This commentary was written by Brad Johnson of South Dakota Searchlight, an online news organization.

The Bible says pain and agony engulfed Jesus Christ in the final hours before his death, while fear of the future gripped his followers.

Fear once again is prevalent in churches as Christians gathered for Easter. This time it is because “roughly one in 12 Christians in the United States are vulnerable to deportation or live with a family member who could be deported.”

That’s according to a new report, “One Part of the Body: The Potential Impact of Deportations on American Christian Families,” published by a coalition of Christian organizations.

“Many American Christians, we suspect, have not realized that among immigrants at risk of deportation, the vast majority — four out of five — are fellow Christians,” the report’s introductory letter said.

The report’s purpose “is to invite American Christians — within our congregations and within the halls of governmental power — to recognize that, if even a fraction of those vulnerable to deportation are actually deported, the ramifications are profound — for those individuals, of course, but also for their U.S.-citizen family members and, because when one part of the body suffers, every part suffers with it, for all Christians.”

Four South Dakotans with government power who could make a difference are U.S. Senators John Thune and Mike Rounds, U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

Government action, or inaction as the case may be, is the source of great distress in churches today.

“There is just a strong emphasis on fear,” among parishioners, said The Very Rev. Kristopher Cowles, vicar for Hispanic ministry in the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls. He also serves Our Lady of Guadalupe church in Sioux Falls.

“They don’t know from day to day what is going to happen.”

Cowles is featured prominently in the report, which said that “80 percent of all of those at risk of deportation are Christians. Sixty-one percent of those at risk of deportation are Catholic, 13 percent are evangelical and 7 percent are adherents to other Christian traditions.”

The report notes that President Donald Trump said during his campaign there were as many as 20 million deportable immigrants present in the U.S. How many will be targeted for deportation is unknown.

Noem, who said in a 2021 Newsmax interview that “our faith is everything — we love the Lord,” has been the tip of the spear in deporting immigrants.

The report quoted Cowles saying government policies often cause the problem. “So many of our laws make it nearly impossible to have a course forward even if they want to do so legally,” he said of immigrants.

He wished there was more empathy among elected leaders.

“I wish lawmakers would understand the sacrifices that so many people have gone through, and what so many of them are running from,” he said in the report. “Some are just looking for a better life and some are looking to just survive.”

Most people, the report said, want violent criminals and those with final orders of deportation to be the priority for immigration enforcement. But they don’t want blanket deportation.

Reforming the immigration system must be a priority. Congress, which largely created this humanitarian problem, has the power to solve it.

Thune, Rounds and Johnson all say religion is central to their lives.

Thune has said his faith in Christ is “the foundation for pretty much everything I do.”

Rounds, in an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network, reflected on faith and his job. “I think part of it goes back to asking for wisdom and asking for the ability and the help to do what’s right, to make the right decisions. A lot of decisions are not black and white. It’s a matter of making the right decision long term. That saves lives. I think that’s something that all of us as Christians should be doing.”

Johnson has said “faith, family and freedom are pillars of our nation.”

Given their faith, and their powerful political positions and ability to influence this issue, they should not sit on the sidelines. It shouldn’t be that hard to sway Congress when 87% of voting members say they are Christians.

Cowles reminded everyone that Jesus was an immigrant. “He made his way from Galilee and Judea into Egypt to flee the persecution of Herod.”

He pointed to the Catholic Church’s position on immigration. It says people have a right to migrate to sustain their lives and the lives of their families. It acknowledges that a country has a right to regulate its borders but that it should regulate them with “justice and mercy.”

“That is the issue we are running into right now,” he said.

Cowles added that Jesus “would stand with the immigrants because he understands the persecution of people.”

As Christians gather in churches this week and gaze at the image of Christ nailed to the cross, the authors of the “One Part of the Body” report have one wish.

“We hope that you will prayerfully ask the Lord what part you should play at a time when so many of your brothers and sisters are fearful of the impacts of deportation.”