What would you say to someone who was kind of coming from that side?

Sure.

I mean, you're talking about so...

Many people in my community who had these questions when I first started this journey, it was just high skepticism.

Right.

And I just go back to if we truly are pro-life people and we care about the dignity and sanctity of every human life, we have to be consistent in order for people to actually believe us.

And so I remember when I first started speaking out about immigrants and refugees and I was speaking at this conference and an unbeliever came up to me afterwards and I was talking about how I felt like caring about immigrants and refugees was a pro-life issue because it's a life and death issue and because I care about the dignity and sanctity of every human life.

I know that's been part of your story and I'd love to just kind of hear more of your thoughts on that, like the ways in which we're seeing some of that practical care expressing itself in personal terms, even when maybe some of the kind of policy terms are getting complicated by political affiliations.

I had a, uh, Christian, a woman who teaches English as a second language, cares for people, and she says, "Nobody's showing up because they're scared, and I don't know what to do." And I, I think there are a number of people who kind of are very uneasily looking at this, but I don't think you'd have a lot of opposition to the fact that the border is being enforced.

We've definitely shifted from, okay, what's happening at the border to what's happening in my local community.

And so Women of Welcome has actually shifted some of our work from taking women down to the border and having them choose proximity to the complicated picture there to actually takingevents and experiences to their own backyard.

Women have been begging us to come and actually introduce them to other like-minded women, but to also introduce them to immigrants that they didn't recognize or [laughs] realize were in their own backyard.

And so we have since last fall been doing local proximity events where we're inviting women who care about immigrants and refugees, who have compassion, who've maybe been told that their empathy is toxic and manipulative, and that they have been manipulated, and we provide a safe place that says, "No, we're gonna hear what does theology say about this? What does your faith say about this? What does your experience say about this? And then let's introduce you to some people who've been resettled or migrated to your community, and then we're gonna practice some advocacy together." Most of the women who are in the Women of Welcome community have a lot of experience with international people.

They've been on missions trips since they were kids.

They have had foreign exchange students in their home.

I think there are a lot of Christians who are very uncomfortable with both the actions of the administration and the kind of messaging vision of the administration.