In August, I wrote a column questioning the absence of a strong Christian voice about the terror campaign the Trump Administration is waging on non-white immigrants. The voice is emerging.

In November, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops held its annual meeting. The bishops did something they haven’t done for many years – issued a special message encouraging Catholics specifically and all people generally to stand up against the ongoing, indiscriminate mass deportation of people in the U.S.

Their message acknowledged the rightfulness of political leaders to make their country’s borders secure while criticizing the demonization of immigrants and indiscriminate arrests and deportation. It is an important distinction we all should be making.

We are told we are deporting violent criminals who are illegally in our country. There is daily evidence that this is a lie.  ICE agents target people that look Latino and arrest them without any evidence of criminal activity. Often, they arrest American citizens who spend days in prison before they can prove their citizenship.

ICE is making no distinction between perpetrators of violent crime and people whose only “crime” is not having the proper documentation to be in our country.  There are millions of “no documents” people.  They have integrated into our communities and contribute to our society.

They sought refuge from war, economic deprivation and starvation, neighborhood violence and political anarchy. They found that refuge in our country. If we had no place for them then, how could millions of these people – with nothing but the clothes on their back – make a home in our country and contribute to our economy? 

Why isn’t this a source of pride for who we are rather than a driver of political angst?

Some of you will say these refugees should have waited until they were processed and documented.  The strife and chaos in our world have made refugees out of tens of millions of people. Existing systems to process such numbers were overwhelmed, here and in Europe.  

Just one example: I know of a Mexican woman who married a U.S. citizen.  It took our State Department three years to process her application to live in the U.S. – a right she had the minute she was married. If you had to flee your home, how long would you wait to be “documented?” 

If you feared for your family’s survival, how long would you wait?

Before the bishops’ message, I was already hearing the voice of religious leaders through sermons, group discussions and private conversations. Clerical leaders of all denominations are joining the voice.  

I hope the various religious leaders who have openly supported Trump join the voice to challenge the inhumane and immoral terror campaign he has launched.

As I was writing this column, our president posted the following on the Truth Social platform: “I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries and remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States.”

By the way, Alexander Hamilton was an orphan who migrated from the British West Indies.  

Let’s contrast Trump’s declaration with the words of Thomas Jefferson:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that ALL men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Jefferson went on to say the role of government is to secure such rights, and whenever government becomes destructive of such ends it is the right of the people to alter or abolish their government.

What our government is currently doing is both morally and democratically wrong. 

Now, each of us has a decision to make. Will you join the voice to oppose the assault on immigrants?  Will you follow the guidance of your faith leaders and look in your heart?  Will you consider our history and acknowledge this terror campaign is not who we are, what we stand for, or what so many Americans died for to protect?

You do not have to wait until the 2026 midterm elections to have a voice.  You can join peaceful protests. And you can write your representatives to let them know what you think.  

Our two Illinois senators have joined the voice. Our Congressman, Mike Bost, has not yet.  

You can write to him directly at: 352 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20515, or email him through his website at bost.house.gov.