The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) welcomes yesterday’s Supreme Court’s decision affirming birthright citizenship. In Trump v. Barbara, the Court struck down President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to deny citizenship to children born in the United States to undocumented immigrants and temporary foreign residents. At the same time, the NAE expresses concern over the impact of two recent Court decisions that allow the government to prevent refugees from presenting asylum claims and to abruptly end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for individuals legally living and working in our communities.

“We celebrate the Supreme Court’s affirmation that grants American citizenship to children born in the United States,” said Walter Kim, president of the National Association of Evangelicals. “Our communities of faith and our nation have greatly benefited from receiving new generations of Americans with such generosity of spirit. Even as we welcome this decision, we remain troubled by policies that erode protections for refugees and other vulnerable families.”

With few exceptions such as children born to foreign diplomats, citizenship has been the right of those born in the United States since 1868, though this promise was not fully extended to Native Americans until Congress passed the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924. In practice, full citizenship rights were also denied to many African Americans until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1964, which has been narrowed by recent Court decisions. But unlike countries that restrict citizenship based on ethnicity or ancestry, the United States has prospered by welcoming children born to parents from around the world. Reaffirming birthright citizenship strengthens families, churches and communities across the nation.

Two other Supreme Court decisions allow, though they do not require, the government to abandon longstanding American traditions of humanitarian, human rights and religious freedom protections for those fleeing persecution and natural disasters. In Mullin v. Al Otro Lado, the Court recently ruled that government agents may prevent refugees, including many Christians, from even arriving at the U.S. border to request protection.

“The Statue of Liberty, in effect, has a statute of limitations,” said Kim about the Mullin v. Al Otro Lado ruling. “For generations, welcoming refugees has stood as a shining example to the world and as a reflection of our nation at its best. As evangelicals, we believe every person is made in the image of God, and we are called to treat those seeking refuge with dignity.”

In Mullin v. Doe, the Court ruled that the government may withdraw Temporary Protected Status (TPS) from refugees and others legally present in the United States, regardless of conditions in their home countries. This decision will immediately impact more than 330,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians who will lose legal status, work authorization, and protection from deportation to violent and unstable countries.

While the Court’s decisions permit these negative actions, they do not require them. The National Association of Evangelicals calls on President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to uphold our nation’s longstanding commitments to human rights and religious freedom by allowing asylum seekers to present their cases and extending TPS for those who need it. The NAE also continues to urge Congress to pass legislation creating pathways to naturalization for immigrants who are prepared to assume the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.