The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reiterates immigration policy centered on law, love
Jan 30, 2025, 5:39 PM

The Church Office Building of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is pictured during the 190th Annual General Conference on April 4, 2020, in Salt Lake City. The church addressed a data breach from March in a press release on Oct. 13. (Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)
(Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a statement Thursday reiterating that its approach to immigration issues is centered on love, law and family unity.
Church leaders shared those principles again with local church leaders in the United States as the nation grapples with securing its border and resetting its immigration and refugee policies.
“As disciples of Jesus Christ,” the church statement said, “the following principles guide the Church’s approach:”
- “1. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints obeys the law.
- “2. We follow Jesus Christ by loving our neighbors. The Savior taught that the meaning of “neighbor” includes all of God’s children.
- “3. We seek to provide basic food and clothing, as our capacity allows, to those in need, regardless of their immigration status. We are especially concerned about keeping families together.”
That guidance from church leaders closely mirrors statements they’ve made previously on immigration issues.
The church’s statement directed the leaders of local U.S. Latter-day Saint congregations to comply “with federal laws that criminalize harboring, transporting or encouraging undocumented immigrants to remain in the United States.”
The statement directed local leaders who need additional information to contact the church’s Office of General Counsel, which it said “tracks legal developments to ensure local outreach and area-initiated humanitarian activities are appropriate.”
The restatement of the church’s policies comes after President Donald Trump signed 10 executive orders on immigration during the first week of his second term, ABC News reported.
One halted all refugee entrances into the United States, including religious refugees and those who go through the U.S. refugee resettlement system that thoroughly vets each person, per the Deseret News.
The Trump administration also issued edicts regarding mass deportations and border security, including one that changed generations of U.S. policy: Law enforcement can now make immigration arrests within or near places of worship, per the Deseret News.
Deportations have always been a part of American border enforcement. The U.S. deported 2.9 million people during President Barack Obama’s first term, 1.9 million during Obama’s second term and 1.5 million during Trump’s first term, an analyst told CNN. The analyst calculated that the number of deportations undertaken during President Joe Biden’s term would finish at 1.49 million.
The Trump administration stopped taking appointments for migrants waiting in Mexico to request asylum through the CBP One mobile app, according to the Washington Post.
A Homeland Security spokesperson told Fox News Digital that President Trump had set daily arrest goals for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Fox News reported.
The church’s position on immigration and refugees has been consistent.
2010: The Utah Compact
In 2010, the church supported the Utah Compact, a set of five principals to guide immigration debate that included a call for a humane approach: “The way we treat immigrants will say more about us as a free society and less about our immigrant neighbors.”
2011: “The background moral issue”
In 2011, the church issued a statement about immigration. The church outlined its position with three basic principles:
- Jesus Christ’s commandment to “love thy neighbor.”
- The importance of keeping families intact.
- The federal government’s obligation to secure its borders.
“In furtherance of needed immigration reform in the United States, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints supports a balanced and civil approach to a challenging problem, fully consistent with its tradition of compassion, its reverence for family and its commitment to law,” the statement said.
The church stated that its policy discourages its members from entering any country without legal documentation and from deliberately overstaying legal travel visas. But church leaders also said the “bedrock moral issue for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is how we treat each other as children of God.”
2015: “Support for religious freedom for all
In 2015, after then-presidential candidate Donald Trump called for a ban on all Muslims entering the country, the church issued a statement that while it is neutral in party politics and election campaigns, it is “not neutral in relation to religious freedom.”
Church leaders attached Joseph Smith’s statement that he would stridently defending the religious rights of all believers and a Nauvoo, Illinois, city ordinance he helped pass that codified equal privileges for all churches.
2017: “Meet human needs and relieve suffering”
In 2017, after President Trump banned refugees from seven Muslim countries, church leaders issued another statement:
“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is concerned about the temporal and spiritual welfare of all of God’s children across the earth, with special concern for those who are fleeing physical violence, war and religious persecution. The Church urges all people and governments to cooperate fully in seeking the best solutions to meet human needs and relieve suffering.”