Kurt Kaufman, a ministerial associate, clasped the hands of his neighbors before leading a prayer circle on Wednesday afternoon at the First Baptist Church of Denver in Capitol Hill. On the dry-erase board behind him, a list of current prayers included calling upon divine guidance for the country’s “immigration situation.”
That topic has prompted a lot of reflection lately: “I cannot imagine how people reconcile mass deportation and all of that with Jesus’ teachings,” Kaufman said during an interview last week. “I don’t understand how the mental gymnastics work there, quite frankly.”
His church protected a Mexican woman under a removal order during the first term of President Donald Trump, who returned to office Monday. If mass deportations happen during his second term, Kaufman is ready to again open the church’s doors to those in need.
“We will be ready if we need to stand as a sanctuary for anyone, as always,” he said.
Several religious leaders in Denver, including Christian pastors and Jewish rabbis, say they are troubled by some of Trump’s immigration policies, including plans for mass deportations that he’s promised to carry out. They worry about the impact on their congregations, which often include recent migrants, and moral clashes with their values of compassion and mercy.
In spite of those concerns, some houses of worship are mulling over whether they will protect immigrants with removal orders because of the shifting legal landscape and practical hurdles, like available space.
Prioritizing an immigration crackdown during his first days in office, Trump has already declared a national emergency on the U.S.-Mexico border, designated drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and issued broad limitations on birthright citizenship, which long has been extended to children born in the U.S. regardless of their parents’ legal status.
And a change that affected churches directly came early in the week: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced the reversal of a policy from 2011 that largely had limited U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers from making arrests at “sensitive locations,” such as religious institutions, schools and hospitals.
“This action empowers the brave men and women in CBP (Customs and Border Protection) and ICE to enforce our immigration laws and catch criminal aliens — including (murderers) and rapists — who have illegally come into our country,” an agency spokesperson said in a statement. “Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest.”
The Pew Research Center reported last year that, according to multiple data sources, 47% of international migrants, or people living away from their birth countries, identified as Christians as of 2020. Muslims made up the second largest group, at 29%. Denver-area mosques didn’t respond to requests for comment last week.
In Colorado, expatriates from South American countries like Venezuela and Colombia, both of whose citizens are predominantly Catholic, have received particular attention from community members, elected officials and the media. More than 40,000 migrants — many of them seeking asylum — traveled from the southern U.S. border to the state over the last two years.
Because of that influx, the Denver area is among major American cities that Trump has said he’ll target for ICE raids. By late in the week, no large-scale operations had occurred locally.
In the religious community, Trump’s deportation plans have been broadly rebuked — including by the Catholic Church’s highest human authority, Pope Francis, who referred to them as “a disgrace,” according to the Associated Press. “This is not the way to solve things,” Francis said on a talk show in Italy.
But the Colorado Catholic Conference’s response was not as critical.
“The Colorado Catholic Conference of Bishops approaches the issue of immigration with prayerful hearts,” executive director Brittany Vessely told The Denver Post in recent days. “The call to welcome the stranger is woven into the fabric of our faith, yet we also recognize the responsibility to ensure the safety and well-being of our communities.”
Strong views at church that provided sanctuary
The verdict among parishioners gathered at the First Baptist Church of Denver, 1373 Grant St., was firmly against Trump’s emerging immigration policies and promises.
“It’s so wrong; it’s so contrary specifically to the teachings of Christ,” said Madeleine Dodge, who sat among the group of six in the prayer circle. She considered her two sons, who are married to women from Japan and France.
They’re leaving the U.S. to move abroad, and “I wouldn’t want them treated that way,” Dodge said.
And in Roz Heise’s opinion, these policies overwhelmingly target Black and Brown immigrants. Under the new administration’s approach, “we’re not terribly worried about the folks coming from Canada or Europe,” said Heise, who is a regular at the Wednesday centering prayer.
Kaufman’s church is not only a house of worship — it’s also a community center that houses Elevation Law, an immigration law office, and the Spring Institute for Intercultural Learning, an education nonprofit that teaches English as a second language.
In 2017, the church allowed Jeanette Vizguerra, a Mexican mother of four, to hide in its building following the denial of her stay of deportation, which temporarily halted her removal from the country. That year, amid media coverage of her story, she was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people.
ICE later permitted Vizguerra a stay of deportation until 2019. When it expired, she sought sanctuary again at the First Unitarian Society of Denver church, eventually leaving in 2021.
In Colorado, places of worship extended sanctuary to several immigrants over the last decade.
And although Denver city officials have already fielded threats from Trump associates if they “harbor” migrants — and the Justice Department says it will investigate uncooperative local officials — Mayor Mike Johnston plans to potentially sue to protect “sensitive locations” like churches.
He also told The Post last week that he wanted to build a network to take care of children left abandoned if their guardians were detained — and that step could involve the help of local religious institutions.
Kaufman’s congregation of about 70 active members includes a couple from Myanmar seeking asylum in the U.S. While the group hasn’t decided what they’ll do in reaction to federal immigration actions, Kaufman is confident that they’ll offer support however it’s needed, particularly if children are temporarily separated from their parents during ICE raids.
