Oppose Deportation Policies That Separate Families

In 2018, when President Trump’s first administration enacted a “zero tolerance” policy that ultimately separated several thousand children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border, polls found that most evangelical Christians were opposed – and vocal opposition to this policy from evangelical Christians in particular, helped lead to its ultimate termination. Now, with the potential for family separation on a much larger scale, is another timely moment for Christians to speak up.

President Trump has pledged to carry out “the largest deportation in U.S. history.” While he has largely emphasized the need to deport those convicted of violent crimes, the reality is that, his administration is seeking to  deport at least 3,000 immigrants a day, the vast majority of immigrants at risk of deportation are individuals without any criminal conviction who have been present in the U.S. for at least a decade. He has also withdrawn protections from certain immigrants who are currently in the country lawfully and initiate deportations. A deportation program of this scale would not only harm the economy but could jeopardize family unity, including for many of the 4 to 5 million U.S. citizen minors who have a parent who is undocumented.

The scale and speed of this mass deportation will be limited, however, by the amount of resources appropriated by the U.S. Congress. Now is the time for Christians who prioritize family unity to reach out to their members of Congress, urging them to reject $150 billion appropriations for mass detention and deportation programs and instead urge them to support solutions that would improve border security and respect the rule of law but that would not separate families.