Christian clergy are deploying spiritual infrastructure — from organizing prayer circles to acting as human shields — to resist the Trump administration's immigration agenda.
Why it matters: The clergy members who spoke with Axios argue that Trump's immigration crackdown contradicts core biblical teachings about protecting the vulnerable, putting them at odds with the Christian nationalists who back the administration's policies.
- "I feel a huge responsibility as a Christian pastor to say, not in my name," Rev. Rebecca Voelkel, director of the Center for Sustainable Justice at Lyndale United Church of Christ in Minneapolis, tells Axios.
- Voelkel said the "kind of Christianity" practiced by Christian nationalists "is diseased and distorted."
- "I feel compelled to both resist ICE violence and the kind of Christianity that baptizes it."
The big picture: Most faith leaders say their work isn't about Democrat vs Republican policy, but rather about resisting state-authorized violence.
- "Jesus isn't abstract when he teaches about this in Scripture," Minneapolis Rev. Jeff Sartain of the Edina Community Lutheran Church tells Axios, citing biblical commands to love strangers and foreigners.
- "I'm here as a follower of Jesus, and Jesus' call is clear to me that we should do justice and love kindness," he said. "When there are practices by our federal government and by ICE that counter that basic call, I have to speak out."
- "If this was a Democratic political platform, I would be speaking out just as vehemently."
The other side: "President Trump was elected based on his promises to secure the border and deport criminal illegal aliens," White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Axios in an emailed statement.
- "The American people overwhelmingly supported his law-and-order agenda, and he is keeping his promises."
- House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said in a lengthy X post that Christians are required to love their neighbors, but that the federal government is not bound by the same duty.
- "Showing love and kindness to a stranger was not a command given to civil government, but instead to individual believers."
- "The Bible is clear that Christians should practice personal charity—but also insist upon the enforcement of laws (like our federal immigration statutes) so that 'every person is subject to the governing authorities' and 'those who resist incur judgment," he said.
Yes, but: Not all Christians agree with Johnson's interpretation.
- Christianity is not monolithic, Minneapolis Reverend Jia Starr Brown tells Axios, saying that historically some scriptures have been "weaponized" to support the "objectification and the dehumanization" of people, such as religious endorsements of enslavement and efforts to control women.
- "The term Christianity has taken on this kind of bad word, because it's been associated largely with conservative spaces."
- Left-leaning Christians "have a responsibility to reclaim that and say, 'this is also what it looks like to follow Jesus," she said.
Worth noting: Faith leaders say religious resistance to government policy isn't new, citing the roles historically Black churches played in the civil rights movement and the United Church of Christ's push for LGBTQ+ equality.
- "There has always been Christian resistance to Christian justice movements," Voelkel said.
- "I feel like it is this story of both unmitigated cruelty, and some of the most creative, badass resistance that I've ever been privileged to be a part of."
The "majority" of the Bible tells stories of "persecution and injustice," so faith leaders and their congregations should be prepared for this moment of division, Starr Brown tells Axios.
- "This is what the Bible studies were for. We can actually replace biblical names from the Bible, and put names of people that have been taken or killed. That's what living scripture is," she added.
Go deeper: Catholic Church emerges as a bulwark of resistance
