What's New
Over 15,000 people have signed a petition started by the Christian group Faithful America accusing President-elect Donald Trump of violating Christian values with his immigration policies.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's transition team via email, and Faithful America via an online form, for comment Wednesday morning.
Why It Matters
The president-elect is vowing to take his hard-line immigration stance to the next level in his second term, promising mass deportations of immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally.
Trump's immigration policies in his first term, including actions that separated thousands of migrant parents from their children at the U.S.-Mexico border, were criticized at the time for being inhumane.
Meanwhile, Trump has spoken about his Christian faith. In March, he endorsed a "God Bless the USA Bible" during his campaign. "Religion and Christianity are the biggest things missing from this country, and I truly believe that we need to bring them back and we have to bring them back fast," he said in a video peddling the Bible.
What To Know
Faithful America, an organization of Christians supporting social justice causes while opposing Christian nationalism and white supremacy, posted an online petition last week that asks U.S. Catholic leadership "to boldly and publicly stand up to Donald Trump and say 'NO' to these inhumane practices," the group said on its website.
It was referring to Trump's mass deportation promise and his reported plans to allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to arrest undocumented immigrants at churches.
On December 11, NBC News reported that Trump plans to rescind a policy that stops ICE agents from arresting undocumented immigrants at or near so-called sensitive locations such as places of worship, schools and hospitals as soon as his first day in office. NBC News cited three sources familiar with the plan.
"Jesus was clear in his instruction to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the imprisoned, and welcome the stranger," Faithful America wrote on its website. "And as some of the most high-profile Christian leaders in the country, the members of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) have an opportunity to make a real difference by standing up for our immigrant neighbors."
Faithful America's petition, which had 15,470 signatures as of Wednesday morning, calls Trump's immigration policies "deeply disturbing and a direct violation of our Christian values." It asks the USCCB to "publicly denounce Trump's plan to allow ICE officers into our churches and stand up for our immigrant and refugee siblings."
What People Are Saying
Lee Gelernt, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, told NBC News: "Immigration enforcement has always required a balance. In the past, presidents of both parties have recognized that merely because it may be lawful to make arrests at hospitals and schools doesn't mean it's humane or wise public policy."
Gelernt went on: "We don't want people with contagious diseases too scared to go to the hospital or children going uneducated because of poorly considered deportation policies."
Speaking on anti-immigrant sentiment among Christians, Ben Marsh, who leads First Alliance Church in Winston, North Carolina, told Newsweek on December 12: "The ill-informed are those who think we do not have enough money to help Americans because we are spending too much money on immigrants. This is simply not borne out by reality, as World Relief and many other organizations show. Immigrants are a net gain from a taxpaying perspective, and they commit crimes at a lower rate than native-born Americans."
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Trump ally who is known to be a deeply evangelical Christian, told CNN's Jake Tapper after Trump's election win that the president-elect's immigration policies are about "securing the border right out of the gate. This is what the American people have demanded and what they deserve. They want a secure country. They want a secure border, and we will deliver upon that."
Senator Lindsey Graham, Trump ally who belongs to a Baptist church in South Carolina, said in a clip of himself that he shared on X (formerly Twitter) in June, "If you wanna shut down illegal immigration, those coming need to see an outflow by the tens and hundreds of thousands. That will deter. The only policy change that will work is to have mass deportations. Because people will stop coming when they see people leaving."
What Happens Next
With Trump returning to the White House in a few weeks, some immigrant families are preparing for the worst.
Meanwhile, immigrants' rights advocates and groups are holding training sessions that teach immigrants about their rights. They are also helping families prepare plans of action in case an undocumented relative is detained or deported, according to NBC News report on Monday.
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