Hutchcraft Ministries’ Doug Hutchcraft says, “It’s a big deal because most people know someone [who] is affected by this.”

The Department of Homeland Security is now implementing body cameras following the fatal shooting of two U.S. citizens last month by federal agents. Tensions escalated quickly from local resistance to statewide protests and interference with law enforcement after the shootings.

Meanwhile, anti-ICE protests continue. Residents in south Minneapolis have set up a blockade to prevent agents from entering their neighborhood.

Graffiti on the window of a now-closed Pizza Shark pizza shop on Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis on January 19, 2026.
(Chad Davis, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

“There’s so much in the headlines that is making people anxious and angry,” Hutchcraft says.

“It seems like the loudest voices, when it comes to the immigration debate, are the most extreme ones.”

Focus on Jesus, not politics

Many Christians wonder how to enter the highly politicized conversation. Hutchcraft recommends the advice offered in Ecclesiastes 7:16 about avoiding extremes.

“You don’t have to fall for the lie that you’ve got to operate with one extreme or another,” he says.

“You can be Christ’s ambassador and believe that what the law says about things like immigration is important, while still feeling love and compassion towards someone who may not have gotten here legally from a different country.”

Instead of discussing political talking points, Hutchcraft encourages believers to look for Gospel opportunities.

“There are so many different ways – depending on what questions a person asks – to get into a conversation about Jesus from the immigration debate,” Hutchcraft says.

“Start with knowing God’s Word, and especially what His Word has to say about what’s going on in the news.”

Pray all the way

(Photo by Moe Magners/Pexels)

Ask the Lord to help you be His representative when discussing current events. For more insight, listen to Hutchcraft Ministries’ latest “Go MAD” podcast.

“When you’re a follower of Jesus, people are listening to what you have to say, what you think about these things,” Hutchcraft says.

Pray the “three open” prayer as you enter into dialogue. “Lord, open their heart, open a door, open my mouth,” Hutchcraft says.

“This is what we’re praying for: someone who we want to have a relationship with Jesus. Those doors (opportunities) are everywhere.”

Header image depicts Commander of Operations at Large Gregory Bovino and Acting Associate Director Marcos Charles of ICE-ERO give a press conference at Minneapolis, Minn., Jan 25, 2026. (CBP Photography, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Their stated goal is to protect illegal immigrants from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Sixteen activists will soon face federal charges for assaulting officers or interfering with operations, and Attorney General Pam Bondi says she expects more arrests.

(Fibonacci Blue, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

“We have great men and women in a tough spot [trying to] enforce laws put in place by our government for the protection of our people,” Steve Prince with Warriors Set Free says.

“Unfortunately, they have [people] working against them that make their job more difficult.”

As part of a major immigration enforcement effort called Operation Metro Surge, ICE agents were deployed to Minnesota’s Twin Cities weeks ago to enforce immigration law and arrest violators.

The deportation drive has met strong resistance from local leaders and communities, especially after controversial shootings during enforcement actions sparked widespread protests.

Prince says blowing whistles – the demonstrators’ favorite alert method – only serves to escalate tensions. “If we went to their workplace and just blew whistles constantly, that would probably be enough to drive them to make bad decisions,” he explains.

“So these people who are interfering believe they’re doing something right, but they’re really making a hard engagement even more stressful.”

Understanding ICE

ICE agents enforce immigration laws inside the U.S., carrying out arrests and deportations, investigating serious transnational and criminal activity, and coordinating with other agencies to uphold federal law.

Executing these duties often puts officers in high-risk situations. “When those agents are on the ground with a mission to do, they react to the conditions,” Prince says.

“If you could knock on someone’s door and they go, ‘Yeah, you’re right, I’m breaking the law; I’ll just get in the back of the car,’ then that officer doesn’t have the stress of having to go through a competition to see who gets their way.”

ICE agents in Minneapolis
(Chad Davis – https://chaddavis.photography/sets/ice-in-minneapolis/, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

This continual exposure to stress takes a toll over time. “To be in a career where physical violence is sometimes required to do your job – that leads to deeper levels of trauma,” Prince explains.

“If you make a mistake, or if you hesitate, [you’re] in life-and-death situations.”

