by Rev. Dorothy S. Boulware
When the Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde stepped up to the pulpit at the traditional presidential inaugural prayer service on Jan. 21, she stood on business. As the first woman to serve as the spiritual leader of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, she confronted President Donald Trump, pleading for mercy on behalf of people she said are terrified by his administration’s hardline immigration plans.
“Millions have put their trust in you,” Budde told Trump at the Washington National Cathedral. “In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now.”
Budde’s plea reflects a larger anxiety rippling through immigrant communities and faith leaders nationwide after Trump signed a slew of executive orders on immigration, declared a national emergency on the southern U.S. border and announced plans to deploy troops there. He has also threatened to end birthright citizenship and expanded the scope of immigration enforcement to include raids at houses of worship — long viewed as sanctuaries, off-limits to immigration offices.
All of this has left many — including the 6% of undocumented immigrants who are Black — scrambling for legal protections and moral support.
Budde went on to list the many vulnerable groups, including LGBTQ children in families of all political backgrounds, farmworkers who “pick our crops and clean our office buildings,” and keep restaurants running.
“They may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals,” she added. “They pay taxes and are good neighbors.”
Budde’s appeal is in step with other faith leaders who have spoken out against the administration’s policies. In an interview, Pope Francis labeled the mass deportation plan “a disgrace, because it makes the poor wretches who have nothing, pay the bill for U.S. problems.”
Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, echoed those concerns before Trump took office. During a Jan. 19 pilgrimage in Mexico City.
“For members of faith communities, the threatened mass deportations also leave us with the searing question, ‘What is God telling us in this moment?’ People of faith are called to speak for the rights of others and to remind society of its obligation to care for those in need,” Cupich said. “If the indiscriminate mass deportation being reported were to be carried out, this would be an affront to the dignity of all people and communities, and deny the legacy of what it means to be an American.”
Disappearing Safe Spaces
Trump promised his “day one” task would be mass deportations as he sees that as a sure way to, in his words, make America great again. With his new directives, long-standing protections of sanctuary are being eliminated.
The term sanctuary applies to places officially designated as such, which means that even people wanted for crimes can hide in those places. Houses of worship have never needed that singular designation, but it has for decades been a forgone conclusion that no law-enforcement of any kind would happen in a house of worship or a school operated by houses of worship.
But under Trump, raids to grab undocumented immigrants can happen with no notice in places that in the past have been considered safe.
Vashti Murphy McKenzie, president and general secretary of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, said in a statement her organization is “deeply concerned” about the president’s order eliminating safe spaces. If raids start in houses of worship, she warned, “these actions cannot be undone and will have lasting detrimental impacts on the most vulnerable, especially our children.”
The negative impacts “will go far beyond those who ICE is looking to detain and/or deport,” she said. “It will affect families and communities across this country, even those not being targeted. These are certainly not markers of a vital and healthy democracy.”
Erasing Birthright Citizenship
Trump also announced that under his administration, being born on American soil will not guarantee U.S. citizenship. But the American Civil Liberties Union swiftly vowed to fight any such order, citing the 14th Amendment’s guarantee that “All persons born or naturalized in the United States … are citizens.”
“Denying birthright citizenship would deprive countless people of the basic right to vote, serve on juries, hold certain jobs, and be a full member of American society,” the ACLU stated. “It seeks to repeat one of the gravest errors in American history, by creating a permanent subclass of people born in the U.S. who are denied full rights as Americans.”
For now, faith communities and immigrant rights groups remain in a state of high alert — preparing legal challenges, offering sanctuary and spiritual support, and calling on the Trump administration to reconsider. In the words of Bishop Budde, they are pleading for the most basic kindness toward people who are simply striving for safety and stability in the only home many of them have ever known.
Source: Seattle Medium
