The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) has welcomed a recent U.S. government decision to halt arrests and deportations of non-criminal immigrants working in agriculture and hospitality—calling the policy shift a step toward greater stability for immigrant families, American communities, and the churches they attend.
The Department of Homeland Security’s announcement will reassure farmers and other employers needing to grow food eaten by Americans and to provide much-needed hospitality for travellers, reminded the NAE press release in June.
Children will be able to go to school without “wondering whether their parents will be there” when they get home, added the evangelical organization.
“President Trump has rightly recognized the vital contributions of hardworking immigrant families to our communities,” said NAE president Walter Kim. “They have helped make our nation stronger, safer and more prosperous. Many are beloved members of our churches.”
The NAE is now calling upon both Congress and President Trump to unite in deciding a safe route for immigrants living and working peacefully throughout communities in the U.S to ensure they earn a secure legal status. This would provide enduring stability and solutions to the immigration issue, added the evangelical body.
“Such a policy is consistent with the biblical mandate to treat immigrants with dignity, respect and love,” said Kim. “It is also in our national interest.
“In light of our demographic and fiscal deficits, we should regularize the status of those who are helping to build a more prosperous economy, stronger families and safer communities.”
The NAE’s response came after reports that the Trump administration decided to suspend all “work site enforcement investigations/operations on agriculture (including agriculture and meat packing plants), restaurants and operating hotels,” as directed by senior ICE official Tatum King, according to The New York Times, to ICE department regional leaders. The email specifically requested no further arrests of “noncriminal collaterals.”
The response by the NAE also comes as the Department of Homeland Security claimed on June 30 to debunk “false” perceptions that less than 10 percent of immigrants taken into Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since October were deemed to have serious criminal convictions.
In a news statement, the government department stated that the figure of serious criminally convicted immigrants was far higher.
“In President Trump’s first 100 days, 70% of ICE arrests were criminal illegal aliens with convictions or pending charges,” stated the Homeland Security department, adding that “Secretary [Kristi] Noem [Secretary of Homeland Security] has unleashed ICE to target the worst of the worst—including gang members, murderers, and rapists.”
The Homeland Security statement also claimed that rumours of overcrowding or “subprime” conditions in ICE facilities were also “categorically false.”
“All detainees are provided with proper meals, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers,” stated the Homeland Security statement, adding that ICE had high detention standards.
“Despite a historic number of injunctions, DHS is working overtime to remove these illegal aliens from detention centers to their final destination: home.”
