RNS Morning Report - House passes rare bipartisan bill to protect Haitians from deportation

Haitian immigrants in the US As a kid, RNS national reporter Fiona André spent summers visiting family members in Spring Valley, a village of around 33,000 residents in Rockland County, New York that’s home to a thriving Haitian community. While most arrived in the 1980s, fleeing dictatorship, some moved recently, fleeing Haiti’s rampant gang violence. But in the past year, the Trump administration’s attempt to terminate Temporary Protected Status for Haitian immigrants raised concerns in this little community, which they often discuss on parish steps after the Sunday Creole Mass and at local Haitian bakeries. Granted in 2010, after a deadly earthquake struck the island, TPS has allowed nearly 350,000 Haitians to live and work in the U.S. André has spent the past year interviewing Haitian faith leaders in New York, Miami, Boston and Springfield, Ohio to understand how the loss of the status would affect their communities. She’s also covered multiple lawsuits challenging DHS’ decision. One of these suits is now with the Supreme Court as the House passed a bipartisan bill to protect Haitians’ TPS, highlighting Republicans’ divisions over the president’s immigration agenda. Read André’s story about how Haitian pastors from across the country traveled to Washington D.C. to gain congressional support for the bill. Top Stories House passes rare bipartisan bill to protect Haitians from deportation (RNS) — The bill is now heading to the Senate, and President Donald Trump announced he would veto it if it reached his desk. Pope Leo XIV arrives in Angola, where oil wealth and mass poverty collide NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — The pontiff’s visit to oil-rich Angola is expected to address inequality, youth unemployment and the church’s role in a country still shaped by war and Catholic colonialism. A rural college uses ancient Islamic archives to reconnect students to African legacy (RNS) — Seeing handwritten works on law, theology, astronomy and other subjects challenges the narrative that enslaved Africans arrived in the US with little education or scholarly traditions. Carnegie Hall to present concert celebrating Hindu devotional singing in the West NEW YORK (RNS) — The event will take place exactly 100 years after Paramahansa Yogananda's first appearance at Carnegie Hall. Opinion If the White House Faith Office sent a memo to the president (RNS) — It would look like this. The idolator-in-chief plays savior while the pope chooses prophecy (RNS) — One man seemed to imagine himself as Jesus. The other one simply tried to act like him.   ICYMI When Trump’s satire hits too close to home for American Christians, Antichrist claims emerge (RNS) — ‘Throughout both of Trump’s terms, he’s done so many things that I thought were going to be over the line, and it never happens,’ said Matthew Sutton, a scholar of religious history at Washington State University. ‘But this moment, it does feel like a turning point.’ Trump slammed the first US pope. The country’s bishops now appear more united than ever. (RNS) — Over nearly the last year, the bishops have gradually ramped up a forceful and united defense of the American pope’s critiques of Trump administration policies. Support Our Work As a nonprofit newsroom that covers all faiths, RNS sits uniquely at the intersection of freedom of the press and freedom of religion. News tips or feedback? Email comments@religionnews.com. Like the Morning Report? Share it with a friend. Forwarded this newsletter? Subscribe here. We rely on reader donations to power our reporting. Donate here. Or send a check to: Religion News Foundation PO Box 1808 Columbia, MO 65205

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