VALLEY FORGE, PA (01/28/2025)—As President Donald Trump signaled during his campaign, his first week in office has brought significant changes in immigration law. Enforcement and limitations on pathways to citizenship and asylum have become much stricter. Among the changes include new guidelines to accelerate the deportation of undocumented immigrants without court hearings. Federal law enforcement agencies have been granted immigration enforcement powers, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has rescinded the memo advising against making arrests at sensitive locations, such as churches and hospitals. In addition, the Pentagon is deploying troops and resources to the southern border, and the Justice Department is targeting sanctuary city officials who impede federal immigration laws.
In recent years, American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS) has partnered with multiple ministries across the country to equip immigrants and refugees in a variety of ways. For example, in 2021, a Pierce grant supported a church-based legal clinic for low-income immigrant farmworkers and their families in Cooperstown, N.Y., while a One Great Hour of Sharing grant equipped an Indianapolis church to help immigrants from Honduras and other Central American countries. And in 2023, an ABHMS grant helped Venezuelan families settle in the Chicagoland area following their relocation from Texas to sanctuary cities mandated by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
In December 2024, anticipating the harsh changes to immigration law, the Rev. Abigail Medina-Betancourt, ABHMS’ national coordinator for Intercultural and Haitian ministries, helped organize a webinar on legal issues for Haitian immigrants. Delivered by Emmanuel Coffy, Esq., the presentation covered numerous topics, including communication strategies to be employed with ICE officers, the requirement of a judge’s signature for a search warrant to be valid, and the need to limit interactions with the police, especially those with the potential to escalate, such as traffic stops.
Coffy also discussed scenarios for the future of Temporary Protected Status (TSP), which the American Immigration Council describes as “a temporary immigration status provided to nationals of certain countries experiencing problems that make it difficult or unsafe for their nationals to be deported there.” Afghanistan, Haiti, Ukraine, and Venezuela are among the seventeen countries designated for the TPS.
The webinar proved useful, as on Monday, Trump ended the humanitarian parole program called CHNV (Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela), leaving some Haitians anxious about their future in the United States. “This administration puts the Haitian community on edge, and its actions jeopardize the legal situation of some Haitians in the church,” said the Rev. Dr. Older Azard, senior minister at Bethel Haitian Baptist Church in New Jersey, who facilitated the webinar. “So some of them [Haitians] came under the humanitarian parole program that President Joe Biden facilitated for those countries, Nicaragua, Cuba, Venezuela, and Haiti. Some people’s fate is uncertain now. They are concerned. They’re scared, so I wanted the lawyer to come to clarify some of the questions they may have had. And of course, they did have questions.”
He added, “It would be really devastating to see my congregation members being taken away by members of ICE or any other immigration authorities.”
The Rev. Pierot Julien, consultant for Haitian Ministries at ABC Metro New York and secretary of the Alliance of Haitian Baptist Churches USA, described the situation in Haiti that Haitians are escaping. The 2010 earthquake, humanitarian crisis, collapse of the economy, and political unrest have come together to create an unsafe living environment. For those Haitians who managed to enter the U.S., everything hangs in the balance. “This is why I ask everyone to pray for us,” he said. “A lot of people text me, email me, call me, looking for help.“
Even at this harrowing time, he prized the chance to be in fellowship with others. Julien said he appreciated not just the legal information from the webinar, but the opportunity to make connections with other members of the Haitian community.
As we pray for our siblings in faith from immigrant communities, we hope that those in power hear the voice of God in Leviticus 19:33-34 (NRSVUE) that commands us to treat those from other lands equally: “When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the native-born among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”
By Rev. Dr. Anna Piela, ABHMS senior writer and associate editor of The Christian Citizen
VALLEY FORGE, PA (01/28/2025)—As President Donald Trump signaled during his campaign, his first week in office has brought significant changes in immigration law. Enforcement and limitations on pathways to citizenship and asylum have become much stricter. Among the changes include new guidelines to accelerate the deportation of undocumented immigrants without court hearings. Federal law enforcement agencies have been granted immigration enforcement powers, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has rescinded the memo advising against making arrests at sensitive locations, such as churches and hospitals. In addition, the Pentagon is deploying troops and resources to the southern border, and the Justice Department is targeting sanctuary city officials who impede federal immigration laws.
In recent years, American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS) has partnered with multiple ministries across the country to equip immigrants and refugees in a variety of ways. For example, in 2021, a Pierce grant supported a church-based legal clinic for low-income immigrant farmworkers and their families in Cooperstown, N.Y., while a One Great Hour of Sharing grant equipped an Indianapolis church to help immigrants from Honduras and other Central American countries. And in 2023, an ABHMS grant helped Venezuelan families settle in the Chicagoland area following their relocation from Texas to sanctuary cities mandated by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
In December 2024, anticipating the harsh changes to immigration law, the Rev. Abigail Medina-Betancourt, ABHMS’ national coordinator for Intercultural and Haitian ministries, helped organize a webinar on legal issues for Haitian immigrants. Delivered by Emmanuel Coffy, Esq., the presentation covered numerous topics, including communication strategies to be employed with ICE officers, the requirement of a judge’s signature for a search warrant to be valid, and the need to limit interactions with the police, especially those with the potential to escalate, such as traffic stops.
Coffy also discussed scenarios for the future of Temporary Protected Status (TSP), which the American Immigration Council describes as “a temporary immigration status provided to nationals of certain countries experiencing problems that make it difficult or unsafe for their nationals to be deported there.” Afghanistan, Haiti, Ukraine, and Venezuela are among the seventeen countries designated for the TPS.
The webinar proved useful, as on Monday, Trump ended the humanitarian parole program called CHNV (Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela), leaving some Haitians anxious about their future in the United States. “This administration puts the Haitian community on edge, and its actions jeopardize the legal situation of some Haitians in the church,” said the Rev. Dr. Older Azard, senior minister at Bethel Haitian Baptist Church in New Jersey, who facilitated the webinar. “So some of them [Haitians] came under the humanitarian parole program that President Joe Biden facilitated for those countries, Nicaragua, Cuba, Venezuela, and Haiti. Some people’s fate is uncertain now. They are concerned. They’re scared, so I wanted the lawyer to come to clarify some of the questions they may have had. And of course, they did have questions.”
He added, “It would be really devastating to see my congregation members being taken away by members of ICE or any other immigration authorities.”
The Rev. Pierot Julien, consultant for Haitian Ministries at ABC Metro New York and secretary of the Alliance of Haitian Baptist Churches USA, described the situation in Haiti that Haitians are escaping. The 2010 earthquake, humanitarian crisis, collapse of the economy, and political unrest have come together to create an unsafe living environment. For those Haitians who managed to enter the U.S., everything hangs in the balance. “This is why I ask everyone to pray for us,” he said. “A lot of people text me, email me, call me, looking for help.“
Even at this harrowing time, he prized the chance to be in fellowship with others. Julien said he appreciated not just the legal information from the webinar, but the opportunity to make connections with other members of the Haitian community.
As we pray for our siblings in faith from immigrant communities, we hope that those in power hear the voice of God in Leviticus 19:33-34 (NRSVUE) that commands us to treat those from other lands equally: “When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the native-born among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”
By Rev. Dr. Anna Piela, ABHMS senior writer and associate editor of The Christian Citizen