The Banner has a subscription to republish articles from Religion News Service. This story by Jack Jenkins was published Sept. 30, 2024 on religionnews.com. It has been edited for length and Banner style. Brief context for the Christian Reformed Church was added to the second paragraph.
More than 200 evangelical Christian leaders, moderates as well as influential conservatives, have signed an open letter urging the presidential candidates of both parties to reflect “biblical principles on immigration.”
The letter, released Sept. 30, was organized by the evangelical humanitarian aid organization World Relief and signed by the group’s vice president of advocacy and policy, Matthew Soerens, as well as Timothy R. Head of the Faith and Freedom Coalition; Daniel Darling of the Land Center for Cultural Engagement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; and National Association of Evangelicals president Walter Kim. The names of some Christian Reformed pastors or former leaders appear on the list, including Colin Watson, James Kuiper, and Thomas Soerens (uncle to Matthew of World Relief).
Other signers include Gabriel and Jeanette Salguero, leaders of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition; Raymond Chang, president of the Asian American Christian Collaborative; Dave Dummitt, senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church; and Rich Nathan, pastor of Vineyard church in Columbus, Ohio.
“There’s no single evangelical perspective on U.S. immigration policy,” the letter argued, but added, “the vast majority of American evangelicals are neither anti-immigrant nor advocates for open borders.”
The letter detailed three “core principles” regarding evangelical beliefs and immigration: the belief that immigrants are made in the image of God and have innate dignity, a desire for secure and orderly borders, and opposing immigration policies that separate families.
“We believe our government can and must both maintain a secure, orderly border and protect those fleeing persecution,” the letter reads.
It expressed concern over the “record number of apprehensions of individuals who have unlawfully crossed the U.S.-Mexico border” and those who have entered without being apprehended. The influx increases “the risk of entry of those intent on harming the United States and its citizens,” the letter said. But World Relief’s letter also advocated for respectful language. “Dehumanizing language is offensive to evangelicals, especially because many of us are immigrants, are descendants of immigrants, or have personal relationships with the immigrants who make up a growing share of our movement,” the letter said.
The letter also singled out the “zero tolerance” policy instituted in 2018 by the Trump administration, which led to immigrant children detained along the U.S.-Mexico border being separated from their parents and sent to other facilities, sometimes without enough information to easily reunite them later.
The letter connected the policy to recent proposals by Trump to enact the “largest deportation” in U.S. history.
“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.”
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.
“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.”
c. 2024 Religion News Service