Let’s hope the monster child loses the support of evangelicals:

This weekend, federal immigration agents detained dozens of lawfully present refugees in Minnesota, including children. The agents, some dressed in plain clothes, lured refugees out of their homes where they were transported to holding facilities and then, in many cases, out of the state. 

Individuals who have followed every rule and submitted their Green Card applications, as allowed and required one year after their resettlement, are now detained and fear being returned to situations of persecution. World Relief categorically condemns the aggressive tactics ICE agents are using to ensnare rule-following refugees, calling for the release of all lawfully present detainees not charged with any crime and the cessation of what the Department of Homeland Security has called Operation Post-Admission Refugee Reverification and Integrity Strengthening (Operation PARRIS). 

“This is a five-alarm fire. These are not the ‘worst of the worst;’ these are innocent children and families who fled the worst wars and persecution imaginable, who were invited by the American people to become Americans under the terms of American law,” commented Myal Greene, president and CEO of World Relief, which in partnership with local affiliate Arrive Ministries resettled several families that were detained over the weekend. “This shameful and unpatriotic operation preys on our basest fears and manipulates the truth. Enough. ICE must be held accountable, and this operation must cease”….

 “We lament the suffering and recurring trauma of our immigrant neighbors, including many refugees who have fled violence or persecution and have followed every rule,” commented Walter Kim, president of the National Association of Evangelicals. “These are not the nefarious criminals that we should deport. These are families with children whom our country initially welcomed. As evangelicals, we believe every person bears God’s image and deserves safety, dignity and fair treatment.” 

Matthew Soerens, vice president of advocacy and policy at World Relief, added: “When the U.S. rounded up Japanese-Americans, the church remained largely silent. When the U.S. turned away Jews fleeing the Holocaust, the church remained largely silent. But when hundreds of thousands fled Vietnam and other parts of Asia in the 1970s and 1980s, the church stepped up and led the movement to welcome, and evangelical and other Christian churches have played a central role in the refugee resettlement process ever since. We are at a crossroads. The persecuted church is among us, and our government is rounding them up. The church cannot remain silent.”