Some Oklahoma churches struggle with actions, policies on immigration issue

Yahoo

23-02-2025

Here in Oklahoma — known as the buckle of the Bible Belt ― the political discussions and debates are often robust, long-term and loud. The debates involve big issues and sometimes occur before big votes. They generate thousands of voices.
Topics such as tax cuts, abortion and reducing the size of state government take up a lot of oxygen here, even among the religious communities.
But on one subject — immigration — some religious community leaders often stay quiet while others are willing to share their thoughts on the topic in the public square.
Among Oklahoma Catholic leaders, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley issued a statement in January that was later posted to the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City's website concerning mass deportation efforts being conducted by the federal government. Portions of his recent comments were part of his 2024 statement regarding state immigration legislation, House Bill 4156, that was eventually passed into law, but has been held up by lawsuits in federal court that allege state lawmakers exceeded their authority by trying to regulate immigration.
"As our nation struggles to address serious and complicated issues surrounding immigration, the Church must be a leader in embracing diverse newcomers and providing assistance and pastoral care to immigrants, migrants, refugees and people on the move," Coakley said in his statement.
Coakley also spoke about undocumented immigrants in the state, with compassion.
"We must also reflect that the majority of undocumented immigrants in Oklahoma are upstanding members of our communities and churches, not violent criminals," he said. "They assist their communities in many ways and provide needed services. They are our friends and neighbors. They happen to be some of the most vulnerable in our midst."
In January, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops responded to President Donald Trump's expected executive order on immigration, by stating that the Catholic Church's foundational teaching "to uphold the sacredness of human life and the God-given dignity of the human person" extends to immigrants.
"This means that the care for immigrants, refugees, and the poor is part of the same teaching of the Church that requires us to protect the most vulnerable among us, especially unborn children, the elderly and the infirm," Chieko Noguchi, the conference's executive director of public affairs, said.
Be the first to know: Sign up for breaking news email alerts
Catholic Charities, an affiliate of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, has been on the front lines of the discussion about immigration in the United States. Patrick Raglow, executive director of Catholic Charities of Oklahoma City, an affiliate of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, said there is much to discuss about the complexity of immigration in America.
Raglow said the U.S. bishops conference has consistently called for Congress to reform the immigration system, but no progress has been made. Thus, he said, the current system leaves both sides (on different sides of the political aisle) dissatisfied, with concerns about lawless immigration and the need to care for vulnerable people on the move. Raglow said it's difficult to have rational conversations about immigration due to the polarized environment.
More: Church center empowers immigrants to pursue, attain U.S. citizenship
"We are Catholic Charities, trusted, neutral and Catholic," he said.
""We're not pro Trump or anti Trump. We're not pro Biden or anti Biden. We are pro people. We will advocate about policy and its effect on people."
Raglow said it's important to emphasize that Catholic Charities and the Catholic Church do not stand for illegality, "nor is it an open-borders Church."
"It is a pro-person Church," he said.
"And, so the current system, because we have refused to modify and update and correct, is woefully inefficient and it strengthens the hand of the cartels and the traffickers and the people that want to do us harm and and so they benefit from the broken system."
Several Oklahoma Protestant ministers have been vocal, as well.
Both the Rev. Nathan Hedge at the Immigration Center at Western Oaks Church of the Nazarene, and the Rev. John-Mark Hart, senior pastor of Redemption Church, have been helping immigrants as they try to navigate the nation's immigration system for many years, through spiritual encouragement and advocating on their behalf.
Hedge said Western Oaks Church of the Nazarene's immigration center works to help immigrants who are in the U.S. legally move along the path toward U.S. citizenship.
However, he said, because of its name, the center has received numerous calls from undocumented immigrants in recent weeks and there's one consistent thread evident in all of their queries — fear.
"We are getting a lot of calls from people that are just scared," Hedge said.
"What I encounter is that they know that they're here undocumented, and they know that that was wrong, but now there's no path for them to get in to correct their status."
He said he often hears people make comments about undocumented immigrants that let him know that they may not know how the nation's current immigration system works. Hedge said a misnomer that many people seem to have is that there are many undocumented immigrants in the country who have been here 15, 20, sometimes 30 years who have not tried to correct their legal status.
"They blame the undocumented for not correcting their status, when the problem is our immigration system," he said. "Don't blame the immigrant for being a victim of a broken system, blame Congress for not fixing it for so long."
Hedge said he tries to find points of commonality to build unity, and many people agree that the immigration system is broken.
