Immigration and the Bible
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This week on This Ain’t It, we finally sat down to tackle the topic we’ve been circling for months: immigration. Not the talking-point version, not the fear-based version, but the real thing — what’s happening in the country right now, how the legal system actually works, and what scripture says about welcoming the stranger.
It’s a lot. But it’s long overdue.
When the Goalposts Move on Purpose
We started with the news: people across the country were turned away from their citizenship oath ceremonies — the final step after years of paperwork, interviews, background checks, legal fees, and wait times that can stretch a decade or more. Some received letters beforehand telling them not to come. Others showed up in places like Boston, only to be told they were suddenly “under review” again.
As Melissa noted, this is after they’ve already completed every requirement, been vetted multiple times, and passed their final verification process.
The reaction online made something else clear: the supposed political line of “we only oppose illegal immigration” isn’t holding. As Melissa put it, “Republicans say they want immigrants to follow the process but when people do follow it, they still say we don’t owe them citizenship.”
The goalposts aren’t shifting. They’re being picked up and thrown.
What the Legal Process Actually Looks Like
Melissa walked through the reality of U.S. immigration law which very few people understand. Even the “fastest” pathways take years. Most people wait far longer. And for many, there simply is no legal pathway available at all.
She explained:
- You must hold a green card for 3–5 years before you can even apply for citizenship.
- Getting that green card can take anywhere from six months to 20 years, depending on category.
- The entire process requires thousands of dollars, lawyers, multiple interviews, moral-character reviews, and background checks.
- Even after approval, applications undergo internal reverification before a ceremony is scheduled.
And then, as we’ve seen, even that ceremony can be yanked away with no notice.
Fear, Rhetoric, and the Long History Behind It
Matthew laid out the broader political context, including statements from elected officials calling people “incompatible with Western civilization," language that is neither subtle nor new.
He traced how U.S. immigration laws have long been shaped by racial hierarchy:
- the Chinese Exclusion Act,
- racial quota systems of the 1920s,
- Supreme Court cases explicitly defining who counted as “white,”
- and the parallels between U.S. immigration law and what would later become Nazi racial ideology.
At one point, he read directly from 1930s Nazi legal texts, not to provoke, but to show that the rhetoric and reasoning sound eerily familiar in 2025. As he emphasized, “That language could be modernized. That’s the point.”
Why So Many Come Without Papers
Melissa brought in data from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to explain why many immigrants come without authorization. It isn’t criminal intent, it’s that no legal avenues exist for most low-skilled workers, despite the U.S. economy relying on them.
The reasons include:
- high demand for low-wage labor,
- extremely limited visa availability,
- violence and poverty in home countries,
- family separation,
- and an immigration system too outdated and backlogged to meet real-world needs.
She also noted that entering the U.S. without authorization is not a criminal offense — it’s a civil one, “much like a speeding ticket.”
The Labor the Economy Runs On (and Pretends Not To)
We also looked at the economic side, the part politicians rarely mention.
Matthew read from reporting showing:
- Only 1% of recent deportation requests cited crimes other than illegal entry.
- Undocumented workers are kept intentionally vulnerable so they’ll accept low pay and dangerous conditions.
- Deporting undocumented workers would shrink the U.S. economy by $1.1 to $1.7 trillion.
- Undocumented immigrants pay billions in taxes that fund public services they themselves cannot access.
Melissa added that undocumented workers make up about 5% of the entire U.S. workforce, and granting work authorization could generate $40–137 billion more annually in tax revenue, simply because people could work legally and be paid fairly.
How Scripture Actually Talks About Immigrants
Then we turned to the part Christians often avoid: what the Bible actually says.
Matthew read from Leviticus 19, which commands Israel to treat the immigrant “as the native-born” and “love the alien as yourself.” And Melissa pointed out that Israel’s identity is built on their own history as foreigners, exiles, and refugees.
We also discussed:
- Jesus’ family fleeing violence and crossing administrative regions — a refugee experience, whatever modern political claims say.
- Biblical stories where breaking the law to save life is honored, not condemned: Moses’s mother, the Hebrew midwives, Rahab, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and the apostles.
- Jesus himself repeatedly violating political, religious, and social laws to heal, include, and protect.
As Melissa said, “You cannot dismiss Jesus and his immigrant or refugee experience.”
Fear as a Political Strategy
Toward the end, Matthew brought quotes showing how political leaders deliberately use fear, including one from Stephen Miller: “Hope works, but fear is a much stronger and compelling emotion.”
Fear sells. Fear controls. And fear turns people into threats instead of neighbors.
Melissa closed with words from your pastor’s recent sermon: a reminder that calling people “garbage” doesn’t change the reality that every human being bears the image of God.
What It Means to Treat People as Human
If there’s one thread running through this whole conversation, it’s this:
Immigration isn’t a crisis of borders — it’s a crisis of imagination.
A crisis of refusing to see immigrants as people, with stories, dreams, fears, and families. A crisis of political leaders choosing fear over truth. A crisis of Christians forgetting the very scriptures they claim to uphold.
As Melissa said near the end, these are “real people with real feelings.” And the distance between “us” and “them” is far smaller than we pretend.