Church reiterates immigration policy, creates guidelines for local congregations

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a statement Thursday reiterating that its approach to immigration issues is centered on love, law and family unity.

Church leaders shared those principles again in a letter to local church leaders in the United States as the nation grapples with securing its border and resetting its immigration and refugee policies.

“As disciples of Jesus Christ,” the church statement said, “the following principles guide the Church’s approach:”

• “1. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints obeys the law.
• “2. We follow Jesus Christ by loving our neighbors. The Savior taught that the meaning of “neighbor” includes all of God’s children.
• “3. We seek to provide basic food and clothing, as our capacity allows, to those in need, regardless of their immigration status. We are especially concerned about keeping families together.”

Those principles closely mirror statements church leaders have shared previously on immigration issues.

The new statement said that the church’s Office of General Counsel had created guidelines are intended to help the leaders of American congregations comply “with federal laws that criminalize harboring, transporting or encouraging undocumented immigrants to remain in the United States.”

Senior Latter-day Saint leaders send letter to local American leaders

Senior leaders at church headquarters in Salt Lake City shared those guidelines with U.S. church leaders in a letter.

“We are concerned about the complex challenges and hardships now faced by members who are undocumented immigrants living in the United States,” the letter stated. “In the current circumstances, many local church leaders have questions about how to legally assist undocumented immigrants in a manner that is both compassionate and consistent with the immigration laws of the United States.”

The reiterated principles and letter arrive after President Donald Trump signed 10 executive orders on immigration during the first week of his second term, according to ABC News.

One order halted all refugee entrances into the United States, including religious refugees and those who go through the U.S. refugee resettlement system that thoroughly vets each person, per the Deseret News.

The letter from the church’s senior leaders to American general authorities, area presidencies and stake presidents acknowledged that the administration and courts continue to work out what how the executive orders will be enforced.

“Until we learn of changes in the law, church officers should continue to follow the attached guidelines from the Office of General Counsel regarding such assistance,” the letter said. “Area Presidencies and Area Seventies should help stake presidents become aware of and adhere to these policies.”

The church created specific guidelines for leaders of congregations

Those guidelines include:

• “Local leaders may use fast-offering funds to provide temporary assistance for essential needs like food, clothing and medical care, regardless of immigration status.
• “If local leaders have reason to believe someone is undocumented and not authorized to work, they should avoid potential conflicts with federal law by avoiding or limiting housing assistance, not transporting the person outside the local community and not referring the person for employment.
• “Leaders should not provide legal advice, testify in legal proceedings or sponsor immigration efforts.
• “Leaders may refer families to community resources that address their immigration issues or help prepare them for possible separation in cases where family members may be deported.
• “Church buildings and resources should not be used to help shield individuals from law enforcement.”

The statement also directed the leaders of U.S. congregations who need additional information to contact the church’s Office of General Counsel, which it said “tracks legal developments to ensure local outreach and area-initiated humanitarian activities are appropriate.”

The church has more than 6.8 million members and operates 14,500 American congregations at a time when the Trump administration’s edicts regarding mass deportations and border security include one that changed generations of U.S. policy: Law enforcement can now make immigration arrests within or near places of worship, per the Deseret News.

Deportations have always been a part of American border enforcement. The U.S. deported 2.9 million people during President Barack Obama’s first term, 1.9 million during Obama’s second term and 1.5 million during Trump’s first term, an analyst told CNN. The analyst calculated that the number of deportations undertaken during President Joe Biden’s term would finish at 1.49 million.

A Homeland Security spokesperson told Fox News Digital that President Trump had set daily arrest goals for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Fox News reported.

The Trump administration also has stopped taking appointments for migrants waiting in Mexico to request asylum through the CBP One mobile app, according to the Washington Post.

What the church has said about immigration over the past 15 years

The church’s position on immigration and refugees has been consistent.

In 2010, the church supported the Utah Compact, a set of five principals to guide immigration debate that included a call for a humane approach: “The way we treat immigrants will say more about us as a free society and less about our immigrant neighbors.”

2011: ‘The background moral issue’

In 2011, the church issued a statement about immigration. The church outlined its position with three basic principles:

• Jesus Christ’s commandment to “love thy neighbor.”
• The importance of keeping families intact.
• The federal government’s obligation to secure its borders.

“In furtherance of needed immigration reform in the United States, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints supports a balanced and civil approach to a challenging problem, fully consistent with its tradition of compassion, its reverence for family and its commitment to law,” the statement said.

The church stated that its policy discourages its members from entering any country without legal documentation and from deliberately overstaying legal travel visas. But church leaders also said the “bedrock moral issue for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is how we treat each other as children of God.”

2015: ‘Support for religious freedom for all’

In 2015, after then-presidential candidate Donald Trump called for a ban on all Muslims entering the country, the church issued a statement that while it is neutral in party politics and election campaigns, it is “not neutral in relation to religious freedom.”

Church leaders attached Joseph Smith’s statement that he would stridently defending the religious rights of all believers and a Nauvoo, Illinois, city ordinance he helped pass that codified equal privileges for all churches.

2017: ‘Meet human needs and relieve suffering’

In 2017, after President Trump banned refugees from seven Muslim countries, church leaders issued another statement:

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is concerned about the temporal and spiritual welfare of all of God’s children across the earth, with special concern for those who are fleeing physical violence, war and religious persecution. The Church urges all people and governments to cooperate fully in seeking the best solutions to meet human needs and relieve suffering.”