In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus begins life as a migrant child: Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus flee to Egypt after Joseph is warned in a dream about a brutal policy soon to be implemented by the political regime in power. They find safety there until God eventually calls them back to Nazareth after circumstances have changed.
The central question is therefore not simply whether Jesus would support deportation, but how Christian faith should evaluate borders, national sovereignty, legal enforcement, compassion, family unity, and the causes that force people to flee. Scripture contains passages about government authority and the rule of law, but it also repeatedly commands people not to mistreat or oppress foreigners and to love their neighbors.
Jesus and the experience of displacement
This story always makes me wonder: what if Mary, Joseph, and Jesus had been stopped at the border? What if they were kept in a detention center? What if baby Jesus was deported from Egypt back into a very dangerous and unstable situation?
In Matthew’s Gospel, the birth of Jesus is quickly followed by migration under perilous circumstances. Joseph is warned in a dream about a brutal policy soon to be implemented by the political regime in power. Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus flee to Egypt where they find safety until God eventually calls them back to dwell in Nazareth after circumstances have changed.
Would a large number of self-identifying Christians in the U.S. today deport the Holy Family itself if they crossed our border? Probably. These are scary times.
Two Christian approaches to immigration
With the national conversation focused on immigration, Americans are being forced to choose between compassion and security. But this is a false dichotomy. As Christians, we must reject the misleading framework that pits Christian love against national identity.
Biblically speaking, this is not an either-or scenario. What if Scripture affirms both national sovereignty and moral responsibility?
Darrell Bock argues that the current politics of immigration lacks balance. From a Christian standpoint, he said, it’s a matter of balancing two strands of biblical teaching.
On the one hand, he believes Scripture clearly teaches that “a nation has a right to defend her people and be concerned about the direction of her culture.” He has in mind biblical passages that teach respect for the rule of law and are often cited by Christians who favor deporting the undocumented.
Yet the Bible also “highlight[s] treating the foreigner with compassion,” he said. Immigration policy must respect that strand of biblical teaching, too.
National sovereignty, borders, and the rule of law
When President Trump enforced immigration laws, critics labeled his actions “unchristian.” But in reality, Trump was fulfilling the role God ordained for civil leaders.
The Bible affirms the existence of nations, borders, and the rule of law. Genesis 18 tells us that God intended for Abraham’s descendants to become a great nation. Deuteronomy 32:8 states that God “apportioned the nations” and “fixed the boundaries of the peoples.”
Even the story of Babel in Genesis 11 demonstrates that God divided humanity into nations, preventing unchecked global unity under a singular power. Nations - and by extension, borders - are part of God’s divine order.
The Old Testament repeatedly refers to Israel as a nation with its own laws, culture, and religious identity. God Himself established legal and moral guidelines for the Israelites to govern their land. Immigration was regulated. Foreigners who entered Israel were expected to respect its laws and assimilate.
Exodus 12:49 declares, “There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.” In other words, those who sought refuge in Israel were welcomed - but under the same legal framework as everyone else.
This principle aligns with Trump’s immigration policies. Enforcing borders is not about cruelty; it is about maintaining order and protecting citizens. Open-border policies ignore God’s created order and invite chaos.
The Bible warns of this in Nehemiah, where the city of Jerusalem was vulnerable without walls. A nation without secure borders is like a house without walls - it cannot stand.
Government authority and Christian responsibility
Some Christians argue that Jesus would welcome all immigrants without restriction. But would He? Christ’s ministry was one of personal transformation, not political activism. He called individuals to repentance and faith, not to dismantle societal structures.
When Jesus said, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” (Mark 12:17), He affirmed the legitimacy of governmental authority - including laws governing national security.
Compassion and security are not mutually exclusive. America should be a beacon of hope for legal immigrants while enforcing laws to prevent illegal immigration. Just as Israel protected its borders while allowing lawful sojourners, America must uphold its laws while treating people with dignity. This is not only practical but biblical.
At its core, immigration policy should reflect both justice and mercy. A government that refuses to enforce its immigration laws is not merciful; it is negligent.
