Southern Baptist Ethics Commission Cuts Ties with Soros-Linked Immigration Group Amid Leadership Shakeup
Many see move as effort to regain credibility with grassroots Southern Baptists
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), the Southern Baptist Convention’s public policy arm, has officially ended its cooperation with the Evangelical Immigration Table (EIT), a move praised by conservative critics who long questioned the groups’ allegiances.
Acting ERLC President Miles Mullin announced the decision, saying the commission must adopt “a more independent posture on our immigration-related work.” The split ends a partnership that critics claimed tied Southern Baptists to a progressive immigration agenda reportedly backed by George Soros.
EIT was launched by the National Immigration Forum (NIF), which has received significant financial support from the Open Society Foundations—Soros’s main philanthropic vehicle. Sources claim such funding once covered nearly 38 percent of NIF’s budget.
ERLC leadership and trustees now say the move aligns with direction given by messengers during the SBC’s annual meeting in Dallas. At that gathering, delegates voted to require the ERLC to form a special task force to study immigration in accordance with biblical principles.
The timing of the announcement comes as the ERLC navigates a volatile period internally. Brent Leatherwood resigned as President on July 31, 2025, after nearly four years in the role. At a special meeting, trustees accepted his resignation and appointed Mullin—then Vice President and Chief of Staff—as acting President.
Leatherwood’s resignation followed strong criticism from within the Southern Baptist Convention. In the June 2025 SBC annual meeting, approximately 43 percent of messengers supported abolishing the ERLC. The margin of dissent revealed deep unease with the Commission’s direction and alliances.
As the ERLC moves forward, its trustees have voted to form a task force charged with studying “biblical immigration” and restructuring ERLC’s approach in that realm. At the same meeting, a new interim President was named: Gary Hollingsworth, a retired state convention leader, is set to assume the role on October 1, The Baptist Press has reported.
Among critics, Megan Basham of The Daily Wire celebrated the development, calling it “a major victory” and a day to “celebrate.” Her investigations, among others, helped draw attention to alleged ties between the ERLC and Soros-funded immigration advocacy, as ALPolitics.com has previously reported.
The Center for Baptist Leadership responded to the move by saying, “we have been working to expose this relationship between the ERLC and the Soros-funded Evangelical Immigration Table and call on the ERLC to sever those ties since we launched last year...There is more to be done, but this is a significant step in the right direction”
Some observers see the split as an effort by the ERLC’s new leadership to regain credibility with grassroots Southern Baptists. The Commission’s future, however, remains uncertain. Many remain skeptical about its relevance following years of internal conflict. Former ERLC President Richard Land, himself a longtime SBC figure, has called the upcoming search for a permanent President “critical” to restoring unity.
With the break from EIT, the ERLC aims to reposition its immigration work on its own terms. The trustees’ newly formed task force will help define how it does that, and the incoming interim President will steer operations during the transition. Meanwhile, the search for a permanent leader will test how much confidence Southern Baptists still have in this embattled agency.