Hope and healing

Warriors Set Free, a division of Set Free, helps first responders find healing in Christ for job-related stress and trauma. Learn more here.

“We do a freedom appointment. It’s a one-day spiritual house cleaning,” Prince says.

“We set the conditions for them to be open and vulnerable because we’re cut from the same cloth. Military, law enforcement, firefighters, and emergency workers have a mentality that’s different than a normal civilian’s,” he continues.

“If you’ve ever been in a gunfight, you can understand a story from someone else who’s been in a gunfight better than if you’ve only seen it in movies.”

How to pray

Pray for the people who put themselves in harm’s way to protect U.S. communities. “Let’s cover both the ICE agents, law enforcement, in prayer, but let’s also pray for those who are in open rebellion and those who are supporting this rebellion,” Prince says.

“If the Holy Spirit moves in the hearts of those doing wrong, then it would make the job for law enforcement that much better.”

Pray against a spirit of fear in immigrant communities. Many fear the authorities because of images from Minneapolis and certain media narratives. However, as Romans 13 explains, individuals have nothing to fear when they’ve done nothing wrong.

“God put people in place to punish the wrongdoer, and without that, we would have full chaos and full anarchy. There are other cultures that live under constant chaos because they don’t have authorities in place to punish the evildoer,” Prince says.

“We’re extremely blessed that we have young men and women who continue to put on uniforms to protect us from evil, both foreign and domestic.”

In the header image, protesters prepare to march at the Ice Out of MN march in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Lorie Shaull, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

That’s not to set aside the complexities and real concerns on how U.S. law is being carried out or resisted. Instead, it’s an invitation to look at what people experience in their hearts —things like fear, uncertainty, distrust, hatred, division, which God isn’t afraid to talk about in Scripture.

There are hard realities in the United States today. “We know, as a Latino community in the United States, that there are a lot of people who are not legally in the United States,” Ortiz says. “We cannot cover the sun with a finger, as we say in Spanish.”

Photo courtesy of Tucker Good via Unsplash

At the same time, many people in the Latino community are in the United States legally. Yet they are still at risk of the uncomfortable experience of being interrogated by law officers.

Even for those who have their documentation in order, “many people decide to be in very low profile in their work, where they study, where they live,” says Ortiz. 

This is having a very real effect on church congregations in the U.S.

As part of his ministry, Ortiz interacts with many pastors across different denominations. He says, “The Hispanic churches are dealing with many uncertainties, because many pastors have to be counselors and lawyers at the same time, and are trying to give hope to their flock.” He says they’re asking questions such as, “Is it safe to have a meeting in our church on Sunday? Is it not safe? How are we going to do that? Are we going to broadcast the church service online or gather in person?”

“Pray for endurance in the middle of this situation. Pray for the pastors who are dealing with that,” says Ortiz. “They need wisdom. They need support.”

“From my perspective, most of the pastors don’t want to call people to rebel [against] the government. I don’t think that’s the feeling. Most of them are saying, ‘Hey, let’s try to [find] the better way to approach this matter.’ It’s a kind of tricky situation at the moment.”

(More from Ortiz on a better way for Christians to respond in a previous report this week.)

Peace despite polarization

“You find in social media what you want to see,” Ortiz says. “The algorithm [gives] you the information that you are looking for.”

That’s why it’s crucial to pray for the peace of Christ in the United States today — for immigrants, law officers, and their communities. Pray against fear, anger, and hatred. Pray that people will find peace with God, which will lead to peace with others.

(Photo courtesy of TWR/RTM 360)

“I know we can [pray for] no more killings,  no more difficult situations. Of course, you can pray for that, but that will not solve the problem. The problem is inside the people,” says Ortiz.

RTM USA, TWR’s Spanish-language ministry, recently created the podcast Esperanza en el Camino (Hope Along the Way) to offer biblical, practical hope for immigrants.

“The idea of ‘Hope Along the Way’ is that the people [who listen] understand that more than anything, what they need is Jesus,” says Ortiz. “We tell you, ‘What you need is the gospel more than anything. With God, you can face anything, you can endure anything.’”

Header photo is a stock image courtesy of Gift Habeshaw via Unsplash.