DALLAS (BP) — Leaders of 13 Southern Baptist ethnic groups have approved a joint statement on immigration seeking religious liberty protections, compassion without demonization and enforcement options including fines or other penalties in lieu of deportation.
Signers of the statement said they share the “federal government’s desire to protect citizens, promote legal immigration and refugee policies, and robustly safeguard the country’s borders.” But “enforcement must be accompanied with compassion that doesn’t demonize those fleeing oppression, violence, and persecution.” The statement was shared with Baptist Press by Bruno Molina, executive director of the National Hispanic Baptist Network and a signatory.
Haitian, Hispanic, African American, Chinese, Filipino, Nigerian, Liberian, Ghanaian, Korean, Burmese, Thai and Vietnamese leaders signed the statement, Molina told Baptist Press (BP).
Victor Chayasirisobhon, another signatory and director of the Southern Baptist Convention Asian Collective representing all Asian fellowships in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), said all groups in the collective approved the statement individually and collectively.
Sixteen leaders representing roughly 10,900 churches signed the statement on behalf of their groups amid immigration changes that leaders have said will heavily impact Southern Baptist Haitian and Hispanic congregations, including orders that end humanitarian parole for 532,000 Haitians, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans and Cubans on April 24 and end Temporary Protected Status for an estimated 1.1 million others in August. A federal judge on March 31 blocked an order that would have forced 350,000 Venezuelans to leave on April 7.
“Threats of mass deportation by the Trump administration and its lack of assurance to churches that ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents will not enter churches to carry out immigration enforcement duties,” ethnic leaders wrote, “has caused fear to rise among both the guilty and the innocent.”
Attendance has dropped significantly, leaders said, threatening religious liberty and immigrants’ access to spiritual care in their local churches.
“We call on our Southern Baptists leaders to stand firm for religious liberty and speak on behalf of the immigrant and refugee” ethnic leaders wrote. “We ask that consideration be given to their paying a fine and/or other penalty in lieu of deportation,” the letter states, encouraging churches to advocate to government leaders for immigrants forced to return to countries from which they fled civil unrest, murder, rape, religious and political persecution, gang violence, food insecurity and other ills.
“We call on our Southern Baptist brothers and sisters to pray for the Trump administration. Please ask God to grant wisdom as they deal with this important and complex issue that will determine the course for many who have already experienced great atrocities in their native country,” ethnic leaders wrote, “and whose deportations will cause their American-born family members who reunite with them in a foreign country to experience the same dire conditions.”
Brent Leatherwood, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), thanked the leaders for the statement.
“I am grateful these pastors and leaders have put into words the experiences that so many of our fellow Southern Baptist brothers and sisters are living through right now. The Administration’s efforts to secure America’s borders and cut illegal entry into our nation represents a serious attempt to restore order for a system that, for decades, has been overwhelmed,” Leatherwood told Baptist Press. “Moreover, many of these moves are consistent with elements of a comprehensive approach to border security and immigration reform long called for by the Southern Baptist Convention.
“Yet, as these pastors have indicated, some of these actions and public statements are raising alarm and fear among those who are here legally.”
Leatherwood referenced a statement Trump made in his first presidential term, in 2019, saying that Trump “has personally and publicly stated he wants people to come to America ‘in the largest numbers ever,’ but to do so through legal means.
“We agree with that objective,” Leatherwood said of the ERLC. “Fostering an environment that creates uncertainty in those who are permitted to be here is at odds with that goal. Given that, as I have said previously, we’d ask the administration to provide more clarity in this area so that our pastors, churches and compassion ministries will be free to minister and proclaim the Good News of Christ’s life, death and resurrection to all.”
Keny Felix, president of the SBC National Haitian Fellowship, said that in addition to the top ethnic leaders who signed the statement, several pastors affirmed it.