"This is not the way to fix it," he said.
"From a moral, biblical perspective, we're supposed to welcome the immigrant and the stranger, and I see them being demonized."
Rather than investing billions of dollars in deporting people, the country should invest in trying to create legal pathways for immigrants to obtain a green card, Hedge said, and "that's going to be beneficial for the economy."
Hedge said most of the undocumented people are already paying taxes, maybe under a false Social Security number, or possibly an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), and they are not going to get any of the benefit from it.
"What's the impact on the economy going to be when we don't have those taxes paid anymore — you know, there's going to be a huge economic impact," he said.
The spiritual leader said he has some things he would like people to reflect on.
"The thing that I hope people would consider, is that in many cases, these are Christians, these are pastors, in some cases, and they want to make their communities a better place, and yet, now we're turning on them," Hedge said. "And, I'm not saying to completely overlook an illegal border crossing, but, you know, extend some human decency. Let's, keep some families intact.
Hart, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, was part of El Camino OKC, a network of Christians and churches in the Oklahoma City metro area that described itself as "committed to loving immigrants." In 2017 and 2018, the network was among groups that advocated for "Dreamers," young immigrants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, also known as DACA.
"We're a bilingual, multi-ethnic church, and we've been involved in advocating for comprehensive immigration reform publicly for nine years now, so we're deeply embedded in this issue," he said of his congregation.
The minister said he was not commenting about details of government policies, but he did feel it was important to encourage more conversations about values. In times of crisis, he said, "sometimes fear and scapegoat politics cause us not to see the humanity of our neighbors."
"We're in the middle of a global crisis of human displacement," Hart said. "There's 120 million displaced people in the world right now ... and those are human beings, made in the image of God, who have been displaced by poverty and violence, and the way that we choose to respond is going to say a lot about who we are. I think that the Christian tradition, and the best of American tradition, urge us to respond with hospitality to vulnerable people."
Hart said choosing hospitality over fear shows much about America.
"If we're scared of migrants, that is not a good sign about our own health as a culture," he said. "But, when we choose to see people as people, and to uphold a beacon of hope and opportunity to people, that shows our strength and greatness as a nation."
Hart said he didn't want to create division, but he did think there are times when speaking up is important.
"I think sometimes Christian leaders don't want to speak on these issues in public because they're concerned about creating division and I don't want to create division either, but these are important moral issues that affect the well-being of our most vulnerable neighbors, so we've got to have these conversations in a public and civil way."
Still, other religious leaders say that Oklahoma could always do more to help.
"When it comes to immigration and when it comes to the Bible, immigrants are one of the things the Bible is really clear on," said the Rev. Lori Walke, the senior minister at Mayflower Congregational UCC Church in Oklahoma City.
"The emphasis (in the Bible) is welcome the stranger," Walke said. "Don't oppress or wrong them, and treat them as one of you."
While some of the bigger churches "don't take stands," she said, many of the state's smaller churches are doing the work.
"But it doesn't get broadcast or talked about very much," Walke said.
Walke said representatives of her church and other congregations held weekly vigils outside ICE offices in Oklahoma City. "We had Methodist, Lutheran, Catholic, United Church of Christ. And, actually, the Oklahoma Atheists were very faithful attendees of that vigil."
More: Faith community marks six-month anniversary of prayer vigils focusing on 'immigration justice'
It was one of the most meaningful gatherings the group had — that season of immigration vigils, she said.
A lot of the work for immigrants is being done quietly, working directly with immigration attorneys, organizations and many of the undocumented, themselves. "That's not something you can just go to the newspaper and say, 'Hey, we're doing the work.'"
The goal, Walke said, is to let those who have come to Oklahoma to build a better life know that others care about them and want to help.
For those who build a life in the buckle of the Bible Belt, the Christian Bible is very specific about how to treat immigrants.
"The whole idea of 'immigration' and 'stranger' are a little different in Scripture," said Jeremie Beller, biblical scholar from Oklahoma Christian University.
The definition of foreigner in the Bible, he said, isn't based on boundaries or national citizenship as it's known today. "A stranger or foreigner is someone who is not of your family, or your clan or of the Jewish covenant," he said.
And how should those people be treated?
Beller said the Book of Exodus spells it out, "You do not wrong a sojourner or foreigner or oppress them."
A second statement — found in the Book of Leviticus — said, "When a stranger sojourns among you in your land you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as a native among you. you shall love him as yourself."
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: In Oklahoma, churches embrace, push back against immigration policy