“We have folks in our congregation that I’m certain would be more than willing to to be a foster home,” he said.
Caring for strangers, widows and orphans
In the Jewish faith, rabbis who follow the Torah say it teaches the opposite of anti-immigrant rhetoric.
At Temple Micah, 1980 Dahlia St. in Denver, Rabbi Adam Morris serves around 170 households. His congregation doesn’t include any new migrants, but Morris’ group feels an obligation to support them, whether they have legal status or not.
In Judaism, it comes down to caring for strangers, widows and orphans — both literally and symbolically.
“We are commanded to give these parts of our populations our support, our compassion,” Morris said in an interview. “There are surely plenty of those people in our society right now — and, unfortunately, they also seem to be the same people who are being targeted by the new administration.”
During Trump’s first term, Temple Micah partnered with Park Hill United Methodist Church to house a Salvadoran woman seeking sanctuary.
Morris says the present situation is more complex because the temple rents its space from Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church, so the decision to offer sanctuary isn’t theirs alone.
“I know that we will be moved to do something,” he said. “I don’t know what that is yet.”
Rabbi Joseph Black, the senior rabbi at the Temple Emanuel in Denver, says recent immigrants are among his flock. The Reform Jewish synagogue at 51 Grape St. is the largest in the state, with a congregation of about 2,200 households.
He pointed to the Hebrew Bible, where the following sentiment is mentioned almost verbatim at least 36 times: “You shall not oppress the stranger, for you know the heart of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt.”
Black’s own mother was a refugee from the Holocaust who started a new life in the U.S.
But his congregation hasn’t taken any public political positions, and it doesn’t have an official policy to protect those seeking sanctuary from legal action. When asked if the temple would help arrange foster care for migrant children in need, Black said: “If someone came to us with that request, we would very seriously consider it.”
Temple Emanuel has made efforts to warmly receive refugees and immigrants into the local community. It has collected clothing and carried out programs to support migrants fleeing persecution.
“Obviously, we don’t want to break the law,” Black said in an interview. “But I do think that it is important that we are a place of compassion and welcome and love. We hope to continue to be that to all.”
“Migrants are members of the Body of Christ”
Local branches of Christian denominations, including Episcopalians and Methodists, are also trying to decide on tangible ways to support the immigrant community.
Canon Mike Orr at the Episcopal Church in Colorado said his diocese is “working to provide practical pathways to protect the most vulnerable among us.”
A Tuesday letter from the heads of the national Episcopal Church urged its following to support protections for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients, called “Dreamers” — immigrants without permanent legal status who arrived in the U.S. as children — and programs like Temporary Protected Status and the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. TPS temporarily permits migrants from certain unstable nations to reside and work here, while the other program, now suspended under Trump, resettles refugees throughout the country.
The leaders also encouraged fellow Episcopalians to oppose mass deportations.
“Across our church, migrants are members of the Body of Christ and part of our congregations and communities,” the letter reads. “To our siblings who are at risk of deportation or of being separated from those you love, know that your story is our story, and your dignity is inseparable from our own.”
However, the Episcopal Church in Colorado declined to comment on whether it would provide sanctuary if mass deportations happen — and how it would react if family separations occurred during ICE raids.
Leadership at Trinity United Methodist Church, 1820 Broadway, wants to help the migrants who walk through Trinity’s doors for lunch, which is offered four days a week, and for Sunday service. That day, up to 250 congregants usually come to worship.
The church is considering forming partnerships with immigration law groups to educate religious communities and serve as a resource to migrants.
“While we will observe the law, we are also compelled by the grace and mercy of God to live out our faith in service to our community,” said Sheila Alishouse, the Trinity Council chairwoman.
The church is not only bound by the gospel, but also by its statement of inclusion, which instructs members to “welcome people of every race, ethnicity, and country of origin.”
Senior pastor Ken Brown says his church lacks adequate accommodations to offer sanctuary to migrants. But he considers possible family separations during deportations “inhumane,” and he encourages congregants who feel similarly to advocate for this marginalized population.
In an email, Brown wrote: “Trinity has lived this position in downtown Denver for 165 years and we have no plans to retreat from being a good neighbor.”
The lead pastor at an interdenominational church wonders how Trump’s proposed ICE raids could hurt his congregation of about 800, which includes recent migrants.
“For some, I suspect they would be deeply disruptive — and, perhaps, devastating,” said Denver United Church’s pastor Rob Brendle in an interview.
In his pews at the church at 660 S. Broadway, Democrats, Republicans and independents sit together. But rising above partisan political matters, “Denver United realizes that our foremost allegiance is to Jesus Christ,” Brendle said, “and thus our primary responsibility is to love and serve all of the people in this city in his name.”
So his church is committed to doing what it can physically and lawfully “to care for the helpless and marginalized.” For Brendle, that means working with other organizations that specialize in providing aid.
“We stand with individuals and communities in Denver of all compositions and expressions, recognizing (that) many who immigrated did so with the same ideals driving them that drive us,” Brendle said, listing them: “Life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, well-being, safety for their children.”
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