(RNS) — Pastors and other clergy have made headlines over the past year for their roles in protesting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement crackdowns in places such as Chicago and Minneapolis.
They’ve been hit by pepper balls and tear gas during protests; sued to gain access to ICE facilities and to block ICE raids on houses of worship; and called on their flocks to welcome immigrants, not fear them. Earlier this year, hundreds of clergy flocked to Minneapolis for a two-day training on how to resist ICE.
Jim Garlow is not one of them.
“It’s not wrong for a government to have borders and to enforce its borders,” said Garlow, the former longtime pastor of Skyline Church near San Diego and founder of Well Versed, a ministry to conservative politicians such as U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Garlow is part of a group of evangelical clergy who, invoking Scripture and morality, support the Trump administration’s immigration policies. Some say they back deportation only for those with criminal records. Others say they want anyone in the country without permanent legal status removed and want churches and pastors to encourage immigrants to self-deport.
What unites them is the belief that immigration enforcement and Christian compassion are not in conflict and that the progressive protesters citing the Bible are doing so selectively.
Pastor Jim Garlow speaks at Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg, Va., in 2024. (Video screen grab) TOP PHOTO: Evangelicals like Rev. Jim Garlow, second from left, are among the staunchest supporters of Trump’s immigration policies (Official White House Photo)
That view will likely be debated during the upcoming Southern Baptist Convention meeting, set for Tuesday and Wednesday (June 9 and 10) in Orlando, Florida. A proposed resolution for the meeting approves of “lawful immigration enforcement” and affirms that “Christian compassion and hospitality do not negate lawful order or excuse indifference to public justice and social peace.”
Unlike previous statements on immigration from the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, the new resolution makes no mention …