“As leaders within the SBC, we believe we must work collaboratively in support of our brothers, sisters and vulnerable families. It’s not just advocacy. It’s fulfilling our biblical mandate,” Felix told Baptist Press. “To care for the most vulnerable with compassion is at the heart of God’s redemption story and also makes for strong and healthy communities.”
The full statement and the signatories follow:
Ethnic Fellowships’ Joint Statement on Immigration Issues
We, the undersigned leaders of ethnic groups within the Southern Baptist Convention, share the federal government’s desire to protect citizens, promote legal immigration and refugee policies, and robustly safeguard the country’s borders. Law and order are necessary, but enforcement must be accompanied with compassion that doesn’t demonize those fleeing oppression, violence, and persecution.
Threats of mass deportation by the Trump administration and its lack of assurance to churches that ICE agents will not enter churches to carry out immigration enforcement duties has caused fear to rise among both the guilty and the innocent. As evidenced by the significant drop in attendance, many legal law-abiding immigrants and refugees across the United States are also confused and afraid to gather to worship God and receive spiritual care in their local church.
We are concerned about the current impact on religious freedom as worshippers decide not to attend worship services out of fear that federal agents will carry out law enforcement duties in non-exigent circumstances inside a church building.
While we reject and oppose criminal activity or harboring criminals, all people should have the freedom to receive spiritual care from churches within a church building in America.
We call on our Southern Baptist brothers and sisters to pray for the Trump administration. Please ask God to grant wisdom as they deal with this important and complex issue that will determine the course for many who have already experienced great atrocities in their native country and whose deportations will cause their American-born family members who reunite with them in a foreign country to experience the same dire conditions. We ask that consideration be given to their paying a fine and/or other penalty in lieu of deportation. We make this appeal in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who said in Matthew 25:35-36: “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
We call on our Southern Baptist brothers and sisters to pray for immigrants and refugees as they face significant fear and uncertainty in these days and to extend compassion to them when possible. Many fear returning to their native country where they were persecuted and faced extreme violence, including kidnappings and physical and sexual assaults towards adults and children, as well as substantial challenges in meeting basic needs such as food, shelter, and medical care.
We call on our Southern Baptists leaders to stand firm for religious liberty and speak on behalf of the immigrant and refugee. We ask them to encourage government leaders to support religious liberty, guarantee due process, and provide clear guidance as they look to enforce the immigration laws.
As our greatest hope and courage can only be found in Jesus Christ, we also call on Southern Baptist pastors and church leaders to look for opportunities to share the gospel and care for immigrants and refugees.
We pray that America may be strengthened as we respect religious liberty, care for the immigrant and refugee, respect the rule of law, and treat one another with dignity and respect as we face this serious issue.
John Asante, president, Ghana Baptist Convention
Victor Chayasirisobhon, director, SBC Asian Collective
Keny Felix, president, Southern Baptist Convention National Haitian Fellowship
James Kang, executive director, Council of Korean Southern Baptist Churches in America
Thuam C. Khai, executive director, Myanmar National Baptist Fellowship
Amos Lee, president, Chinese Baptist Fellowship of the United States and Canada
Lito Lucas, president, Filipino Southern Baptist Fellowship of North America
Hre Mang, president, Myanmar National Baptist Fellowship
Bruno Molina, executive director, National Hispanic Baptist Network
Philip Nache, pastor, Hope of Nations Fellowship Church, Bloomington, Minn., on behalf of Nigerian churches
Gregory Perkins, president, National African American Fellowship of the SBC
Christian Phang, executive director, Vietnamese Baptist Union
Jesse Rincones, executive director, Texas Hispanic Baptist Convention
Dan Santiago, executive director, Filipino Southern Baptist Fellowship of North America
Jeremy Sin, executive director, Chinese Baptist Fellowship of the United States and Canada
Francis Tabla, pastor, Ebenezer Community Church in Brooklyn Park, Minn., on behalf of Liberian churches
(EDITOR’S NOTE — Diana Chandler is Baptist Press’ senior writer.)
