immigration

American Students Engage in Performative Activism to ‘Defund ICE’

Students across the country cut class on Friday and Monday to encourage Congress to “stop funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).”

The walkouts, which led to school closures in several states, follow weeks of turmoil in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where clashes between ICE agents and well-organized protestors led to the tragic deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

Teachers and administrators joined the students’ protests in places like Texas, where Governor Greg Abbott vowed to investigate Austin Independent School District (AISD) for misuse of taxpayer funds.

“AISD gets taxpayer dollars to teach subjects required by the state, not help students skip school to protest,” Abbott wrote on X.

“Our schools are for educating children, not political indoctrination.”

In this case, political indoctrination is only part of the problem. Parents should take great issue with teachers or administrators encouraging their children to engage in what could well be construed as performative activism.

Performative activists generally care more about connecting themselves to a social movement than causing actual change. People usually engage in performative activism to:

  • Fit in with a group.
  • Gain social capital.
  • Feel as though they contributed to a social good.

Most students probably wouldn’t call the walkouts performative. Many likely believe ICE agents in Minnesota have violated people’s rights and that protesting — as teachers, celebrities and politicians frequently claim — will stop those violations.

In reality, the walkouts blocked roads and disrupted instruction time. As for defunding ICE, Congress already funded the department through 2029 via the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

At most, the walkouts could cause Congress to stall funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE. Importantly, DHS also oversees agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which aids Americans affected by natural disasters.

Unintended or harmful consequences like these often follow performative activists because they prioritize appearing to solve social problems over the solutions themselves.

For the same reason, performative activism inevitably reduces complex issues like immigration and border enforcement to catchy slogans and clumsy narratives — language which looks good on protest signs and plays well on social media.

The goal is generally to give activists an easy, feel-good cause to support, not facilitate a substantive discussion.

The student walkouts clearly identify ICE agents as the bad guys. Participants do not have to think through the economic and social importance of enforcing national borders.

They do not have to hold the actions of ICE agents in tension with the consequences of incentivizing illegal immigration, like corporations paying illegal migrants below average wages.

They do not have to consider the connection between illegal immigration and drug cartels, which profit from every person who crosses the southern border illegally.

They do not have to grapple with the fact that unaccompanied migrant children are among the most harmed by a porous border.

Understanding and engaging with nuance is a critical part of analyzing complex social and political issues. It’s also an essential feature of biblical justice, which emphasizes impartiality and proportional punishment.

In Exodus 23, God lays out several rules for adjudicating disputes, warning the Israelites against showing partiality, accepting bribes, bearing false witness or bringing false charges against another.

Many of the same themes carry through Leviticus. Leviticus 19:15 commands, “You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.”

Leviticus 24:19-20 establishes the expectation that wrongdoers receive punishments according to the severity of the crime committed.

These passages portray delivering justice as a sober process requiring careful investigation, righteousness (Psalm 106:3) and knowledge of the Lord (Proverbs 28:5). Accordingly, no one can advocate for biblical justice without considering nuance.

It is parents’ — not teachers’ — job to teach children to seek and love biblical justice. But parents should not have to worry teachers will encourage students to engage in a form of activism which recklessly prioritizes the self over biblical justice.

Additional Articles and Resources

Tulsi Gabbard, Federal Officials Celebrate Breakup of Infant Trafficking Ring and Other Victories Over Human Trafficking

Border Crackdown Discourages ‘Fraudulent Families,’ Child Trafficking

American immigration System Loses Contact with Tens of Thousands of Migrant Children

Trump Sees Lowest Border Numbers in History: ‘The Invasion is Over’

Violent Gang Takes Advantage of American Immigration Policy

Politics is Putting Children at Risk on the Southern Border

Trump’s Border Czar Explains Child Trafficking Under Biden Administration

It’s Compassionate to Oppose Illegal immigration. Here’s Why.

Talking to Your Kids About Illegal Immigration

Four Ways to Protect Your Kids From Assassination Culture

My Rescue From Human Trafficking to New Life in Christ

Identifying the Signs of Human Trafficking

In Minnesota and Beyond, the Tragic Consequences of Not Following the Law

Americans can be forgiven for being at once exhausted, outraged and heartbroken over the ongoing dysfunction in Minneapolis.

