Is a massive deportation Christian? Florida leaders are thinking this question.

Archbishop of Miami Thomas Wensky has worked with Miami immigrants for 50 years.

His flock is worried. Thousands of recent immigrants from his Catholic Archdiocese are legally here, but many know who are not. Florida is home to around 1.2 million people illegally in the country.

Some of Wensky’s parishioners remain tenuous in the United States due to humanitarian programs like temporary protected status that were expanded during Joe Biden’s presidency. The Trump administration plans to scale back these programs.

“Many of these people are frankly very anxious – living in fear – because they know that their country is not in a position to receive them,” Wen said. Ski said in an interview, pointing to President Donald Trump’s promise of a massive deportation.

The Republican leaders in Florida are primarily in line with immigration. On Monday, House Speaker Daniel Perez, Senate Speaker Ben Albritton and Gov. Ron DeSantis came to a deal that they would place Florida among the nation’s leaders to help Trump crack down on immigrants. It was announced that it had done so. Their stance appears to be in line with the feelings of American voters about mass deportation.

But under this political consensus, there is religious debate that resonates statewide, online and throughout the church. On Monday, Pope Francis, leader of the Catholic Church, wrote a letter to the American bishop condemning the deportation of the masses.

“In many cases, deporting people who have left their land due to extreme poverty, anxiety, exploitation, persecution or severe deterioration of the environment undermines the dignity of many men and their families,” Francis said. wrote. .

Advocates for the crackdown on faith communities say leaders are in line with the Christian tradition of protecting citizens from potentially dangerous intruders.

The Bible is not directly overwhelmed by the subject of deportation, said John Stenkerger, the evangelical Christian and president of the actions of the conservative group Liberty Counsel.

Some passages appear to be sympathetic to anti-ethnic views. (Exodus 22:21: “Don’t abuse or oppress foreigners because they were foreigners in Egypt.”) Others are to follow the rules of law that are considered justification for deportation. He talks about the importance. (1 Peter 2:13-14: “Submit yourself to the Lord to the authority of all man: to the emperor, as the highest authority, or to the governor…”)

Stenkarger, a well-known Florida activist who promoted access to abortions and limiting gay marriages in the state, says leaders should postpone to actual policy concerns if there is tension in the Bible. He said. In the eyes of some conservatives who have often lit the spotlight of crimes committed by people in the country illegally, that means that a hardline approach to immigration is justified in order to keep communities safe.

Desantis, Perez and Albritton are all Christians. A Catholicism, DeSantis has long found some of his strongest supporters in the religious community. The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops has lobbyed in support of DeSantis’ various anti-abortion efforts. His 2024 presidential campaign was built heavily in pleading with conservative evangelical voters in Iowa.

The political spokesman did not respond to questions about how DeSantis views theological debate on illegal immigration.

Also, Vice President J.D. Vice President J.D. Vance, a Catholic, defends the administration’s immigration policy. He describes Christian duties as a moral hierarchy. Before you can check out your neighbor, or someone who lives in town, or who lives nationwide or internationally, you must first care about your home.

And he criticizes Catholic leaders and says he is more concerned about the payments they receive to support immigrant resettlers than in the countries they serve.

“Are they worried about humanitarian concerns?” Vance said in a January 26 television interview.

In his letter, the Pope appeared to explicitly rebuttal to Vance’s ideas about the moral Ng order of Christianity.

“Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interest that extends to some extent to other people or groups,” he wrote.

The tension between American Catholic political leaders and those at the top of the church is nothing new. Pope Francis called Biden’s support for abortion a “contradiction.” Desantis has signed at least 10 death warrants during his tenure. The Catholic Church opposes the death penalty.

And disagreement is not merely a Catholic phenomenon. The evangelicals of Florida are struggling with a way to square the need for public order along with their faith. (The religious leaders interviewed for this story challenged the need to deport those who committed crimes.)

“Is massive deportation the best we can do?” said Gabriel Sarguello, evangelical pastor and president of the National Latinos Evangelical Union. “Or do we need to advocate that Congress will do the job and pass bipartisan immigration reform?”

Hebrews 13:2 says, “Remember to show hospitality to strangers, for some people have not known this and have shown hospitality to the angels.”