Immigration & Refugees
I was a stranger and you welcomed me. -Matthew 25: 35
Too often, fear and prejudice shape attitudes toward newcomers. Our country’s history includes a tradition of serving as a place of refugee and haven for the persecuted, but also exclusionary policies and racism that have harmed immigrants and refuges.
As people of faith, we are called an approach favoring hospitality, justice, and love of neighbor. The Lutheran church has a long tradition of welcoming refugees. After World War II, Lutherans resettled 57,000 refugees in the United States. Following the fall of Saigon in 1975, Lutheran congregations sponsored more than 50,000 refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. In the 1980s, congregations provided sanctuary for people fleeing violence in Central America.
Today, Lutherans continue this ministry through ELCA AMMPARO and Global Refuge. Hospitality for the uprooted is a way to live out the biblical call to love our neighbor in response to God’s love in Jesus Christ.
Congregations are called to welcome all people. As the ELCA Social Message on Immigration reminds us: “Immigration, refugee, and asylum policies express who we are as a nation, influence the nation’s future character, and affect the lives of millions of people.”
In Wisconsin
The Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin (LOPPW) advocates for policies that promote hospitality, justice, and dignity for immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. We partner with other organizations with similar beliefs, and our advocacy addresses the complexity of immigration issues and counters appeals rooted in hostility, racism, prejudice, and simplistic solutions.
