Open Letter on Immigration

Dear President Trump and Vice President Pence:

We write on behalf of the millions of Americans – clergy and lay citizens, alike – who deeply appreciate your leadership in working to make our country safe again.  In particular, as faith leaders, we want to thank you for: following a discerning and Biblical approach to the “wise welcome” of foreigners, including refugees; your commitment to border security; and your determination to end the magnet for illegal immigration represented by so-called “sanctuary” cities.  All of these initiatives have firm foundations in Biblical instruction.

Unfortunately, there are some who cite the Bible selectively to suggest that such policies are contrary to America’s faith traditions.  (Among those, it must be noted, are groups that receive very sizeable federal funding to relocate refugees into this country.) We believe that a more accurate understanding requires the “whole counsel of Scripture” approach.

That approach reveals a divine call not to open borders, but to the sensible differentiation between strangers who seek to assimilate – that is, who want to adopt the faith and values of the land to which they are coming – and those who come to do harm and subvert.

For example, we find in Scripture the warm welcome of a foreigner like Ruth, a Moabite woman in distress, who came lawfully as a blessing.  In Ruth 1:6, she declared, “Your people will be my people and your God, my God.”

Likewise in Scripture, we see the example of offering temporary welcome to well-meaning foreigners passing through.

However, in the Bible, we also find instruction for excluding “strangers” who come with sinister motives and no desire to assimilate.  Indeed, we often see the Lord’s stern rebuke for unwise leadership, notably in Isaiah 1: 7: “Your country is desolate, your cities burned with fire; your fields are being stripped by foreigners right before you, laid waste as when overthrown by strangers.”

To protect against such dangers, we have the example of Nehemiah who, with patience and determination, led his nation in rebuilding its walls, as well as its faith and culture. He protected the people of Israel against foreign dangers and made possible a time of renewal and flourishing.  And, once Nehemiah finished providing physical protection for the nation, he turned to Ezra, a spiritual leader, to provide moral and spiritual guidance to renew the nation.

In much the same way as most Americans protect those they love by securing the doors and windows of their homes, so we must preclude those who may wish us harm from entering our country.  That is the clear and necessary purpose of your executive order pausing certain immigrants and refugees from coming here until we can determine whether they are strangers who come in love, or with conquest in their hearts.

As religious leaders, we also wish to encourage and commend you as our nation’s president for upholding your primary, divinely directed duty as a “minister of God” in civil government to: pursue justice against the lawbreaker; protect our citizens from those who would bring them harm; and defend the freedoms of individuals, families, and the faith community to fulfill their God-given duties. We thank you for taking seriously your oath to the American people to protect “against all enemies foreign and domestic.” When you do these things, you are on the firmest of moral ground, will see God’s blessings and will heighten the support of the majority of the American people.

We applaud and bless your efforts to heed the whole counsel of Scripture and to protect our people with both compassion and common sense against the dangers of our time.

Sincerely,

* Ministry affiliation and organizational titles for identification purposes only.

Dr. Rick Scarborough

Founder, Vision America,
Keller, TX

Dr. Jerry A. Johnson

President, National Religious Broadcasters,
Washington, D.C.

Bishop Earl Walker “E. W.” Jackson Sr.

Founder, President, S.T.A.N.D. America,
Chesapeake, VA

Rabbi Jonathan Hausman

Hon., Pastor Sam Rohrer

President, American Pastors Network,
Elverson, PA

LTG, Rev. William “Jerry” Boykin

Family Research Council,
Washington, D.C.

Bishop Aubrey Shines

Senior Pastor of Glory to Glory Ministries,
Temple Terrace, FL 

Dr. Jim Garlow

Senior Pastor at Skyline Church,
San Diego, CA

Rev. David Barton

Founder of Wallbuilders,
Aledo, TX

Rev. Phil Cohn

Dr. Rick Joyner

Founder, MorningStar Ministries,
Fort Mill, SC

Dr. James Dobson

Family Talk,
Colorado Springs, CO

Mr. Rich Bott

President & CEO Bott Radio Network,
Overland Park, KS

Dr. Robert Jeffress

Pastor of First Baptist Church,
Dallas, TX

Dr. Paige Patterson

President, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary,
Fort Worth, TX

Pastor Roger Burks

Church of the Harvest,
Grimsley, TN

Dr. Greg Linnebach

MorningStar Ministries,
Peoria, AZ

Elder George Rasley

Presbyterian Church,
Naples, FL

Pastor Roy L. Roden

Founder, Destiny Eastgate Ministries,
Camden, ME

Pastor Isaac Crockett

Hamburg Bible Church,
Hamburg, PA

Minister Bart Peacher

MorningStar Ministries, It is Time Israel,
Fort Mill, SC

Rev. James McLaughlin

MorningStar Ministries,
Moravian Fals, NC

Dr. John D. Mallonee

Blessed Hope Bible Church,
Liverpool, PA 

Rev. Lloyd C. Phillips

MorningStar Ministries,
Missoula, MT

Minister Thomas Walz

Market Place Ministry,
Lansing, MI

Deacon James R. Bacon

Belmont, NC

Pastor David McClellan

Strong Tower Ministries,
Boise, ID

Pastor Daniel El Kouri

World Alive Church,
Lawton, OK

Pastor Dale Walker

President, Tennessee Pastors Network,
Nashville, TN

Bishop Harry R. Jackson, Jr.

