Evangelicals in Chicago Pray for Asylum Seekers
Organizers of an evangelical rally in downtown Chicago say they fear asylum seekers may no longer get a fair hearing in court.
On Monday, October 26, 2026, organizers of an evangelical rally in downtown Chicago said they fear asylum seekers no longer receive a fair hearing in court, Religion News Service reported. The gathering joined prayer with a very earthly concern: due process.
What they asked for and what the law says
The prayer they described points to something simple: that a person seeking asylum gets their day before a judge. It is a concrete request, not a slogan. That the process works for the person who is inside it.
It helps to know what we are talking about. Asylum is protection for people who fear persecution because of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
«Praying for due process is not taking sides; it is asking that the law take the person seriously.»
As a general rule, the application is filed within one year of arriving in the country, with exceptions that the same agency spells out. An immigration judge decides each case individually.
Behind those words are whole life stories. People who learned a new language, who work, who send money home, who raise kids between two cultures. Reducing a person to their immigration status is forgetting that they bear the image of God.
Two readings of the same courtroom
The organizers' fear is one reading of what happens in the courts. There is another: the process as immigration authorities describe it, with a judge who listens, evidence that is presented and a way to appeal the decision. Neither is settled by a shout on social media.
As Christians, our first duty is not to pick a side but to ask about the truth. Did the person have an interpreter? Did they understand what they were accused of? Did they have someone to guide them? Those questions are not left or right; they are about justice.
There is also room for common sense. Repeating rumors about raids or judges without verifying them hurts the most vulnerable first. And using the pulpit to campaign for a party leaves prayer with no substance.
Two citizenships, one Lord
Here we live between two lands. We love our homeland, our culture and our roots, and at the same time we know our final name is not signed by a passport. "Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed" (Jeremiah 22:3, ESV). That command does not expire when the topic becomes uncomfortable.
Micah puts it bluntly: "to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8, ESV). Notice that humility comes last, and not by accident. Without it, defending justice turns into a soapbox.
Praying for due process is not taking sides; it is asking that the law take the person seriously. That includes the one who thinks differently from you, the one who governs and the one who judges.
If you have a specific case, find an immigration attorney or an accredited representative; this column does not give legal advice. This week you can do something small: pray for someone going through the process, by name if you know it, and ask at your church whether there is a ministry that accompanies these cases. Our hope is not in a court or a government; it is in Christ, who one day will bring full justice.