The deaths of two activists – Renee Good and Alex Pretti – have poured metaphorical gas on a cultural firestorm that didn’t start in the Twin Cities but instead can be traced back to an evolving acceptance of lawlessness with very tragic consequences.

According to both the Pew Research Center and the Department of Homeland Security, well over 11 million individuals were illegally residing in the United States as of 2022. Many have suggested that number is now exponentially higher after years of a porous Southern Border.

Illegal immigration has been an ongoing concern for the past century, though some decades have been far more problematic than others. Prior to the 1970s, and 80s, it’s estimated America absorbed between 500,000 and one million illegal entries per decade. That jumped to 2.5 million in the 1970s and 3.5 million in the 1980s.

On July 30, 1981, President Ronald Reagan sparked great debate when he declared, “Illegal immigrants in considerable numbers have become productive members of our society and are a basic part of our work force. Those who have established equities in the United States should be recognized and accorded legal status. At the same time, in so doing, we must not encourage illegal immigration.”

The 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) granted amnesty to more than three million people.

Politicians have been trying to thread the proverbial needle ever since, though some more than others. In recent weeks, it’s been noted that President Obama’s administration was responsible for deporting more than three million illegal aliens – but a closer examination of that number indicates such a statistic is deceiving. As it was, approximately two-thirds of those “deportations” happened right at the border. Basically, individuals who attempted to cross and who were denied entry, were then counted as having been deported.

Each time President Trump has run for office, he has campaigned on securing the Southern Border and prioritizing the deportation of illegal immigrants with criminal records. Polling has suggested a majority of voters support this position.

The Trump administration’s launch in December of “Operation Metro Surge” – a campaign spearheaded by both U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement officers and Border Patrol Agents in the Twin Cities – has been met with fierce resistance. “Sanctuary-style” policies have led to city officials largely not cooperating with federal officials. A well-organized network of protestors soon descended on the city. Fox News has reported that a “hub of communist and socialist nonprofit organizations working as key organizers of the resistance campaign against federal immigration enforcement” are on the ground.

Heartbreak over the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both caught on multiple cameras, understandably triggered calls for investigations – which are ongoing. In fairness to those examinations, it seems somewhat reckless and irresponsible to draw any conclusions – although that hasn’t stopped many others from speaking out and doing so.

A video has emerged of Alex Pretti seeming to spit on officers, cursing at them, and kicking out the taillight of a federal vehicle over a week before he was shot and killed. At that time, officers wrestled him to the ground but soon let him go. He can be seen carrying a gun, for which we later learned he had a permit.

What if federal officers had arrested Alex Pretti for his assault on their vehicle? Would he have been back that next week? Might he still be alive today?

As Christians, we know that God’s Word is clear regarding the consequences of sin and not following laws. Adhering to civil authority is necessary to avoid chaos. This is why the apostle Paul wrote, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God” (Romans 13:1-2).

We can ask what might have been had the law been enforced with Alex Pretti that first time – but what if our borders had been protected years earlier? What if the very illegal actors that ICE and our Border Patrol are attempting to arrest had never been allowed in at all? There would been no need for “Operation Metro Surge.”

We pray for the ongoing investigations, for the safety of law enforcement officers, for the peace of Minnesota, and for all those embroiled in this difficult and tragic situation.

Photo from Getty Images.

The Light Shines in the Darkness: When the World Storms the Church

Calling them “agitators and insurrectionists,” President Donald Trump and the Department of Justice have pledged to swiftly and fully investigate the mob that invaded Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, this past Sunday.

Founded in January 2015, the congregation meets in a church building constructed back in 1912 on Summit Hill by an Episcopal body of believers. Visit the Cities Church website and you’ll see their declared goal:

Making joyful disciples of Jesus who remember His realness in all of life.

That joy was put to the test this past Sunday morning. Incensed that a bi-vocational pastor at Cities Church also serves as Acting Field Officer Director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an angry mob stormed and disrupted Sunday’s service. Some of the agitators walked right up to the pulpit while others engaged in various combative and profane chants, even hurling insults at those worshipping — including children. There’s a video of a young child cowering during the onslaught.

Trey Turner, who serves as the executive director of the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention, denounced the attack, calling it “an unacceptable trauma.” The service was halted and cancelled. 

