes. “Regardless of the outcome of this or any election, American evangelicals remain committed to the biblical call to love our neighbors — including our immigrant neighbors.”
The letter comes less than two days after a faith-themed event in Pennsylvania where Vance offered a theological defense of Trump’s border policies. Speaking before a conservative Christian crowd, Vance, a Catholic, suggested his hardline position on immigration is rooted in the “Christian idea that you owe the strongest duty to your family,” and that leaders should prioritize their own citizens first.
“It doesn’t mean that you have to be mean to other people, but it means that your first duty as an American leader is to the people of your own country,” said Vance.
This article originally appeared here.
