More than 600 members of the United Methodist Church signed on to a letter Monday condemning Attorney General Jeff Sessions
Jefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsTrump: Government will start withholding funds from sanctuary cities after court ruling The Hill's Campaign Report: Biden riding wave of momentum after stunning Super Tuesday Trump criticizes Sessions after Alabama Senate primary heads to a runoff MORE for the Trump administration's policy of separating migrant parents and children at the U.S. border.
In the letter, the group of churchgoers, including clergy and church leadership, accuse Sessions of child abuse, immorality, racial discrimination and dissemination of doctrines contrary to the standards of the doctrine of the United Methodist Church.
They note in the letter that Sessions is a member of Ashland Place United Methodist Church, in Mobile, Ala.
"While other individuals and areas of the federal government are implicated in each of these examples, Mr. Sessions — as a long-term United Methodist in a tremendously powerful, public position — is particularly accountable to us, his church," the letter reads. "He is ours, and we are his. As his denomination, we have an ethical obligation to speak boldly when one of our members is engaged in causing significant harm in matters contrary to the Discipline on the global stage."
The letter comes as President Trump
Donald John TrumpBiden racks up union endorsements ahead of crucial primaries CPAC attendee tests positive for coronavirus Biden campaign unveils biggest ad purchase of 2020 cycle MORE and his administration face backlash over its policy to separate migrant families.
Sessions announced the "zero tolerance" policy earlier this year, saying the Department of Justice would criminally prosecute all adults attempting to illegally cross the southern border into the U.S. As a result, families who crossed together would in some cases be separated, he said.
Trump has repeatedly blamed Democrats for the policy, and administration officials have asserted that only Congress can fix the issue by passing immigration reform.
Members of Congress have introduced legislation to end the practice of separating families, while simultaneously urging Trump to unilaterally stop the separations.
