FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media contact: Aaron Weaver / aweaver@cbf.net

DECATUR, Ga.— The Supreme Court upheld today in a 5-4 ruling the controversial “travel ban” policy barring immigration to the United States from certain countries. Stephen Reeves, associate coordinator of partnerships and advocacy for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, issued the following statement in response to the court’s Trump v. Hawaii decision. 

“With today’s ruling, the Supreme Court has offered another example of how America no longer seems to welcome the stranger. To turn our backs out of fear of the other stands in contradiction to the repeated call in Scripture for Christians to have mercy on the alien and foreigner in our midst. When at our best, America has been refuge for the persecuted. People of faith must resist the temptation to give in to fear so that we can once again be that much-needed refuge.

We as Baptists must be the first to ensure the rights of religious minorities and doggedly defend both the Free Exercise Clause and the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. While the President has a duty to keep us safe, by discounting the broader political context which produced the travel ban, the Supreme Court has done damage to our First Freedom. Government must not treat people differently because of their faith. We need not trade liberty for security.

Despite this decision, Cooperative Baptists will continue to bear witness to Jesus Christ, ministering alongside and speaking up on behalf of immigrant and refugee communities here at home and across the globe.”

ADDITIONAL READING:

CBF ministers to refugees and immigrants despite order barring travel to the U.S. (January 30, 2017)

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CBF is a Christian network that helps people put their faith to practice through ministry eff­orts, global missions and a broad community of support. The Fellowship’s mission is to serve Christians and churches as they discover and fulfill their God-given mission.