Overview:
Evangelical denominations must confront complicity in anti-immigrant policies and embrace unity with immigrant congregations
In recent years, many evangelical denominations in the United States have supported anti-immigrant policies that divide families and criminalize innocent people. Among those targeted in ICE raids are undocumented believers who themselves identify as evangelical Christians.
Despite sharing the same faith, immigrant congregations are often seen as “other” by their white evangelical counterparts. This is troubling, since many of these immigrant churches are formally affiliated with major denominations like the Southern Baptist Convention, the United Methodist Church and the Presbyterian Church.
Yet their spiritual contributions rarely translate into advocacy or protection from denominational leaders. Instead, political alignment within U.S. evangelicalism has leaned toward policies that disenfranchise and marginalize immigrant Christians.
A moral and theological failure
Some believers may vote in good conscience, unaware that their choices harm fellow Christians. Others dismiss immigration as a purely political issue. But scripture affirms that decisions affecting one part of the body affect the whole (1 Corinthians 12:26). Ignoring this truth betrays the unity Christ calls his followers to embody.
Immigrant congregations contribute significantly—financially, spiritually and numerically—to their denominations. They have the right and responsibility to hold their partners accountable. Silence in the face of harmful policies, as theologians like Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther King Jr. warned, becomes complicity in injustice.
Called to care for the stranger
At the heart of Christian discipleship is love, hospitality and care for the vulnerable. The Bible consistently commands believers to welcome the foreigner:
- “Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt” (Leviticus 19:33–34).
- “I was a stranger and you invited me in” (Matthew 25:35).
- “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers” (Hebrews 13:2).
These are not suggestions. They are mandates rooted in God’s character and central to the message of Christ. Compassion is not optional; it is required.
A prophetic challenge to the church
If the evangelical church in the U.S. is to maintain moral credibility, it must confront its complicity in systems of injustice. Silence in the face of suffering is not neutrality — it is participation.
Christian faith is not only a personal relationship with God but also a public witness to God’s justice and mercy. When immigrant believers are excluded because of laws supported by fellow Christians, the church must rise to embody the radical hospitality of Christ.
The Gospel knows no borders. Neither should our love for the undocumented families and congregations among us. To follow Christ faithfully means standing in solidarity with immigrant Christians, rejecting nationalism in favor of kingdom living and ensuring compassion outweighs fear.