RELEASE: Pastors Condemn Mass Deportation Agenda on International Migrants Day
TIRRC Press
media@tnimmigrant.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS ADVISORY
December 18, 2025
Contact: Elizabeth Madeira Media@tnimmigrant.org
Tennessee Pastors Condemn Mass Deportation Agenda and Call for Dignity and Justice on International Migrant Day
Religious Leaders Decry Federal Immigration Enforcement Tactics and Urge Protection of Immigrant and Refugee Communities
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Faith leaders in Tennessee marked International Migrant Day with a renewed call for compassion, dignity, and justice for immigrant and refugee communities. Speaking out against what they describe as cruel and discriminatory federal immigration policies, the religious leaders condemned the Trump administration's mass deportation agenda and the $170 billion allocated for raids, detention, and surveillance.
Rev. Travis Meier, Pastor of First Lutheran Church in Nashville released a video statement where he states, "As a Lutheran pastor, I believe that every day is a great day to remember that we are all created in God’s image. I believe it’s even more important to share that reminder today, International Migrant Day.
"A foundational calling of the people of God, written through scripture is to welcome the immigration and love your neighbor as yourself. This is not a marginal aspect of the Bible. It is one of the central tenants to a people liberated from captivity and called to be a beacon of hope for the world.
"Yet, as I look around, as I see what’s happening in Nashville, across our great state, especially in Memphis and across this country, is cruelty, discrimination, and hate from elected leaders who claim the Christian faith. All of this division and cruelty is their attempt to consolidate power and enrich themselves and their billionaire friends. ICE is partnering with local law enforcement and making all of us less safe by violating the civil rights of our neighbors and disappearing people. They are taking fathers away from their wives and children. They are taking mothers and their children at bus stops. They’re throwing tear gas into homes with children. And those are just a few of the stories we hear.
"God calls us to protect our immigrant neighbors during this week of actions, and always with Scripture as our foundation, and our moral conscience. We will not let false prophets scare us or have the last word on the nature of God. On international Migrant Day, and every day, we choose dignity over fear, compassion over cruelty, and love and justice over hate.
"The Government’s plan to pour $170 billion into raids, detention, surveillance, and mass deportation, is money stolen from childcare, healthcare, schools, housing, and community safety. Human suffering is not a business model to be proud of, and human bodies are not meant to be commodities. So let us stand united and become the beacons of hope and community that God has created us to be."
Rev. Ed Smith, Associate Priest in the Episcopal Church released his own video statement saying:
"Today as a priest in the Episcopal Church I’m here to declare that every immigrant and refugee has inherent worth and dignity bestowed upon them by God. And today we are demanding that these rights be respected by those in power.
"The church where I serve in Nashville hosts a Sudanese church because we all praise and serve the same God, the same Jesus. And our faith is strengthened by the faith of those in a global church. It’s a blessing to have them as part of our community.
"Most of the Sudanese community live in the US because they have fled persecution in the Sudan. They spend years, if not over a decade, in the refugee process, assuring they come to the US with proper paperwork and years of vetting. Yet earlier this year, this administration removed the legal protected status (TPS) from those who are here from Sudan. This is beyond cruel. Having met members of that community, I’m so deeply moved when I hear the stories of what they fled.
"Many of them who came here are former child soldiers who were pushed into conflict, had many of their family members killed, came over as orphans, and wanted to rebuild a new life in what they feel is the greatest country in the world. And they exemplify what it means to be an American, what it means to be a Christian, what it means to be members of a family and a community.
"But the current agenda that prioritizes mass deportation and removes legal status from people fleeing violence and harm in their countries of origin just ends up ripping apart families and depriving immigrants of their fundamental due process rights.
"So today, I’m calling for the immediate end to unjust arrest, rushed deportations without hearing, and enforcement of tactics designed to silence and disappear immigrants. It is our duty as Christians to call for a love of neighbor over violence and harm."
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The Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) is a statewide, immigrant and refugee-led collaboration whose mission is to build power, amplify our voices, and organize communities to advocate for our rights in order to build a stronger, more inclusive Tennessee where people of all nationalities, immigration statuses, and racial identities can belong and thrive. Since its founding in 2001, TIRRC has grown from a grassroots network of community leaders into one of the most diverse and effective coalitions of its kind, a model for emerging immigrant rights organizations in the Southeast and throughout the United States.