Protests have broken out across the country against this administration’s immigration enforcement policies. We have seen images of protesters getting arrested, hurt, and pepper sprayed. One image that has struck a chord with Presbyterians was the images of Rev. David Black (First Presbyterian of Chicago, IL) being shot in the head by a pepper ball. The Office of Immigration Issues and Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) are working together to support Rev. Black and other congregations in the Chicago area. PDA has sent an emergency grant to the Presbytery of Chicago to help them support families who have been impacted by recent immigration enforcement. 

The current dismantling of the refugee, asylum, and other immigration status that protect persecuted immigrants contrasts with the lessons we learned from history. 

The need for a global refugee framework started at the end of World War II. As Allied troops started entering parts of Europe that were occupied by Nazi Germany, American soldiers ran into the first concentration camps. Soldiers in Asia would run into aftermath of massacres and slavery imposed by the Imperial Japanese. Soldiers would describe the gruesome scenes in their diaries, letters, and over the next decades, speak about it through documentaries. Jewish people and other persecuted people would add to that voice over the years. 

One of the most infamous cases of apathy was the case of the MS St. Louis. In 1939, Jewish Europeans went on a cruise ship and tried to obtain protection from persecution in Cuba. The Cuban government turned them away before they could land. They then tried to get protection from the American and Canadian government, but they also denied them. With no choice, the MS St. Louis was forced to turn around back to Europe. Some people were given protection by some European countries not aligned with Nazi Germany, but by the end of the war, 254 of the 937 (27%) passengers were murdered. 

For Asian immigrants it was no different. At the time, the Chinese Exclusion Act, alongside the Johnson-Reed Act, banned most Asian people from entering the United States. In one example of the world failing to protect people, millions of Chinese people were massacred, and human rights violation were committed against them at the Battle of Nanjing. Despite this massacre and other atrocities, the United States did not repeal the Chinese Exclusion Act until 1943, and even when it was repealed, only 105 visas were issued to Chinese immigrants every year. It wouldn’t be until the 1965 with the passage of the Immigrant and National Act that Asian migrants were finally allowed to come in without a quota limit. 

After the end of WWII, millions of refugees were scattered throughout the world. The world agreed that we would not repeat the mistakes of the war. One of the largest mistakes was the world’s apathy towards refugees trying to escape persecution by the Axis Powers in Europe and Asia. Millions across the world were murdered because of who they were. Yet when they sought protection in other countries, they were turned away. 

It was during this time that Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) began as a response to the refugee crisis as a result of WWII. At that time, PDA was known as Presbyterian World Service. On top of creating PDA, the General Assembly in 1947 passed an overture asking the government to take in 100,000 refugees. 

In 1951, the Convention on the Status of Refugees was created. For the first time, the world recognized a global right to petition for protection from persecution in a second country. Since the creation of the U.S. refugee program in 1981, over 3 million people have been successfully resettled. The U.S. now has the largest refugee resettlement program in the world! The U.S. has traditionally resettled the most vulnerable refugee cases including women and children at risk, women heads of households, the elderly, survivors of violence and torture and those with acute medical needs. In 2024, 125,000 refugees were resettled. 

There are over 100 million people displaced around the world today. Now more than ever, we should not shrink from our responsibility to protect people who are being persecuted.  

The President is expected to announce that the new refugee admissions ceiling will be only 7,500 with most of those slots going to white South Africa Afrikaners. This reduction in refugee numbers will put many in danger who are being persecuted, and it is unjust to the refugees who have been in the years-long refugee background check process. Those refugees on the waitlist now must wait longer to hopefully be resettled with a welcoming administration. This is not to mention that the administration has effectively ended people’s right to petition for asylum at the border a clear violation of the Convention on the Status of Refugees. 

Although the refugee and asylum process has been effectively closed, PDA has shifted our work to support congregations and mid-councils protecting people who have sought safety in the U.S. This includes Know Your Rights trainings across many presbyteries, offering technical assistance, offering opportunities to learn more about immigration, supporting advocacy efforts by congregations and individual Presbyterians, and offering grants to programs that are working with migrants. 

As Presbyterians, we have been here before. In the 1980 General Assembly, the church voted to approve an overture recommending all congregations to sponsor one or two individuals. In the 1980s, many refugees showed up at the border escaping the civil wars in Central America. When the government refused to give these refugees protections from being deported to their war-torn countries, The Presbyterian Church and other denominations and faiths started the Sanctuary movement. During this time, churches offered protection to migrants at their churches. Although this strategy does not work in today’s world, the spirit of protecting refugees has been a cornerstone of the Presbyterian faith. In 2022, the General Assembly declared that the Presbyterian Church is a Sanctuary and Accompaniment Church. 

In the Bible we see many stories of people seeking refuge. Jesus and his family left to seek protection in Egypt from Herod’s tyranny. Ruth left her homeland to go with her mother-in-law, Naomi, after losing her husband. Moses guided the former enslaved Hebrews through the desert. The Hebrews forced to leave their homes during the Babylonian Exile. And of course, let’s remember that God directly commands us to protect our foreigner neighbors: “"When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. Treat the foreigner who resides with you as the native-born among you, and love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God" (Leviticus 19:33-34 NIV) 

We must understand as Presbyterians that the time to act is now, not later. Rev. Black and other Presbyterians across the country are acting now through protests in solidarity with migrants and accompanying them to their court appearances. In cooperation with other denominations, the Stated Clerk has released a letter that condemns the administration for having a low refugee admissions ceiling. PDA is acting now. You can act today by looking for organizations in your community already doing the immigrant accompaniment work in your community. If there is not one, it may be God’s call to you to start one.  

We must never forget that when we say, “never again,” that means today as well. 

As always, PDA is here to help. Please contact our Mission Specialist for Migration Accompaniment Ministries, Omar Salinas-Chacon at [email protected].