We have to care how people are treated. Full stop. Both the Constitution and the Bible make this clear.
Let’s chat about immigration for a minute.
- Every president has detained and deported thousands of illegal immigrants (not just Republican presidents), but right now, the quota this administration wants to meet daily is allowing for massive ICE mistakes, such as detaining and traumatizing actual citizens, in their frenzy.
- Our president jokes about deporting citizens he doesn’t like and parades a few White South African “refugees” in the country to show what kind of immigrants are welcome. I genuinely feel like this and many many other things he has said are meant to remind us “we” asked for this, “we” asked for someone a little crazy, a little abusive even, to get things done that “needed” to be done. And “we” are going to pay for it. (That is just opinion, of course.) I will be the first to say that I do not believe it is reasonable to hope our government or culture will mirror the Bible or Heaven (again, my opinion)- that’s not what I vote for or look for or expect. It is my prayer and aim that the CHURCH would mirror the Word and the Kingdom, but not an expectation I think it is reasonable to have for my authorities on this earth. But when people are being treated this way, I will do three things: One, I will pray for God’s intervention, for the wicked and their plans to be thwarted, and for the Church to rise up. Two, I will help my neighbor and look for ways to undo the pain and ugliness this administration is causing. Three, I will speak out in every way I can so that I will not go down in history saying I lived through this and didn’t fight.
- We all know about the centers that people are being detained in, with current focus being on a facility in the Everglades where one need not worry about spending too much money on guards since the snakes and alligators will kill any who try to leave, one report concludes. (I will include references for all this by the way.) These centers and what goes on there are shameful. Period.
- It is not White European illegal immigrants in these facilities or being targeted, it is people who have darker skin and don’t culturally blend in as well. It is not White European illegal immigrants who are afraid to go to the doctor or immigration court right now, it is those with darker skin. What does this tell you? Obviously racism, but also that dark-skinned families will not get the medical and educational care they need, even though, legally, all immigrants regardless of status are entitled to these things.
- What makes someone illegal? Well, what used to make someone illegal was to be in the US past their visa allowance, or they “snuck” in. I don’t remember there being a lot of argument about that; it is a crime to be illegally present here and there are legal ways to get that resolved with immigration lawyers. What was NOT illegal was to be here with a student visa, a green card, temporary protected status, certain other visas such as those for adoptive children who must seek citizenship within a certain number of years, or seeking asylum. I think we can all track with this. But now, these last “statuses” are at risk of being detained and/or deported without due process, and it has already happened to many. Why? How is this legal? Why are people still closing their ears and their eyes and saying, “Well, they were illegal which clearly means they shouldn’t have been here in the first place.” No, they were NOT illegal. They came here legally and are being treated like trash, their lives being upended for absolutely no sane reason whatsoever.
- Probably most sickening of all is when our president slanders immigrants, calling them rapists, murderers, and the reason we have drugs in our country. This is literal slander and lies. To be allowed to spread slander that goes against all statistics is wrong, and it has fed into the racism that is not only rampant but now somehow (seemingly) acceptable since it is coming from the top down.
- Just today We Choose Welcome shared about a man who helped the US government in Afghanistan. He is here legally. He was arrested when he showed up to immigration court. He will be sent back to Afghanistan where he will be killed for assisting US, yet US has turned their back on him. What in the actual world is going on that this is happening and that EVERYONE isn’t in an uproar about it? This is not political, like left or right, conservative or liberal. This is RIGHT or WRONG. We are living in a bad movie, and it seems that everyone is feeling the anxiety of the bottom falling out. This is one of the reasons why. There is no stability or order, and we all feel it.
- What is done to the least of these MATTERS. I want to stop hearing people say, “Why are you so worked up about illegal immigrants? Don’t they deserve what they get?” This is my answer:
- a) I am worked up because even truly illegals (snuck in, etc) shouldn’t be treated in this way. They shouldn’t be apprehended at church and school. They should have a court case to prove they are truly illegal. They shouldn’t be in overcrowded disgusting facilities without medicines and decent food while they wait to be deported. They shouldn’t be separated from their children.
- b) I am worked up because it is not even truly illegal people that are being targeted. Aside from the mistakes that have been made that have traumatized actual citizens, people on student visas and the other statuses I mentioned have been threatened, asked to leave, detained, deported, and mistreated. People who were promised temporary protected status, such as from Haiti and Venezuela, are being sent back because their situations back home, this administration has decided (a little too late), aren’t that bad. Why are we waging war on immigrants who are working, finishing up paperwork in immigration court, paying taxes and raising families?
- c) I am worked up because “rules” cannot change this easily and this quickly. Executive orders are power-hungry moves and we know they have been issued in a rage in order to confuse and overwhelm the court system. That’s embarrassingly bad leadership. Children who are born here should be citizens, as the Constitution allows. The path to legal immigration should be offered and people should not be arrested when appearing at immigration proceedings. Due process is a part of the Constitution as well as standards for no cruel and unusual punishment for prisoners. These are all “rules” that apparently are being canceled, just like that.
- d) I am worked up because of the racism and White supremacy at play. I don’t just mean Black and White problems, but the apparent desire of this administration to blame and remove visitors (if not longterm residents!) of non-White cultures from our country.
- e) I am worked up because this administration said they wanted to get illegal immigrant criminals and drug dealers rounded up and sent away. Ok. Great! But that is not who they are focusing on at all. Why? Hmm, maybe because there are simply not that many of them… but there is a quota to fill, after all.
- Here are some resources to back up my rant…
https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/07/23/florida-is-locking-up-innocent-immigrants-and-calling-it-justice
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/06/26/politics/immigration-deportations-trump-asylum-seekers
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-degrading-language-immigrants-rcna171120
It’s okay to get mad. It’s okay to speak out. I can be a peaceful carrier of the Holy Spirit and also have some hard truth at the same time coming out of my mouth. Think of Nehemiah. As he rebuilt the walls around Jerusalem, he had a sword in one hand and a trowel in the other. That’s us. We need to do both well and wisely.
Ways to get involved and stay informed:
https://www.wechoosewelcome.com/about
https://www.russellmoore.com/category/podcast
https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/david-french