“I believe we must be resolute in two areas,” Turner said in a statement. “Encouraging our churches to provide compassionate pastoral care to these (migrant) families and standing firm for the sanctity of our houses of worship.”

Sunday in Minnesota wasn’t the first time angry mobs desecrated and disrupted a service of worship, of course. 

The 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, was bombed by the Ku Klux Klan in 1963. Four young girls were killed. Nine parishioners of Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, were murdered in 2015 by a white supremacist. The deadliest church shooting in American history took place in 2017 when 26 congregants were killed at Sutherland Springs church in Texas.

Pro-abortion and homosexual agitators and activists have been known to disrupt Catholic masses and other church services for decades. 

Jesus warned, “You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 10:22). He also said, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you” (John 15:18). 

Those attacking Cities Church appear to be angry that a minister of the congregation has taken a sworn oath to uphold the immigration laws of the United States. In response, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote on X, “Attacks against law enforcement and the intimidation of Christians are being met with the full force of federal law.” 

ICE’s fatal confrontation with Renee Good has spiraled into ongoing protests in Minnesota, a state that seems to welcome its role as something of ground zero for cultural unrest. There is speculation that some of those demonstrating are being paid, the product of a concerted campaign to undermine United States immigration enforcement.

Dr. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Seminary, is urging Christians to not miss the larger ramifications of what’s going on in Minnesota.

“The left is protesting the tactics of ICE and in a larger general sense, the tactics of the federal government, but those activists are actually opposing much more than the tactics of ICE,” he said on Tuesday’s Briefing. “In many ways, they question the legitimacy of ICE itself and frankly, the legitimacy of the US federal government’s concern when it comes to policing its own borders and even maintaining a coherent understanding of citizenship.”

The Cities Church website includes some commentary on the historic building that the protestors stormed and invaded, specifically their stained-glass windows. For centuries, stained glass has served as visual Catechism, a way to teach the Bible in images. But they’ve also been used to symbolize the light that streams through them with being divinely derived. 

We read on their site:

The sun filtered through their pigments, telling us a bit of the story of God and His great deeds for us and for our salvation. The things of earth are truly given for our good, not only to enjoy but to see anew once the light of the glory of God in the face of Christ shines in our hearts, taking away our blindness. 

But the light of His glory also shines through the things of the world and its history because they all belong to and speak of the Triune God. From inside the church, from inside the gospel, the world is irradiated with the light of God who is light, and we see it more truly from inside than those do outside.

But these windows also serve that world outside. In the long darkness of our winters, in the evenings, this summit hill is lit with the glow of our windows from the inside out. The light from within the church — God, the gospel, we who are the “light of the world” — shines through these same windows telling a bit of the story of what God has given for the life of the world. They beckon people to come and see how the Light has shone and is shining in the darkness, and to know that the darkness has not and cannot overcome it.

Agitators can storm a building, protest its minister, and even stop a worship service, but nothing will stop the march of the Gospel or block out the Light of the World, Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, we prepare for persecution and pray for the peace and safety of our Christian brothers and sisters in Minnesota and beyond.  

Our Law Enforcement and Our Priorities

It’s a common adage that history repeats itself, but just because enough people say it over and over again doesn’t make it true.

History doesn’t repeat — but human nature does.

It was King Solomon who observed, “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun” (Eccl. 1:9, ESV).

Man’s sinful nature means things will never be just right, that we will regularly struggle and strain in striving to meet the mark. Relatedly, it also means that when it comes to life, there are fundamental patterns of imperfection. They’re frustrating, destructive — and predictable, too.

One could be excused for thinking they’ve seen this week’s cultural discord before — and even in the same city before. Change the names and even change the channel, but the drama and the dysfunction remain and roll on.

Sin doesn’t happen in a vacuum, of course. It might often seem like it occurs all at once, but it’s usually the outgrowth of an accumulation of many things and sometimes some things even outside of our own control. We’re reminded in Exodus that children can be punished for the sins of their parents even out to the third and fourth generations (20:5, 34:7).

Tragic things happen when a series of terrible things unfold over time. There are consequences to sin.

Although it was officially first established in 2003, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) responsibilities didn’t begin just over two decades ago. Colonial and early America welcomed individuals from all over but emphasized from the very beginning that anyone who landed in the United States needed to assimilate and embrace the country’s ideals. In recent generations this commitment lessened and has practically been abandoned altogether.

