Traverse City Pastors Urge Congress for Immigration Reform, Respectful Pathways

Rev. Julie Delezenne, senior pastor at the Presbyterian Church of Traverse City, and Rev. Linda Stephan, lead pastor at Central United Methodist Church in Traverse City, traveled to Washington, D.C., in late February 2025 to press members and staff of Congress for changes in how the United States handles immigration. The two pastors said their meetings aimed to bring northern Michigan voices to lawmakers and to highlight the local consequences of federal immigration policy.

The pastors were part of a larger faith movement that marched on Washington last week and lobbied members of Congress, and a larger delegation of Michigan ministers also visited the offices of U.S. Sen. Gary Peters and U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin during the same trip. Delezenne and Stephan said the national march and the statewide delegation sought to push for reforms that faith leaders believe would affect their congregations and neighbors.

Delezenne and Stephan met with staff in U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman’s office, and it was just the two of them meeting with staff in U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman’s office. Jack Bergman is the Watersmeet Republican who represents most of northern lower Michigan and all of the Upper Peninsula. The pastors did not release detailed legislative language after the meetings; they reported the D.C. visits focused on personal stories and community needs rather than specific bill texts.

The trip organizers framed the message around northern Michigan’s diverse population: "People from all over the world live here in northern Michigan." Local communities cited by the pastors include Afghan refugees, including some who aided the United States military, Ukrainian refugees who "came in two waves — first, seeking religious freedom in the 1990s and again to flee the war that started four years ago," and migrant laborers who work area farms and "whose families have done so for generations." Pastors said those groups shaped their pitch to lawmakers as they urged pathways and humane treatment under U.S. immigration policy.

While the pastors pressed for changes in how the U.S. handles immigration during the late February 2025 trip, detailed responses from the offices of Rep. Bergman, Sen. Peters, and Sen. Slotkin were not provided by the meeting participants. Photo of the pastors is credited to Julie Delezenne; production credits for the coverage include Producer Austin Rowlader, Editing by Steve Junker, and Music by Blue Dot Sessions.