Evangelicals Urge President Trump, Secretary Noem to Reconsider Terminations of Temporary Legal Protections
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today a coalition of evangelical denominations and organizations sent a letter to President Trump and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, urging them to reconsider recently-announced terminations of temporary protections for certain immigrants.
The letter affirms the administration’s focus on ensuring secure borders, but notes concern with recent announcements from the administration canceling Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and parole protections of hundreds of thousands of individuals who are currently allowed to reside and work lawfully in the United States. The measure exposes them to deportation to countries facing humanitarian crises. The letter further urges the administration not to withdraw similar protections from Ukrainians or Afghans who entered the U.S. lawfully with parole.
“Many of these individuals are… active members of evangelical churches, which is one reason that these concerns are so personal to many evangelical Christians throughout the country,” the letter notes. “Evangelical churches, following biblical commands to show hospitality to strangers and to make disciples of all nations, have offered physical and spiritual support to many immigrants who have been legally paroled into the U.S. in recent years that have come from active war zones and countries engaged in military conflict.” The letter supports President Trump’s statements affirming legal immigration and notes that the vast majority of evangelical Christians agree, citing a January 2025 poll from Lifeway Research that finds that 82 percent of evangelicals who voted for President Trump in 2024 believe that legal immigration has benefited the United States.
“While we do want to see our borders secured and violent criminals removed from the United States, we do not want to see law-abiding individuals who are currently in the country lawfully become unlawfully present or be deported,” the letter says.
The following are quotes from leaders of evangelical organizations who signed the letter:
Galen Carey, Vice President of Government Relations, National Association of Evangelicals:
“This is not the time to send neighbors who are already legally living and working in our communities and worshiping in our churches back to dangerous and unstable conditions in other countries. Ending temporary protected status and humanitarian parole would be an unforced error, withholding from vulnerable neighbors the basic rights that are essential for life and human dignity.”
Myal Greene, President & CEO, World Relief:
“If President Trump understood that evangelical Christians wanted secure borders and the deportation of violent criminals, I think he got that right. But if he concluded that evangelical Christians wanted to see deportations on a much larger scale — including hundreds of thousands who came to the U.S. lawfully from countries facing war or dire humanitarian crises — I am quite confident that he misunderstood, and I hope he will heed the pleas of evangelical and other Christian voters in asking him to reconsider this position.”
Gabriel Salguero, President, National Latino Evangelical Coalition:
“Churches in my state of Florida and throughout the United States, including many Latino evangelical congregations, have eagerly and sacrificially welcomed brothers and sisters fleeing oppression in countries like Venezuela and Cuba. We were grateful for the establishment of legal parole sponsorship processes that allowed these individuals to enter lawfully, through an airport, and be authorized to work. It is unconscionable and cruel to now threaten to deport these law-abiding members of our churches and communities into the arms of oppressive regimes hostile to the United States and to those who accepted our country’s abruptly-withdrawn offer of freedom, safety and opportunity.”
