The Scandal of Invoking Christianity While Acting Unjustly

Deportations to an inhumane prison and Afghanistan

Photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash

In the weeks since I wrote this article detailing my concerns with the Trump Administration’s deportation of Venezuelan suspected gang members to an infamous overcrowded prison in El Salvador without due process, things have only gotten worse. We are rushing toward a constitutional crisis, with the Supreme Court blocking the Trump Administration from deporting any more suspected gang members to the El Salvadoran prison for the time being and several right-wing pundits calling for the President to defy the orders. The White House and some in right-wing media have been insisting that if you care about due process or if you object to the use of CECOT (the El Salvadoran terrorist mega-prison) you’re really just pro-gang members and against all deportations. In addition, the courts (including SCOTUS) and the Trump Administration have been fighting over one wrongly deported individual, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia. And the Department of Homeland Security revoked the immigration statuses of some Afghan Christians who fled to the US to escape the Taliban. They were told to self-deport over the Easter holiday, at the same time Trump was hosting an Easter dinner led by Paula White, an event which was widely praised by some evangelical leaders as a “vibe shift” from the Biden Administration who last year recognized “Trans Day of Visibility” on Easter.

I fear we are entering profoundly troubling times, when people will condemn others to religious persecution or foreign imprisonment in the false name of justice. And the question we must ask ourselves is, what will we do?