THREAD There is sudden, serious pushback from religious leaders to Trump's immigration policies, especially separating families, denying Dreamers a path to legalization and refusing asylum to victims of gang violence and domestic abuse. First up, US Catholic Bishops:
Southern Baptist Convention passed this: RESOLVED, That we desire to see immigration reform include an emphasis on securing our borders and providing a pathway to legal status with appropriate restitutionary measures, maintaining the priority of family unity... #SBCAM18
Link to the full immigration resolution by the Southern Baptist Convention:
sbcannualmeeting.net/sbc18/resoluti…
sbcannualmeeting.net/sbc18/resoluti…
An even bigger group of evangelicals has sent a letter to President Trump asking that families seeking asylum be kept together because of the "traumatic effects of this separation on these young children." evangelicalimmigrationtable.com/cms/assets/upl…
Trump supporter @FranklinGraham on @CBNNews: “It’s disgraceful , it’s terrible to see families ripped apart, and I don’t support that one bit. And I blame the politicians for the last 20, 30 years that had allowed this to escalate to the point this is today.”
Of course, many religious leaders and organizations - Jews, mainline Protestants, Muslims, many more - have been saying these same things consistently. What's changed here is the tenor of the criticism, and the voices.
When Franklin Graham calls it "disgraceful," that's a change worth noting.
Some of these religious leaders are the very same evangelicals, Southern Baptists and Catholics who helped Trump build his base.
