What Does Jesus Say
About Immigrants and Refugees?
Jesus, himself a refugee at birth, comes to us in the guise of immigrants.
How we treat them is how we treat Jesus.
“When did we see you... a foreigner... and did not minister to you?”
He asks us to include as “neighbors” those who are ethnically or religiously different than us…..
“Who is my neighbor?””
… and tells us to love them as ourselves.
“I was a foreigner and you took Me in.”
“When did we see you a foreigner and take you in?”
“I was a foreigner and you did not take Me in.”
“A certain Samaritan... had compassion... and took care of him.”
DEPORTATIONS
It is fair to humanely deport someone whose application for asylum has been turned down for legitimate reasons. Every side of the immigration discussion is in agreement with this. The place they are deported to should be safe, and there should be time for the deportee to challenge any planned deportation that they believe is unsafe.
But the Trump Administration, without due process, is deporting both legal and illegal immigrants to countries where they are at risk of torture and death.
Click Here for information on the Trump Administration’s illegal deportation policies.
Click Here to read a warning issued to the U.S. by the U.N. Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner, reminding the U.S. of its promises and international obligations.
“The US’ expedited removal procedure could allow people to be taken to a country other than their own in as little as a single day, without an immigration court hearing or other appearance before a judge.
International law is clear that no one shall be sent anywhere where there are substantial grounds for believing that the person would be in danger of being subjected to serious human rights violations such as torture, enforced disappearance or arbitrary deprivation of life,” the experts said. ”
Below are legal promises signed by the U.S. in regard to deportations:
This Article 33 contains an exception for refugees who pose a clear danger to the host country, which is why the Trump Administration has falsely claimed that every refugee being deported is a criminal or in some way a danger to the country.
Click here for fact-checking on the administration’s false claims about those they are deporting.
“1. No State Party shall expel, return (“refouler”) or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture.
2. For the purpose of determining whether there are such grounds, the competent authorities shall take into account all relevant considerations including, where applicable, the existence in the State concerned of a consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights.”
“No Contracting State shall expel or return (“refouler”) a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, member ship of a particular social group or political opinion.”
A federal judge on August 12th ordered the Trump administration to remedy the conditions at New York City ICE holding cells. The Assistant Director of the ICE New York City Field Office denies anything is wrong. Oversight visits by concerned representatives are not allowed. Video footage taken by a detainee shows horrific conditions. Click here for multiple reports on this ICE holding location.
The migrants held here were arrested at immigration court, where they showed up, as ordered, for in-process hearings that were part of their legal requests for asylum. The overcrowding has been so severe that some have had to sleep upright or on the floor next to the stench of open toilets, getting little sleep due to lights being on all night. Food, hygiene, and medical care have been worse than inadequate; one young woman from Ecuador described being held for 10 days without sanitary supplies during the 5 days of her period, her clothes and underwear soaking in blood; a young man lost 20 lbs during his stay there.
Is this how we want Jesus to be treated?
The migrant women held at this facility are suffering under terrible conditions and mistreatment of many kinds, resulting in their physical deterioration, mental distress, and despair. They are hoping that Ozturk’s account of conditions there will arouse enough attention and outcry to bring about some change.
Is this how we want Jesus to be treated?
If not, what can we do about it?
DISAPPEARANCES AND ICE AS SECRET POLICE
The Trump administration is transforming ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) into a secret police force that is targeting people based on skin color, country of origin, and even tattoos.
ICE officers now travel in unmarked cars, wearing masks, without presenting valid proof of identity, and disappear people into secret captivity as though they were being kidnapped. Click here for multiple reports on ICE’s transformation into a secret police force.
ICE officers now show up at public locations such as Home Depot, and target and detain people based on racial profiling. Click here for a report on ICE’s use of racial profiling.
ICE officers have detained and deported people to the notorious CECOT prison in El Salvador with no more evidence of criminality than their false interpretation of a tattoo. Click here for a report on ICE’s flimsy use of tattoos as evidence of criminality.
There is a legal means that uses due process and judicial appeals to determine eligibility to stay in the U.S. However, this means has long been underfunded, with extremely long backlogs of cases. Congress has recently modestly upped the funding for this court system (the Executive Office for Immigration Review, or EOIR), while mandating a limit of 800 judges (vs. the current 700, so unlikely to do much for the backlog). Yet the budget for ICE was just increased to over $30 billion per year for the next 4 years, and $70 billion more for Customs & Border Protection! Daily arrest quotas imposed on ICE agents mean that people who were honestly pursuing legal asylum applications are being swept up in mass detentions and deportations without the due process which our country has always promised.
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Has President Trump Treated Immigrants like we would want him to treat Jesus?
The Trump administration is detaining immigrants in inhumane conditions, both in the U.S. and other countries. This includes both legal and illegal immigrants, many of whom have no criminal background. They often cannot be reached or located by family members, friends, or lawyers for days, weeks, or months.
DETENTIONS
The Trump administration has sent detainees to the CECOT prison in El Salvador, one of the most notorious and cruel prisons in the world. Click here for multiple reports on conditions at CECOT.
Those imprisoned there are beaten, tortured, cut off completely from communication with their families, and told that they will never leave alive. The prisoners are utterly dehumanized. Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security, sent a message from CECOT boasting about sending immigrants there, and threatening future illegal immigrants with life in prison there.
Is this how we want Jesus to be treated?
Alligator Alcatraz, a newly created detention center in Florida for immigrants, looks like an attempt to rival the terrible conditions at CECOT. Click here for multiple reports on conditions at Alligator Alcatraz.
Surrounded by swamps teeming with alligators and pythons, this newly created detention facility has illegally prevented oversight visits from local authorities, and isolated detainees from their families and lawyers. Information leaked from the prison by detainees describes horrific, unsanitary conditions, and existence in crammed cages with lights on 24 hours per day.