American immigration policy has long been generous, some might even say liberal, but there have always been rules and laws. Agitators and radical activists like to try and blend or blur any distinction between legal and illegal immigration, but there is a major difference between the two. Without laws and rules there is chaos — such as what we saw earlier this week.

I.C.E. was established in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and folded under the authority of the Homeland Security Act of 2002. In essence, it was created because laws were being broken, and individuals and families were being harmed and even killed — by the thousands.

Immigration officials have been deployed to certain states and cities because for years and even decades, established laws haven’t been enforced. In fact, it could even be argued they’ve been flagrantly ignored and criminals even enabled.

At the same time, a chronic and tragic disregard for law enforcement has festered across America, especially in the nation’s largest urban areas. In some cases, our men and women in uniform have been villainized. The courageous and the brave are discounted, portrayed as part of the problem rather than a major piece of the solution. This disrespect emboldens bad actors. The disregard strikes the match.

In what universe and worldview do ordinary citizens brazenly confront law enforcement who are legally and peacefully carrying out their assigned duties?

Instead of protesting our police and immigration enforcement officials we should be praying for them.

Rather than agitating in the streets, we should be advocating for the protection and safety of our people. Our actions and policies should be geared towards peace not discord.

To Save America, Have Lots of Children

White House Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller was on Will Cain’s FOX News television show on Tuesday and made a rather startling statement.

“What they don’t teach you in school is that from 1920 to 1970, there was negative migration [in America],” Miller told Cain. “There was a half century of negative migration. The foreign-born population declined by 40 percent for half a century … [Yet] during that same time period, the U.S. population doubled.”

How was that possible?

American families were having lots of children.

“That was the cauldron in which a unified shared national identity was formed,” Miller continued. “They went through a depression together, they went through world war together, they landed on the moon together. This great period in American history happened at a time when there was negative migration.”

The debate remains red-hot these days over illegal immigration and even, to some degree, over legal immigration, too. But students of history recognize that tension over those immigrating to the United States is not a new phenomenon.

Just over one-hundred years ago, the number of newly arriving immigrants was skyrocketing and putting pressure on all the country’s services. The Immigration Act of 1924, also known as the “Johnson-Reed Act,” was designed to address the huge influx of individuals and limit how many and from what parts of the world they would be allowed to come from.

Months after the legislation was signed into law, Major Henry H. Curran, who was serving as Commissioner of Immigration at Ellis Island, was quoted in a New York Times editorial:

“We are getting half as many as we did under the old law and that is a good thing for all concerned,” he said. “It is good for the country because we can assimilate them better. Therefore, it is good for the immigrant. He receives more attention than he could otherwise get at the stations and because he is one of a lesser number his opportunities are correspondingly better.”

He then added:

With the quantity cut in half we are getting immigrants of a quality twice as good as under the old law. That, of course, is for the best interests of the country. 

Those arriving were required to present a certificate of good character from their home government. Individuals were also required to present birth certificates and a certificate of health. A literacy test was required.

The legislation had its intended effect. By 1940, the number of legal immigrants entering the United States had dropped by over 90%. And yet, as Miller indicated, the U.S. population nearly doubled from 106 million in 1920 to 203 million people by 1970.

That’s because birthrates in America steadily climbed from a low of 2.06 children per woman in 1940 to 3.58 in 1960. Today, the fertility rate is hovering around 1.6 children per woman, well below the replacement rate.

The United States is not alone. With rapidly declining birthrates across the industrialized world, the only countries growing rely heavily on immigration to keep their nation afloat.

Demagoguery over well-meaning efforts to protect America’s borders and safely and wisely welcome individuals to America serves nobody but raw and radical interests that seem determined to undermine our nation’s ideals. It’s true the United States is a land of immigrants. But it’s thrived because it’s also historically been a nation of law and order.

Much like in the 1920s, America today faces an existential threat with a declining birth rate and an escalating national debt that compromises and threatens its ability to provide crucial social services to those who are here and unable, at least in the short-term, to support themselves. The country found its way through the crisis in the first half of the last century by reforming immigration laws, but also by marrying and having lots of kids. Expanding the blessings of family was the best way forward a hundred years ago – and it still remains the best way out of the mire right now.