Episcopal presiding officers sign court brief opposing Trump administration’s asylum policies; Episcopal News Service (ENS), February 17, 2026

 David Paulsen, Episcopal News Service (ENS); Episcopal presiding officers sign court brief opposing Trump administration’s asylum policies

"The Episcopal Church’s two presiding officers, Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe and House of Deputies President Julia Ayala Harris, have signed onto a “friend of the court” brief along with a long list of other ecumenical and interfaith leaders in support of a lawsuit objecting to the Trump administration’s treatment of asylum-seekers.

The lawsuit was filed by Al Otro Lado, a California-based organization that supports refugees and migrants. Its class-action lawsuit seeks to end the Department of Homeland Security’s practice of turning away asylum-seekers at the border based on criteria that, opponents say, does not follow U.S. immigration law. At issue are administration policies under which border officials have ordered those migrants to remain in Mexico or have denied them asylum because they did not first seek asylum in another country.

The case is now before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco.

The Episcopal Church has long spoken in favor of upholding the dignity of refugees and migrants while citing the biblical call to “welcome the stranger.” Such beliefs were cited by the presiding officers and the dozens of ecumenical and interfaith partners in the “friend of the court” brief. The Episcopal Diocese of New York and Episcopal Divinity School also joined the brief.

“Many of these faith traditions are practiced across every country on Earth and have roots stretching back thousands of years,” the brief says. “All make safeguarding the stranger a core component of faith, a duty obligatory upon not just the individual but upon society as a whole.”

The brief also describes asylum as “a core religious and moral tenet of our society, with a history as old as humanity itself.” The signatories warn of “how extreme, and untenable, the government’s interpretation of our asylum laws is from a historical, religious and social perspective.”

“From the first days of its founding, this country has welcomed the stranger fleeing persecution,” the brief says. “Stopping outsiders at our border and preventing them from lawfully seeking asylum is contrary to our civilization’s longstanding understanding of asylum and antithetical to asylum’s understood role in a moral, democratic society.”"

Immigration Crackdown Creates Fault Lines Among Baptists; The New York Times, December 21, 2025

Elizabeth Dias and Shannon Sims, The New York Times; Immigration Crackdown Creates Fault Lines Among Baptists

"When federal agents descended on Louisiana this month to pursue their aggressive deportation campaign, a group of Roman Catholic priests privately brought the Eucharist to the homes of immigrants too worried to step outside.

But Lewis Richerson, the pastor of Woodlawn Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, planned to take an opposite approach.

“I would not knowingly extend communion to an illegal immigrant who is visiting our church,” he said. “That person would be in sin by being in this country illegally, and Christians should obey the law of the land.”

Instead, the main way he would minister to them would be “to help them submit themselves to the authorities,” he said. “They should absolutely deport themselves.”

Mr. Richerson’s church is part of the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, with about 12.7 million members. For years, the denomination has supported immigration reforms, especially given its extensive missionary work and theological commitments to helping “the least of these,” as Jesus says in the gospel of Matthew.

But while Catholic bishops this year have repeatedly rebuked the Trump administration over its deportation actions, Southern Baptists are contending with an increasingly loud contingent in their ranks that, like Mr. Richerson, supports the immigration crackdown. Even as many rank-and-file churches continue to support immigrant ministries, signs of fracture are emerging.

In April, leaders of 13 Southern Baptist ethnic groups came together to ask the denomination’s leaders “to stand firm for religious liberty and speak on behalf of the immigrant and refugee,” and to request that the Trump administration consider penalties other than deportation...

Many evangelical leaders have long emphasized care for the stranger and the dignity of the human person, ideals rooted in their commitment to the Bible. But the denomination has also taken a rightward turn in recent years, and some leaders privately worry that speaking out will cause backlash from the more conservative flank...

Southern Baptists are overwhelmingly white and Republican, and they tend to support Mr. Trump’s broader agenda."

‘Dangerous and un-American’: new recording of JD Vance’s dark vision of women and immigration; The Guardian, August 31, 2024

 Jason Wilson, The Guardian; ‘Dangerous and un-American’: new recording of JD Vance’s dark vision of women and immigration

"Vance also talked about institutions like universities and the media as components of a “broken elite system”, and portrayed their inhabitants as enemies whom conservatives would need to reckon with.

“There is no way for a conservative to accomplish our vision of society unless we’re willing to strike at the heart of the beast. That’s the universities.”"

Call Number Podcast: Support for Ukraine; American Libraries, August 12, 2022

American Libraries; Call Number Podcast: Support for Ukraine

Episode 74 highlights efforts to preserve information, raise funds, and help refugees

"Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has dominated headlines this year. The ongoing war has affected people globally, including American librarians and their work. In Episode 74, the Call Number podcast team looks at the ways the profession is supporting Ukraine.

First, Call Number host Diana Panuncial speaks with Kristin Parker, lead curator and manager of the arts at Boston Public Library. Parker is part of a network of first responders working against the clock to preserve Ukraine’s cultural history and provide preservation advice to library workers on the ground.

Next, American Libraries Editor and Publisher Sanhita SinhaRoy speaks with Michael Dowling, director of ALA’s International and Chapter Relations Office, about the Association’s Ukraine Library Relief Fund and how donations are being used.

Finally, Panuncial talks to Millicent Mabi, director of community engagement and programming at Regina Public Library in Saskatchewan, about how her institution is helping Ukrainian refugees—from teaching them English to improving their literacy to connecting them with community resources." 

Why We Should Care About Human Rights: The Unversal Declaration Of Human Rights At 70; Forbes, December 9, 2018

Michael Posner, Forbes; Why We Should Care About Human Rights: The Unversal Declaration Of Human Rights At 70

"On December 10, the United Nations will mark the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In an era of spreading nationalism and gross violations in places like Yemen, Myanmar, South Sudan and Venezuela, it is fair to ask whether the Universal Declaration and the global human rights movement have improved the human condition.  And given these contemporary challenges, there’s the further question of where we go from here."

In Yemen, Lavish Meals forFew, Starvation for Many and a Dilemma for Reporters; The New York Times, November 29, 2018

Declan Walsh, The New York Times; 

In Yemen, Lavish Meals for  Few, Starvation for Many and a Dilemma for Reporters

"For a reporter, that brings a dilemma. Journalists travel with bundles of hard currency, usually dollars, to pay for hotels, transport and translation. A small fraction of that cash might go a long way for a starving family. Should I pause, put down my notebook and offer to help?

It’s a question some readers asked after we published a recent article on Yemen’s looming famine."