Catholic and Evangelical Leaders Unite in Call for Compassionate Immigration Reform
WASHINGTON - “There is much that can be done to avoid the rupturing of our families and communities brought about by indiscriminate and aggressive enforcement actions,” said Bishop Brendan Cahill and Reverend Walter Kim in an ecumenical statement released today. Bishop Cahill serves as the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Migration and Reverend Kim as the president of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE). Together, they lead the Evangelical-Catholic Dialogue on Immigration (ECDI) as its co-chairs. Today’s statement, “A Call for Christian Compassion and Wisdom in the Immigration Debate,” represents the first such statement on immigration in U.S. history to be jointly issued by senior leaders of the Catholic and evangelical traditions. The statement’s timing corresponds to a significant increase in the number of reported detentions and deportations, especially in the wake of several groups of immigrants having their legal protections revoked by the U.S. government. This is inflicting particular hardship on families with members who have differing immigration statuses, many of whom face the threat of separation. Reflecting on the statement’s significance, Bishop Cahill and Reverend Kim stated: “What is unique about this statement is not the content, which is grounded in centuries of Christian teaching and tradition that we have already affirmed separately, but the clear unity that exists between us in this moment. As pastors devoted to proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we share a responsibility to articulate our convictions, even when it comes to subject matter as challenging as immigration. In doing so together, we seek to embrace our common heritage as both Christians and Americans. Through the ECDI, we have found a strong sense of fraternity and common purpose. It is from this sincere and patriotic perspective, and with deep concern for those affected by current immigration policies, that we offer this statement with both conviction and hope.” Launched in March 2026 , the ECDI is a joint initiative of the USCCB and NAE. It includes five evangelical and five Catholic members, in addition to the co-chairs. Several leaders of organizations affiliated with each tradition also participate in the effort as observers. For the full text of the statement and more information about the ECDI, please visit usccb.org/ecdi . ###
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Catholic and Evangelical leaders are reported to have joined in calling for compassionate immigration reform. The available article does not provide details about the leaders, their proposals, or the context for the appeal.
Christian moral foundations for welcoming migrants and just policy
Christian welcome of migrants rests on more than kindness: it follows from the dignity God gives every person, the unity of the human family, and Christ’s identification with the stranger. A just policy must therefore protect migrants’ dignity and rights while also recognizing a nation’s responsibility for public safety, its borders, and the rule of law. Catholic teaching does not reduce this to “open borders” versus “closed borders”; it calls for humane, lawful, and workable responses.
Human dignity and kinship. Every migrant is a person, not merely a problem to manage or a tool for the economy. Christians see all people as created in God’s image and as members of one human family; in Christ, the stranger is a brother or sister to be loved, not just tolerated.
The Gospel’s demand to welcome the stranger. In Matthew 25, Jesus identifies himself with the stranger who needs welcome. Pope Francis applies this as a serious Christian obligation, not a secondary concern that can simply be set aside. The Holy Family’s flight into Egypt also makes the refugee family a vivid part of Christian memory and compassion.
Charity joined to justice. Assistance to migrants is not merely optional generosity: John Paul II describes it as an act of justice owed to people whose dignity must be defended. Christian charity should therefore include practical support, protection of rights, and solidarity with people who are vulnerable or marginalized.
A real concern for both newcomers and receiving communities. Welcoming newcomers calls for encounter, protection, promotion, and integration; it also asks migrants to know and respect the laws, culture, and traditions of the country that receives them. This mutual responsibility should not be used to excuse hostility or prejudice, but it belongs to an account of welcome that takes social life seriously.
The U.S. bishops identify concrete elements of comprehensive reform: a fair legalization program with a path to citizenship; work opportunities with worker protections and just wages; family reunification; due process and access to legal protections; refuge for people fleeing persecution and violence; and attention to the causes that force people to migrate. They also call for border control and the rule of law to be pursued in a just and humane manner.
That means a policy should be assessed not only by whether it enforces rules, but by how it does so: whether families are treated humanely, people can seek refuge and receive due process, workers are protected, and public safety is genuinely served. The bishops state that immigration detention should protect public safety, not function as deterrence or punishment, and that alternatives such as community-based programs should be emphasized.
Catholic teaching also points toward practical local responsibilities: supporting migrant families, offering hospitality rather than hostility, providing appropriate pastoral and social services, and making affordable legal help available. These actions do not replace sound national policy, but they embody the duties that Christian communities have toward people in need.
Catholics can disagree prudently about the design, timing, and administration of particular laws. The cited teaching gives strong moral criteria, but it does not settle every technical question—such as exact admission numbers or the best enforcement procedures. A sound judgment should ask whether a proposal respects human dignity, protects the vulnerable, serves the common good and public safety, preserves due process, and treats both migrants and receiving communities with justice. The bishops’ formulation is a useful guide: receive refugees, asylum seekers, and other migrants in light of Christ’s teaching while assuring citizens’ security.