Yesterday we published a piece on refugees in hiding who are facing threat of detention. Last night DHS issued a new memo outlining its plans to expand refugee detention. Not only justifying their arrests but saying they could be detained indefinitely www.christianitytoday.com/2026/02/minn...

Refugees Disappeared. Churches Prayed and Lawyered Up. - Christianity Today

Christians who fled violence in Myanmar were largely Trump supporters. Then ICE started arresting their congregants.

christianitytoday.com

Absent from protests, some Twin Cities churches are nonetheless mobilizing quietly to help foreign-born neighbors—delivering food, driving kids to and from school, committing to assume parental rights if the worst happens. Great dispatch from my colleague @emilybelz.bsky.social

In a Tense Minnesota, Christians Help Immigrant Neighbors - Christianity Today

As the Twin Cities reel from ICE arrests and the killing of Alex Pretti, churchgoers drive immigrants to work and doctor’s appointments.

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DHS's own employees increasingly struggle to take the administration at its word. From the NYT: One current DHS agent said that he had “always given the benefit of the doubt to the government in these situations” but he now no longer believed “any of the statements they put out anymore.” ...

A Crisis of Confidence for ICE and Border Patrol as Clashes Escalate

nytimes.com

www.christianitytoday.com/2026/01/raid... As we enter America's 250th year, the Minnesota shooting and competing responses to it on social media feel like evidence for this thesis. New from me:

Raids Are a Perilous Substitute for Reform - Christianity Today

Attempts to close America to immigrants helped spark the Revolution. Today, they are deforming our national conscience.

christianitytoday.com

Excellent reporting from the AP about how DOJ's upending of immigration courts to secure deportations "by default" has decimated morale among government lawyers. "I can't do this," one texted. "This is a new emotional load." apnews.com/article/immi...

Migrants thought they were in court for a routine hearing. Instead, it was a deportation trap

The nation's immigration courts have undergone a fundamental change under the administration of President Donald Trump.

apnews.com

My story in the Nov @christianitytoday.com asks, What did we gain by deporting two leaders at @Saddleback Church? And what is a couple to do when ICE assures them "they're never going to kick you out?" Thanks for reading! 🙂 www.christianitytoday.com/2025/11/ice-...

They Led at Saddleback Church. ICE Said They Were Safe. - Christianity Today

A Colombian couple prayed with neighbors and raised their children in one of America’s most influential churches. What did we gain from their deportation?

christianitytoday.com

Earlier this year, when the administration cut most foreign aid because of alleged fraud and support of progressive agendas, I combed through the government's (very large) dataset of overseas grants. I wanted to know how foreign aid funds (USAID) have helped evangelical groups working abroad.

My latest for your weekend read. Whatever happened to all the bused migrants who inundated Chicago? Some of them set out on foot to find a church. www.christianitytoday.com/2025/06/chic...

Migrants Pushed Chicago to the Brink. They Also Brought a Revival. - Christianity Today

Some pastors say God used busloads of migrants to grow Chicago churches. Mass deportation is reversing that.

christianitytoday.com

Sometimes for sad stories, the obvious choice is to go with the photo of a large fuzzy tiger. www.christianitytoday.com/2025/05/ice-...

How ICE Deleted International Students at Christian Colleges - Christianity Today

The Trump administration terminated the legal status of students at eight evangelical schools, then reversed itself, then warned it may eliminate more.

christianitytoday.com

In February, when the administration first announced its agreement to deport migrants to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador, a couple of colleagues asked me if the US was about to engage in state-sponsored trafficking. I had no idea. So I asked around. My report for CT: tinyurl.com/mr3emb73

Does Imprisoning Migrants in El Salvador Amount to Trafficking? - Christianity Today

Christian legal experts debate whether Trump’s deportations to a foreign prison cross the line into exploitation.

christianitytoday.com

“Kudzu is a favorite sermon illustration for sin. And in many ways, it’s apt: Sin is only countered with vigilance,” writes @andyrolsen.bsky.social. “But the image has limits. Sin, like most invasives, is tracked in on the boots of churchgoers.”

Invasion Theology - Christianity Today

Thorns and thistles may be the Bible’s classic metaphors for evil. But did the biblical writers ever meet kudzu?

christianitytoday.com

Trump's deportation plans could force 10 million Christians from the US, amounting to what the president of the National Association of Evangelicals called "a church decline strategy" www.christianitytoday.com/2025/03/amer...

America Could Lose 10 Million Christians to Mass Deportation - Christianity Today

A new study finds Trump's plans to expel undocumented immigrants would potentially impact more than 1 in 20 US evangelicals.

christianitytoday.com

Two-thirds of Hispanic Protestants voted for Donald Trump. But church leaders in Florida told me some pastors privately confess they're disillusioned by the president's immigration actions—and by a new Florida law mandating the death sentence for undocumented immigrants who commit certain crimes.

Hispanic Churches Groan Under Florida’s Double Immigration Crackdown - Christianity Today

Some Latino pastors feel betrayed by the government's harsh enforcement efforts, as worship leaders disappear and congregants stay home.

christianitytoday.com

In cases where the undocumented do have legitimate claims to stay, what determines whether they get papers is largely whether they find legal representation. Churches are trying to play a role in helping migrants through a process that feels impossible: www.christianitytoday.com/2025/03/how-...

The Legal Hurdles Killing the American Dream - Christianity Today

Most evangelicals want undocumented immigrants to have a path to citizenship. But ICE detentions and a growing lawyer shortage can make it feel impossible.

christianitytoday.com

It's a serious cerebral workout to keep your wits in the maze of US immigration law. I gave it my best here: www.christianitytoday.com/2025/03/how-...

The Legal Hurdles Killing the American Dream - Christianity Today

Most evangelicals want undocumented immigrants to have a path to citizenship. But ICE detentions and a growing lawyer shortage can make it feel impossible.

christianitytoday.com

Kevin Burns is on a list of people the State of Tennessee plans to kill. He got together with some other people on that list and started a church. Great story by my colleague @emilybelz.bsky.social www.christianitytoday.com/2025/02/deat...

The Prisoner Who Planted a Church on Death Row - Christianity Today

As Trump pushes states to resume executions, Kevin Burns in Tennessee tries to keep his congregation alive.

christianitytoday.com

To put things in perspective - NYC spent more just on police overtime pay last year ($1b) than the US government spent on the entire global malaria fight in 30 countries ($795m) www.nytimes.com/2025/02/04/n...

Officers Flee as N.Y.P.D. Confronts Its Billion-Dollar Overtime Problem

The Police Department has already blown through its overtime budget halfway through the fiscal year as departures rise and the agency struggles to recruit.

nytimes.com

We're still early, but another reminder that ICE arrest numbers are not as high as the administration would like everyone to believe.

Mass deportations haven’t arrived but Trump’s PR blitz has

The media grab speaks to the challenges the Trump administration faces as it tries to move quickly to fulfill the mass deportations promise.

politico.com

My latest piece on what appears to be the new administration's first ICE arrest at a church. www.christianitytoday.com/2025/01/shou...

When ICE Comes to Church - Christianity Today

In Atlanta, immigration agents arrested a Honduran man outside the church he helped plant. Is it an isolated case or the start of a trend?

christianitytoday.com

It's an overlooked but significant change that ICE now publishes its daily arrest figures on social media. Since the agency's founding, that data was closely guarded.

Oh, hello Bluesky. Let's see if the air is nice up here.