On Ice

It was a big weekend for President Trump’s immigration agenda.  

Friday morning, the Senate passed a $70B budget reconciliation package that funds the Department of Homeland Security through 2029, ending a monthslong battle that caused a 76-day partial shutdown of the agency. 

After a marathon of voting down unrelated add-ons, the bill passed 52-47 without any Democrat yays or any language banning Trump’s $1.8B “anti-weaponization” fund to compensate alleged victims of government mistreatment. The bill heads to the House for a vote this week.

Meanwhile Friday, a federal judge overturned Trump policies that froze immigration processing for applicants from 39 countries. The judge said the policies, which Citizenship and Immigration Services adopted after the shooting of two National Guard members, left law-abiding applicants from dozens of non-Western nations in “indeterminate legal limbo.”

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CHRISTIAN RESPONSE
Governments have different priorities than God’s kingdom. As America wrestles with who’s allowed where, celebrate the radical inclusivity of the gospel while seeking the good of your neighbors and your temporary home. 

“This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles I deported from Jerusalem to Babylon: ‘Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat their produce… Pursue the well-being of the city I have deported you to. Pray to the Lord on its behalf, for when it thrives, you will thrive.’” 
Jeremiah 29:4-7 (CSB) (read full passage)