Dear Carol,

Your question is a good one--particularly in the first two months of Trump 2.0.  With regard to immigration issues, I always try to remind us Americans that, apart from the American Indians, every one of us comes from a family that got off a boat sometime somewhere.  We should be humble and thankful that we've been able to pursue our dreams here.  I think many Americans, even Americans of color, have forgotten where they came from.  Many seem to resent others who, like them, have come here seeking a better life for their families.

Curiously, Donald Trump himself has had two immigrant wives.  And yet, when he first ran for president back in 2015, he chose immigration as a major issue to run on, spewing lie after lie about Mexicans and Muslims.  His xenophobia and ugly spirit are the cause of much of the change in attitudes over the past decade.  Trump is the architect of all the hate that has engulfed our country in recent years.  This is so much the case that we see ads on television these days with an anti-hate message.

The fact that many in this anti-immigrant crowd call themselves Christians is an affront to serious-minded Christians.  Indeed, these conservative evangelicals, many of whom are part of the Trump cult, have rendered Christianity virtually unrecognizable.

In Trump 2.0, immigrants have become the scapegoat.  Whenever there is a problem of whatever kind, blame it on the immigrants.  Blame it on "the least of these," the little ones, the ones for whom God has always had a preferential option.

With a humble spirit, we Americans should remember our history and we should remember the promptings of "we the people" in the preamble to our Constitution.  Again, we all came here from somewhere.  To turn the page on the plutocrats, who feel uneasy in the "browning" of America, we'll have to hope for a strong showing in the 2026 midterms and run the Trumpies out of town for good in 2028.

~ Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Frantz