The Apostle Paul teaches in Romans 13:4 that rulers are “God’s servant for your good.” The government exists to punish wrongdoers and protect the innocent. This means securing the border, preventing human trafficking, and stopping the exploitation of laborers who enter illegally.
Turning a blind eye to illegal immigration does not reflect Christian charity - it encourages lawlessness and suffering. Furthermore, unchecked immigration can burden a nation’s resources and undermine the social fabric.
Proverbs 22:28 warns against removing ancient boundary markers, emphasizing the importance of maintaining national and cultural identity. Responsible immigration policy ensures that those entering the country do so legally, with respect for the rule of law and the values that sustain the nation.
Why law enforcement cannot be separated from mercy
ICE crackdowns that lead to fathers or mothers being deported and breaking up families - that’s not a Christian approach. Yes, there has been a law violation, but why need it lead to deportation?
Instead, Bock suggests imposing a fine or putting undocumented immigrants at the back of the queue to gain legal status. In this way, he said, “the law is honored but families are not broken up.”
While many progressives will find Bock’s proposal too punitive, it does represent an effort to move past nativist law-and-order thinking.
“Jesus’ call for loving the neighbor applies to all, not some,” Bock said. “So does respect for the integrity of families.”
A just nation welcomes those who respect its laws but enforces consequences for those who break them. That is not cruelty - that is righteousness in action.
The biblical command to welcome foreigners
Beyond partisan politics, this cuts against the grain of basic biblical teachings about not mistreating or oppressing foreigners (e.g. Exodus 22:21) and loving one’s neighbors (e.g. Matthew 22:36-40).
Roberts strongly supports separation of church and state. Nor is he interested in discussing political personalities or parties. “I am not pro-Trump or anti-Trump,” Roberts said. “Trump is my president. Sometimes I agree with him and sometimes I disagree.”
Yet he doesn’t hesitate to challenge, on biblical and theological grounds, the punitive anti-immigration policies coming out of Austin and Washington, D.C.
Earlier this year Roberts joined other national evangelical leaders in publicly opposing Trump’s Muslim ban. Asked his reasons for signing on, he responded with a long list: “The Good Samaritan, the Great Commission, the Golden Rule, the Great Commandment, Matthew 25, the life and model of Jesus, the life and model of the church throughout history - shall we say the Bible!”
If the biblical message is really that clear, why have so many evangelicals turned to suspicion and xenophobia? Roberts blames what he has called “religious nationalism,” a desire to “take back America” from Muslims and others outside the fold.
He believes this movement is rooted firmly in “the fear that the world is changing and we have to keep things as they were in order to survive.” He contends that this fear betrays a lack of confidence in Christianity’s ability to stand toe-to-toe with other religions.
“Ultimately,” Roberts said, “people move into the future not by fear but by a new vision of what can be.”
Evangelical disagreements about immigration
As Texas Republicans and President Donald Trump enact the most sweeping anti-immigrant measures in decades, they’ve been met with fierce criticism from most major religious groups. Not white evangelicals, though.
After playing a key role in Trump’s victory, evangelicals are the only religious group to back the president’s Muslim ban by a large majority. Dallas megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress likely spoke for many when he called for the United States to “say no to immigration and refugees until government starts performing its God-given responsibility of securing the borders.”
Yet some evangelicals in Texas are deeply troubled by the increasing hostility toward immigrants. I spoke with two of them: Darrell Bock, a professor at conservative Dallas Theological Seminary, and Reverend Bob Roberts, a pastor at NorthWood Church in Keller, a solidly Republican Fort Worth suburb.
They’re part of what a recent New Yorker article called a “new moral minority” - a small but growing group of evangelical leaders who, like the Southern Baptist Convention’s Russell Moore, are committed to both biblical orthodoxy and constructive engagement with a changing culture.
Roberts and Bock are not liberals, theologically or politically. But they are challenging the nativist, anti-immigrant mindset that pervades the white evangelical community.
Roberts’ outreach efforts seem to be working in Keller: NorthWood Church claims around 3,000 members. He’s also helped to plant around 180 churches across the United States.
He mentors young pastors on building cooperative relationships with people of other faiths and bringing a biblical perspective to issues such as immigration. His congregation promotes “open dialogue” with other faith groups.
