Pastors standing with Trump at his inauguration are complicit in his mass deportation plan

On By Littum

There will be at least two sets of pastors praying this inauguration day for Donald Trump. One will pray for Trump and his administration, and the other will pray that the plans he has promised to carry out as president do not cause irreparable harm to people or our country.

The dedication is expected to include an invocation by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, and a prayer by the evangelical pastor Franklin Graham, the head of Samaritan’s Purse.

To put it another way, on Inauguration Day there will be one group of pastors standing next to an incoming president promising to roll back the gains of the civil rights movement, and another group of pastors celebrating—with sincerity and a genuine appreciation of his life’s work — the birthday of the great civil rights leader and speaker Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. What these two groups are asking for will be vastly different, and moreover, they are likely to further open rifts, not just politically, but also religiously and socially.

Among the issues likely to push them further apart is immigration.

The inauguration is expected to include a convocation by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New Yorkand a prayer of the evangelical Rev. Franklin Grahamson of evangelist Billy Graham and head of Samaritan’s Purse. Pre-dedication events were planned to include other conservative ministers and religious figures such as Tony Perkinsmanager of Family Research Counciland David Barton, the Christian nationalist historian whose teachings House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said had “a profound influence on meand my work, and my life, and all that I do.”

Follow MSNBC’s live blog for the latest updates and expert analysis on Donald Trump’s inauguration.

For MAGA pastors and religious figures who stand with Trump, his inauguration will be the culmination of their earnest prayers, rallies and political participation following their appeals to Christian nationalism, faith and fear. But they may get more than they bargained for.

After congratulations and pats on the back, the reality comes out what Trump has promised to do as president.

While I’m sure they think his policies won’t hurt them, maybe they should think again.

Trump, who has vowed to begin mass deportations immediately, has also vowed to revoke the “sensitive sites” memo that generally prevents Immigration and Customs Enforcement from entering places like churches, schools, hospitals and even funerals to conduct an enforcement action . What happens when ICE invades churches and schools? How will religious leaders who support Trump rationalize it? Will they side with the administration or will they listen to the admonitions of their faith that prompts them to care for the less fortunate?

How will Dolan react if ICE enters a parish or Catholic school in New York?

How will Dolan react if ICE enters a parish or Catholic school in New York? Does he think he can lead an appeal for Trump without being seen as supporting the chaos Trump has promised to unleash?

As I wrote this month, Cardinal Robert McElroy, the incoming archbishop of Washington, has said that the Catholic Church will not stand idly by “while more than 10% of our flock is torn from our midst and deported,” and it is not accidental that Pope Francis is sending him to Washington as Trump begins a second term.

For pastors who embrace King’s message and politics, Monday will be a day of remembrance — and preparation. Since 2007 has New Sanctuary movement have come together to demand faith-based immigrant justice in the wake of tough immigration laws being passed. In an article for Sojourners magazine titled “We Will Not Be Intimidate,” Michael Woolf, the pastor of a church in the New Sanctuary movement, says, “the congregations must prepare now by building consensus on exactly what level of risk they are willing to take in the midst of mass deportations.”

King similarly asked the people who wanted to participate in civil rights protests how much they were willing to risk.

Trump’s promise of mass deportation will confront pastors and others in ways they may not imagine. Just this month, Border Patrol agents arrested 78 undocumented immigrants in California’s Fresno and Kern counties. These arrests, which took place just before Trump’s inauguration, have created fear and distrust, and this is sure to escalate as the arrests intensify. Some leaders, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, have already done so issued guidelines for immigration reform that recognize the government’s right to protect the border while asking that enforcement “consider families, community ties and religious liberty interests.”

In a 2024 study from Lifeway50% of evangelicals said recent immigrants drain economic resources. More than a third described recent immigrants as a threat to citizen safety (37%) and a threat to law and order (37%), while 28% described them as a threat to traditional American customs and culture.

Dolan and Graham should not complain if their names are linked to the horrors of mass deportation.

Some evangelical leaders, including the National Association of Evangelicals, have called on Trump to set a “refugee admissions cap” of 50,000 people, as he did in the first year of his first term. This proposed cap, which is set in a declaration titled “A Christian Statement on Refugee Settlement,” requests that refugees be treated differently than migrants because refugees are screened abroad before they legally arrive in the United States.

Other pastors do not distinguish between the two groups. People in both groups are desperate for the promise of safety and security that the United States can offer.

Dolan and Graham and other pastors who stand with Trump should not complain if their names are attached to the horrors of mass deportation. They made the decision to attend his inauguration. Why should they not be connected with the things to come?