Report: NAMB Send Relief received funds from liberal interests to resettle migrants

News Analysis

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated from an earlier version.

The Center for Baptist Leadership (CBL) reported recently a review of public records showed that Send Relief, Inc. received nearly $70,000 from the Biden State Department as a subcontractor for migrant resettlement. Send Relief is the global compassion ministry of the Southern Baptist Convention North American Mission Board.

Information about the Southern Baptist entity receiving government funds to assist in resettling migrants was made public during a review of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) finances and contributions and government grants to 501(c)(3) charity organizations.

Several parachurch ministries – including Christianity Today – were found to be receiving substantial funding from the government or liberal interest groups such as George Soros.

Megan Basham, in the 2024 book Shepherds for Sale detailed how evangelical groups had been influenced to adopt leftist positions on issues like climate change and open-border immigration. It was also widely reported the World Relief global Christian humanitarian organization received hundreds of millions of dollars to support the Biden Administration’s push for mass migration into the U.S.

Until now, SBC organizations had only expressed casual support for questionable immigration programs. As part of the Soros-funded Evangelical Immigration Table, the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) regularly signed letters endorsing more globalist-leaning immigration policies, the CBL reported.

ERLC President Brent Leatherwood signed two letters on behalf of Southern Baptists urging President Trump to maintain a Biden Administration policy of ignoring criminal illegal aliens seeking refuge in churches and schools, asking Trump to restore taxpayer-funded financial support to the charities, according to the CBL.

ERLC’s federal human dignity legislative policy priorities for 2025 include (from the ERLC Website):

• Support Border Security Enhancements and Asylum Reforms: At the 2023 annual meeting, Southern Baptists called on lawmakers to “provide clear guidance for immigrants and asylum seekers,” “maintain robust avenues for valid asylum claimants seeking refuge,” and “prioritize measures that secure our borders and to provide adequate resources to border patrol and those working in our immigration system.”

• Preserve the Refugee Resettlement Program: The U.S. refugee resettlement program provides an essential lifeline to the most vulnerable, including many persecuted Christians around the world, and must be robustly maintained.

• Support a Permanent Solution for Dreamers: With litigation on its way to the Supreme Court that will likely end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, these young immigrants who were brought to the U.S. by their parents remain in an unstable situation without action from Congress.

The CBL article reported that funds awarded to Send Relief for operations in Boston were classified as a “cooperative agreement” with specific conditions and oversight requirements from the Biden Administration State Department.

Read the entire article by the Center for Baptist Leadership.