And in 2015, Roberts stood alongside Islamic leaders in Washington, D.C., to denounce anti-Muslim remarks by evangelist Franklin Graham.
He was recently mentioned in the Christian Science Monitor as part of a wider movement within evangelical Christianity to build bridges to the Muslim community, fight Islamophobia and become more engaged with global issues such as the refugee crisis.
The Statue of Liberty or a border wall?
Dallas Theological Seminary’s Bock challenges his fellow evangelicals to ask themselves a simple question: “Which is better as a symbol for our country, the Statue of Liberty or a border wall?”
While he says his fellow evangelicals are right to be concerned about security and the rule of law, he challenges them to think beyond those concerns.
Christians have prayed for years for the Gospel to reach all ends of the earth, he notes. “It’s hypocritical to pay people to go around the world to tell people about Jesus while stiff-arming those who would come here.”
Deportation, detention, and family separation
These are scary times. President-elect Trump has continuously promised to build (in reality: expand) a border wall and increase deportations.
In spite of all of this, a majority of Catholics and an overwhelming majority of white Evangelicals voted for Trump. This represents a huge problem that needs to be addressed.
But addressing the problem is far more complex than assigning blame to those who voted for Trump or those who voted for Clinton. The reality is that the displacement and deportation of migrants has typically received bi-partisan support.
President Obama’s administration deported over 2.5 million immigrants and expanded detention centers exponentially. The new administration’s proposed wall is an issue but so are the existing border policies which intentionally promote death.
Conservatives are not the only ones to blame. The deportation and detention apparatus that the new administration will inherit has been expanded and normalized under the watch of liberals.
And still, this only tells half the story. The narratives we tell of migrants moving globally are often divorced from truthful accounts about the causes of their displacements.
The causes of displacement
It is as if our narrations start with immigrants simply showing up on the doorstep of Western nations with no further context. Yet, a large number of displacements take place because of foreign policies-whether economic or military ones-that are supported by these very “developed” nations.
This is not even going further in depth into longer colonial history.
I recently returned from a trip to my motherland of Colombia where I witnessed first-hand the terrible consequences of U.S. free trade and military policies which have contributed to that country having one of the greatest number of displaced persons in the world.
These kinds of policies have consistently received bi-partisan support.
For Christians who care about justice, I think it is easy for us to romanticize our own love and generosity towards “the immigrant” or “refugee” without further interrogating how we may indirectly contribute to their displacements.
We congratulate ourselves for being above the blatant bigotry of some Christians and don’t question how climate change, our own standards of living, our elected representatives, and our tax dollars fuel the crises.
I believe God calls us to denounce not only open hatred against refugees but the causes of their displacement.
From political blame to concrete action
This is not necessarily a time to focus on blame; this is a time to take concrete actions to shield the most vulnerable and provide sanctuary.
Still, it is important to go about this work losing a certain kind of innocence. If Jesus were displaced and deported today, most of us would indirectly contribute to it. His blood would be on all of us.
Bock and Roberts certainly have their work cut out for them. According to one recent study, evangelicals’ views on immigration are shaped more by the media than by the Bible.
However, two-thirds of respondents said they would value hearing what Scripture teaches about immigration. If leaders like Bock and Roberts can get their message through to folks in the pews, they have a shot at eroding evangelical support for anti-immigrant policies.
Whether or not that comes to pass, these leaders serve as a reminder that the white evangelical community isn’t as monolithically reactionary as it is sometimes portrayed.
They offer an opening for Texas’ emerging but still wobbly progressive movement to do some coalition-building. If progressives can learn to speak authentically about matters of faith and morality while defending church-state separation, we may well find allies - at least on some issues - in unexpected places.
So, who would Jesus deport? Perhaps the better question is: would Jesus support lawlessness? The answer, according to Scripture, is no.
Jesus upheld both justice and mercy - never one at the expense of the other. He understood His Father’s design for institutions such as the church, the family, and the state, each with its own role in preserving order and righteousness.
As Christians, we must reject the false notion that biblical compassion requires turning a blind eye to lawlessness. True compassion does not enable disorder - it upholds justice for the good of all.
