Catholic and Evangelical Leaders Defend Immigrant Families
In their first joint statement, they urge proportionate enforcement and expanded legal pathways as mixed‑status families face separation.
Bishop Brendan Cahill, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, and Rev. Walter Kim, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, released on October 13 a joint ecumenical statement titled “A Call for Christian Compassion and Wisdom in the Immigration Debate.”
The two leaders serve as co-chairs of the Evangelical-Catholic Dialogue on Immigration. The document is the first on immigration ever issued jointly by senior U.S. Catholic and evangelical leaders. It appears amid a significant rise in reported detentions and deportations after the revocation of legal protections for some immigrant groups, a shift that has brought hardship to mixed‑status families.
“There is much that can be done to avoid the rupturing of our families and communities brought about by indiscriminate and aggressive enforcement actions,” Cahill and Kim stated. They said the statement’s uniqueness rests in “the clear unity that exists between us in this moment,” grounded in shared Christian teaching and offered “with both conviction and hope” from a “sincere and patriotic perspective.”
Scripture, Borders, and the Common Good
The statement affirms human dignity from Genesis 1:27, the biblical call to love the stranger in Leviticus 19:34, and family unity as ordained by God. It also upholds the government’s responsibility for secure borders and the common good, drawing on Romans 13, while urging Congress to expand legal pathways.
On enforcement, the co-chairs call for measures that are targeted and proportionate, prioritizing genuine public safety threats and due process. They ask that detention of nonviolent immigrants be strictly limited and that those held retain access to chaplaincy and legal counsel. The text further presses for safe, efficient legal channels and for the protection of religious liberty inside detention facilities.
A Dialogue Born of Pastoral Need
The Evangelical-Catholic Dialogue on Immigration was launched in March 2026. It includes the two co-chairs, five Catholic members, five evangelical members, and organizational observers. By bringing Catholic social teaching and evangelical conviction together on the same page, the co-chairs present immigration policy as a test of Christian witness: the duty to protect the vulnerable, honor the family, and respect lawful authority without abandoning mercy.