Methodists, prosecutors scold Sessions over border policy

WASHINGTON — More than 600 members of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ church have denounced him over the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy that has led to children being separated from their parents at the border. Their letter, published Monday on Medium, said the policy results in families and children being greeted “with unexpected cruelty at the doorstep of the United States.” “Traumatizing children by separating them from their parents as a deterrent for adult conduct is, in our view, sufficient reason to halt your policy,” they wrote, adding that the legal work required to prosecute misdemeanor illegal entry cases takes away from more significant offenses like terror-related plots, corruption and human and drug trafficking. Rather, its implementation and its execution are taking place solely at your direction, and the unfolding tragedy falls squarely on your shoulders.” The hundreds of United Methodist Church pastors and parishioners said holding thousands of young children in mass incarceration facilities and directing staff members to take children from their parents violates the Methodists’ Book of Discipline. “My ideal outcome is that his pastors in church leadership who know him will speak with him,” he said, “and that in those conversations he will be challenged to think through the level of harm he is causing and have a change of heart — which is about as Methodist as you can get.” The United Methodist bishop whose area includes Sessions’ home church in Mobile, Alabama, issued a statement Monday condemning the practice of pulling apart families, but without mentioning Sessions.