Senior Pastor, Hope Christian Church,
Beltsville, MD

Rev. Sandy Durham

Celebration Ministries International,
Arkansas City, KS

Minister Steven Strzepek

Grace and Truth Ministries,
Westbrook, CT

Pastor Ronnie W. Rogers

Senior Pastor, Trinity Baptist Church,
Norman, OK

Dr. Calvin Wittman

Applewood Baptist Church,
Wheatridge, CO

Senior Pastor Gus Booth

Senior Pastor, Warroad Community Church,
Warroad, MN

Pastor Ronnie Yarber

Gross Road Baptist Church,
Mesquite, TX

Dr. Kirby M. Hill

Southside Baptist Church,
Carthage, TX

Dr. John H Killian

Pastor Maytown Baptist Church,
Mulga, AL  

Pastor Kenneth M. Fryer

Past President, Louisiana Baptist Pastors Conference,
Baton Rouge, LA

Pastor Dwayne Carson

Epic Life Church,
Columbus, OH

Rev. John Senin

Missionary, Ordained in United States and Africa

Dr. Gary Dull

Senior Pastor, Faith Baptist Church
Altoona, PA

Evangelist Dave Kistler

President, Hope Ministries International
Houston, TX

Rev. Herman Pair

Pastor, Sandusky First Baptist Church
Birmingham, AL

Dr. Rick Patrick

Pastor, First Baptist Church
Sylacauga, AL

Pastor David Pitman

Senior Pastor, Addyston Baptist Church
Addyston, OH

Pastor John Pipp

Ella Hollow Bible Church
Monogahela, PA

Dr. Bruce Cook

Chairman/CEO, Kingdom Congressional International Alliance
Gig Harbor, WA

Bishop Robert D. Kee

Lead Pastor, Generations United Church of God
Lompoc, CA

Dr. Denton Mallonee

Pastor, Faith Baptist Church
Beavertown, PA

Pastor Mark Adolphsen

Maine Ministry Outreach Center
Rockland, ME

Pastor Bobby Sawyer

Clear Fork Baptist Church
Albany, KY

Janet Mefferd

Radio Host
Bott Radio Network & American Family Radio

Rev. Vaughn Park

Senior Pastor, Santa Clarita Baptist Church
Santa Clarita, CA

Rev. Barry Davis

Pastor, Pleasureville Christian Church
Castle Highway, KY

Dr. Richard Skinner

Senior Pastor, Greenwood Village Baptist Church
Humble, TX

Pastor Paul Blair

Senior Pastor, Fairview Baptist Church
Edmond, OK

Pastor Paul Caughill

Lead Pastor, High Point Baptist Chapel
Geigertown, PA

Art Ally

President, Timothy Partners, Ltd.
Maitland, FL

Chaplain Hy McEnery

Director, LAMB Ministries
New Orleans, LA

Rev. Joe Carey

Founder, Radical Truth Ministry
Bastrop, TX

Rev. William McDonald, S.T.L., S.T.B.

Associate Spiritual Director and Adjunct Professor of Pastoral Theology
Immaculate Conception Seminary, South Orange, NJ

Deacon Joseph Buccilli, PhD

Hospital/Nursing Home Ministry
Diocese of Camden, NJ

Elder Raymond Grant

Hospital/Faith Christian Fellowship
Powhatan, VA

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Resources


Videos:

Ann Corcoran on Refugee Resettlement and VOLAGs (5 minutes)

Soros’s Formula for Killing America: A Guide for Americans (15 minutes)

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Articles, Books & Resources:

Dr. Hoffmeier, Ph.D, Professor of Old Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS)

“Jeff Sessions Gets It Right on Immigration”

Does the Bible Really Advocate Sanctuary Cities?”

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Kelly Monroe Kullberg, author of the best-seller Finding God at Harvard and founder of the Veritas Forum

“George Soros is ‘Renting’ Evangelicals to Stop Jeff Sessions”

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Ann Corcoran, Refugee Resettlement Watch

Refugee Resettlement and the Hijrah to America

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James Simpson

Red-Green Axis: And the Agenda to Erase America

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Faith Leaders for America on Facebook

Evangelicals for Biblical Immigration on Facebook