Statement from the Board of Bishops of the A.M.E. Zion Church Regarding the Supreme Court's Ruling in Mullin v. Doe

“You shall not oppress a resident alien; you know the heart of an alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.”– Exodus 23:9 (NRSVUE)

The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church — born from the struggle of a people who knew what it meant to be stripped of legal standing, dignity, and the protection of the law — cannot be silent in the face of the Supreme Court's June 25, 2026, ruling in Mullin v. Doe.

In a 6-3 decision, the Court's majority cleared the way for the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for more than 350,000 Haitians and over 6,000 Syrians living, working, and worshipping in our communities. The ruling further held that federal courts have no power to review these determinations, effectively removing the last judicial check on executive decisions that lower courts themselves found to be procedurally defective and potentially rooted in racial animus.

We declare this ruling to be morally wrong.

TPS is not a government loophole. It is a bipartisan humanitarian protection established by Congress in 1990 to ensure that people cannot be forcibly returned to countries devastated by war, natural disaster, or extraordinary crisis. Haiti remains under a State of Emergency. The State Department currently lists both Haiti and Syria on its "Do Not Travel" list. People are being sent back to places their own government tells Americans to avoid.

Haitians and Syrians are mothers and fathers, nurses and teachers, trustees and choir members.  Nearly 190,000 Haitian TPS holders were employed in early 2025. Now, their American-born children face fracture families and ongoing fear.

The AME Zion Church has stood since its founding in 1796 as a prophetic voice against every system that treats human beings as expendable. Our forebears did not build freedom churches to stay silent when the powerful use law as a weapon against the vulnerable.

We believe:

• Every human being bears the image of God (imago Dei), and no court ruling, executive order, or political convenience can strip a person of their God-given dignity.
• The stranger among us is not a threat to be managed, but a neighbor to be loved. Scripture is unambiguous: "You shall love the stranger as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt" (Leviticus 19:34).
• Racial animus has no place in law or governance. Justice Elena Kagan, writing in dissent, stated that the evidence of discriminatory intent is "there, plain to see." The A.M.E. Zion Church, whose entire existence is a protest against racialized exclusion, agrees. We name what the majority refused to: this ruling protects a policy infected by anti-Black hatred.
• Judicial review exists to protect the powerless from the powerful. A government that cannot be questioned by courts when it strips legal status from hundreds of thousands of people is a government without sufficient accountability. This is not the democracy our faith compels us to defend.

In the spirit of our founder Bishop James Varick, and in keeping with the prophetic witness of the AME Zion Church as "The Freedom Church," we call upon:

• The United States Congress to immediately act on TPS legislation that restores statutory protections and removes them from the unchecked discretion of any single administration.
• Our Bishops, Pastors, and Congregations to open their doors, their advocacy, and their legal referral networks to TPS holders in their communities. Do not wait. As immigration attorneys are urging: "Do not wait until you are being arrested by ICE to think about this."
• Our Interfaith Partners stand with us in this moment. This is not a partisan issue. This is a human issue. This is a gospel issue.

The Freedom Church cannot be silent when history repeats itself.  The A.M.E. Zion Church will continue to speak, organize, and advocate until every child of God, Haitian, Syrian, and all who seek refuge, is treated with the dignity Scripture demands and the justice our tradition embodies.