The hearing in the case comes in the wake of a Feb. 25 ruling which sided with Church World Service, HIAS, Lutheran Community Services Northwest, and individual refugees and their families.
‘This year we celebrate Lent amidst a growing crisis in America, driven by the political accumulation of wealth, power, and control,’ reads one of the letters from faith groups.
Leaders of the faith-based refugee resettlement organizations, which constitute seven of the 10 groups that partner with the government to perform the task, condemned the decision.
The USCCB says the administration has violated various laws as well as the constitutional provision giving the power of the purse to Congress, which already approved the funding.
As Trump claims he’s creating a task force to fight ‘anti-Christian bias,’ it is worth examining the various legal challenges that major Christian denominations have filed seeking protection from Trump’s administration.
“Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extend to other persons and groups,” Francis wrote in a letter to U.S. bishops.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’s refusal to defend her fellow Lutherans is quite telling for understanding how some politicians are prioritizing politics and religion today.
The speech came as the Trump administration, just 2 weeks old, is already facing lawsuits arguing that it violated the religious freedom of Christians in the U.S.
This issue of A Public Witness seeks sanctuary to understand the history of how ICE interacts with houses of worship and the pushback against Trump’s changes from various Christian groups.
‘We’ve been unable to access federal reimbursements for critical program costs, and that includes costs that were incurred prior to the issuance of the executive order,’ said a spokesperson for Church World Service.