Catholic, Episcopal, Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and United Church of Christ leaders across the United States are mounting an unprecedented interfaith opposition to Trump’s extreme immigration enforcement policies.
In recent months, Pope Leo XIV, Arizona bishops, and a nationwide coalition of clergy have all raised their voices in defense of immigrants, calling for justice, compassion, and sweeping policy change.
Arizona bishops are leading a regional coalition, and more than 100 clergy nationwide signed manifestos declaring the policies fundamentally incompatible with Christian teachings.
ICE has deported nearly 200,000 people in the last seven months. ICE’s Black-masked thugs have torn families apart, disappeared people at the workplaces or courthouses, and terrified neighborhoods. Immigrants are thrown into secret prisons and flown to alien nations in military aircraft.
Christian leaders nationwide denounce Trump’s policies.
Migrants and refugees are finding powerful allies in the Christian community.
Their united denunciation represents one of the strongest faith-based challenges yet to national and global indifference toward those fleeing violence, hunger, and persecution.
A grassroots movement of clergy in Southern Arizona has just released a sweeping manifesto, For God So Loved the World: A Christian Witness Against Harm. Signed by dozens of ministers, bishops, and deacons from across Christian traditions, the statement denounces a “dizzying number” of Trump’s brutal immigration policies .
They accused the administration of cloaking anti-immigrant policies in Christian symbolism while upending Jesus’ ministry. “Jesus’ way of love leads us to see worth, dignity, and opportunity in all,” the clergy wrote. “Instead of division, we can work together to help workers, families, and communities thrive.”
Among them were Bishop Edward J. Weisenburger of Tucson and Bishop John Dolan of Phoenix. Their message was clear: churches must remain sanctuaries, and conscience-driven officials who refuse unjust deportations should be respected.
Their document explicitly condemned:
- Deportations without due process
- The criminalization of workers and children
- Immigration raids that spread fear in communities
- Closing U.S. borders to those fleeing danger
- Attempts to deny citizenship to U.S.-born children
The clergy committed themselves to a “message of hope” grounded in Jesus’ command to care for the hungry, the sick, and the stranger. They invited Christians of all denominations to join them in “practices of bold mercy, justice, and compassion.”
Pope Leo XIV: Migrants as “Missionaries of Hope”
The concern for migrants extends to the Vatican. On July 25, 2025, Pope Leo XIV released his message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, celebrated this October. Framing his message around the theme “Migrants, missionaries of hope”, the Pope portrayed migrants not as burdens but as prophetic witnesses.
“With their courage and tenacity in the pursuit of happiness, migrants and refugees are messengers of hope,” the Pope wrote. He praised their resilience in the face of dangerous journeys, wars, and climate disasters, calling their endurance “heroic testimony to a faith that sees beyond what our eyes can see.”
The Pope urged Christians to recognize that the church itself is a pilgrim people, always journeying. Migrants, he said, revitalize faith communities. Their “spiritual enthusiasm and vitality,” he argued, can transform parishes into living signs of God’s kingdom.
Migrants, he concluded, are not a problem to be solved but a blessing to be received.
Arizona Bishops Condemn Raids and Family Separations
A broad coalition of Arizona Christian bishops and denominational leaders issued a stark warning on December 23, 2024, about the mistreatment of undocumented people in the United States. They said U.S. immigration laws fall far short of upholding “the rights to a dignified life, family unity, and safety.”
Their statement emphasized the human cost of detention and deportation raids, particularly when they target vulnerable spaces such as churches, schools, hospitals, or community centers. “The threat of separating children from their parents as a means of punishment or deterrence is exceptionally reprehensible,” the bishops declared.
They warned that such tactics not only harm families but also undermine religious freedom itself, as many undocumented persons may be too fearful to attend worship services. “The disruption of any religious gathering for deportation purposes is equally an assault on our own right to the free exercise of our religion,” the bishops said.
A Common Voice for Justice
Taken together, the three declarations form a unified Christian witness at a time when migrants and refugees face unprecedented challenges. From the Arizona desert to the Vatican, church leaders are warning that national policies rooted in fear and exclusion not only harm migrants but also erode society’s moral core.
What stands out across all three statements is the insistence that faith demands action. Arizona bishops urged officials to refuse unjust deportations. Pope Leo XIV framed migrants as bearers of hope who can revive a weary church. And U.S. clergy condemned harmful policies while pledging bold acts of justice and mercy.
Despite differing contexts, their voices converge on a single truth: every migrant is made in the image of God, and every act of cruelty or exclusion is an assault on human dignity.
Conclusion: A Call to Conscience
As political debates continue over border security, asylum, and immigration reform, Christian leaders are reframing the issue in spiritual terms. Deportation raids are not only policy choices; they are moral failures. Refugees are not simply statistics; they are “missionaries of hope.” And silence in the face of injustice, they argue, is complicity.
“For God so loved the world” is not, these leaders insist, an abstract theological claim. It is a summons to protect the vulnerable, welcome the stranger, and build societies where justice and compassion prevail.
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