If any corner of our nation has reached the point at which a VBS is cancelled for fear of  detention and deportation, then it is time for people of faith in every corner of our nation to call on our government to repent of our present national sin;

Our nation is currently conducting a campaign of cruelty against immigrants. From the intentional deportation of undocumented immigrants to third countries where they have no family, to the revocation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for hundreds of thousands of persons who came to the United States seeking refuge from danger, to the deportation of immigrants when they appear for their Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP) appointments, to the effort to annul birthright citizenship, to the ruthless creation and gleeful celebration  of  “Alligator Alcatraz”

“Immigrants in our communities are afraid. Whether they are recent migrants or have lived here many years, their futures are uncertain. One such immigrant family is now afraid to leave their home, even to buy groceries…

In back-to-back decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court handed two major wins to the Trump administration that could strip life-saving protections from nearly a million people, most of them from Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua, while legal battles continue.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1) is a budget reconciliation bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a 215 to 214 vote on May 22, 2025. The bill is likely to change substantively as it moves to the Senate and subsequently returns to the House for final passage. Here are five concerning things about the bill regarding immigration:

Fellowship Southwest remains alarmed and disturbed by the numerous anti-immigrant actions by the new administration. A summary of some of the major actions compiled by Elket Rodriguez can be found here. 

Last weekend, a family from Nicaragua, let us know how desperate they felt when they learned the current administration was canceling humanitarian parole for immigrants from Nicaragua, Cuba, Venezuela, and Haiti.

On Sunday, March 9, 2025, I visited Stillwater, Oklahoma, for the CBF Oklahoma Spring Gathering and had the opportunity to introduce the Thriving Congregations Immigration Ministry program to the attendees. In an effort to invite more churches to join TCIM, I will be visiting some events in the next few months. 

When my colleague, Elket Rodriguez, shared the news that the CBP One application, which migrants use to schedule appointments at the U.S. ports of entry, had been canceled, my heart was overwhelmed with concern for the migrants who would be affected. I immediately reached out to some of our partners along the border, and one by one, they shared heartbreaking updates.

I know you want to check on these migrants, too, so come along with me from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico…

As you may be aware, President Trump has taken immediate and sweeping action to overhaul U.S. immigration policy following his inauguration Monday.

I’ve put together a concise overview of the significant shifts in immigration policy under the new administration.

The Darien Gap has become a symbol for the magnitude and complexity of the global migration crisis. The 10,000 square miles of rainforest connecting Central and South America is a natural labyrinth where migrants face the immensity of nature and the constant danger of getting lost. Steep mountains, vast swamps, rushing rivers, wild and deadly wildlife, extreme weather and disease are the order of the day on this stretch that has become one of the most dangerous migratory routes in the world.

Fellowship Southwest just returned from a vision trip to the Rio Grande Valley, introducing church leaders to our border ministry partners in Brownsville, Reynosa and the colonias. We were joined by ministers and lay leaders from the Austin-Waco area including Restore Austin, Vox Veniae and UBC Waco.

As the U.S. presidential election looms just four weeks away, the landscape along the U.S.-Mexico border has changed dramatically—both in policy and in the rhythm of migrant flows. In recent months, border pastors who compose Fellowship Southwest’s immigrant relief ministry have seen their work adapt to the new conditions Notably, the number of migrants entering the U.S. has significantly decreased, and shelter dynamics in northern Mexico continue to evolve.

If you're a music fan, you've been mourning the passing last weekend of Kris Kristofferson. The singer, songwriter and actor lived a life so remarkable it reads like fiction. In addition to his well known accomplishments in the arts, he was also a Rhodes scholar who studied at Oxford, an Army Ranger, a helicopter pilot, a college football player, and as a young man had such a promising future as a boxer he was in Sports Illustrated.

Fellowship Southwest partners with a new organization in the Rio Grande Valley that focuses on serving the colonias, House of Love and Justice. So many of our border partners work on the Mexican side of the border, so we are thrilled to support the ministry of Caly Fernandez and join her in serving our neighbors on this side of the border in the colonias. 

A few weeks ago my wife, Deborah and I took our daughter on her first trip to New York City to celebrate her tenth birthday. Though I’d been to the city many times before, almost every other trip was short and tied to work or another occasion. With more free time and my daughter in tow, I was determined to take a boat ride to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I’m so very glad we did.

The Latino community can be a force to be reckoned with when we unite.

That is one reason why Fellowship Southwest is thankful to partner with the Latino Christian National Network (LCNN), and as a Latina myself, it is a personal privilege.

LCNN is an ecumenical network of Latino leaders working to provide Latino and Latina Christian leaders with a respectful space for dialogue, mutual formation, cooperation, amplifying our prophetic voice, and civic engagement for justice.

Last weekend, the Church Without Walls in Houston, TX, hosted Pastor Edrei Rodriguez of Mercy without Borders, one of FSW’s newest partners working with Migrants in Reynosa.

I'm in the last week of a five-week internship service at Iglesia Bautista West Brownsville’s migrant ministry, Ministerio Golan. This ministry assists Latin American asylum seekers and refugees by providing free transportation to the Brownsville and Harlingen airports, clothing, food, and basic hygiene care. They also offer a respite home for pregnant women, families with children with disabilities, and Southwest Keys 'age-outs' to stay overnight while they await their flights. The church uses these points of intersection to share the gospel with them and provide emotional and spiritual support.

We have come to know one family at the migrant center fairly well. Before they arrived, they had an appointment to enter the United States. However, by the time they had the money to travel to northern Mexico, they had arrived too late. They have been patiently waiting for another appointment ever since. It has been three and a half months. One day, the youngest daughter in the family came to us, asking to be interviewed. Only eight years old, but she had a story and wanted to share it. We sat down and Christina eventually asked, “Why did you leave Honduras?”.