This week I joined a prayer vigil organized by World Relief advocating for fairness in immigration courts for asylum seekers. According to World Relief, as of June, 94% of asylum cases nationwide were denied. Here in Chicago, the acceptance rate has dropped from 61% two years ago to 13%. The presidential administration has been firing immigration judges with a higher rate of accepting asylum cases and replacing them with justices with little experience. Some of these judges have been recruited with language like “become a deportation judge.”

As if that’s not bleak enough, three-hour hearings are now being held for between 100-200 asylum seekers. Imagine, given the complexities of the law and the challenges of different languages, trying to make a case for asylum is such little time!

So, as Christians do, we gathered to pray. Standing across the street from the immigration courthouse, different faith leaders and pastors took turns leading the hundred-something people of all ages who’d gathered in prayer. When it was my turn, here’s what I said.

God of the sojourner, we come to you this evening remembering the saints who’ve walked before us. God of Abraham and Sarah who guided the vulnerable travelers as they left their native land to make a new home in Canaan. God of Hagar who protected the young mother when she was cast into the wilderness. God of Joseph who protected the vulnerable son as he found himself sold into imperial captivity.  God of Ruth who brought the stranger into a new family when she found herself so far from home. God of David who guided the shepherd’s steps as he fled political violence. God of the exiles who comforted the brokenhearted as they sat along the rivers of Babylon wondering how they might sing their songs in that foreign land.

Sojourner God, we ask you today for justice. You who require of your people balanced scales and truthful testimonies, we ask that you intervene on behalf of those for whom justice has been delayed and fairness has been denied. Raise up your representatives in the judiciary. Raise up impartial judges. Raise up an incorrupt and non-partisan judiciary. Intervene on behalf of every Abraham and Sarah, every Hagar and Joseph, every Ruth and David, every exile and sojourner who find themselves simply searching for the safety of home.

Make yourself known, oh God, in the courthouse. To the seeker of justice, make your comfort, protection, and direction known. To those with the power to distribute or deny justice, make known your power, sovereignty, and righteousness. And to we who gather today in prayerful advocacy, make yourself known to us as well, that we might persevere in prayer, endure in advocacy, and face the uncertain days ahead by your Spirit and with your love.

Our laments, petitions, and praises we relinquish to you in the name of the One who assumed our flesh; in the name of the One who knows what it’s like to be chased from home and to hear the cries of grieving parents who children did not make it out; in the name of the One who had no place to lay his head; in the name of the One who is the stranger standing today harassed and defenseless at our doorstep; in the name of the One who is a friend of sinners and saints, sojourners and strangers; in the name of this world’s only truly righteous judge; in the name of the soon and coming Lord before whom every knee will bow; in the name that is still above every name, the name of Jesus the Christ we pray, amen.

This article has more details about the vigil. If you want to learn more about this troubling development in our immigration courts and take action, take a few minutes to read this flier or watch this video.

Reading

Most Americans, including preachers, have difficulty accepting the truth, if they think about it all, that not all forms of discourse can be converted from one medium to another. It is naive to suppose that something that has been expressed in one form can be expressed in another without significantly changing its meaning, texture or value.

What Neal Postman wrote in Amusing Ourselves to Death in 1985 about television could just as accurately be said today about how uncritically churches and pastors are adopting different forms of artificial intelligence.

The View From Here

One of the gifts of regularly showing up around our city to bear witness to Jesus and his righteousness is the amazing friends you make along the way. It was a privilege to be with these pastors and faith leaders from the city and suburbs as we sang and prayed for our asylum-seeking neighbors.