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.”
ILLEGAL DEPORTATIONS WITHOUT DUE PROCESS
“Antiseptic judicial rhetoric cannot do justice to what is happening. Across the interior of the United States, agents of the federal government — masked, anonymous, armed with military weapons, operating from unmarked vehicles, acting without warrants of any kind — are seizing persons for civil immigration violations and imprisoning them without any semblance of due process.”
It is fair to humanely deport someone whose application for asylum has been turned down for legitimate reasons after a fair hearing and due process. 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.
Denying immigrants due process is neither right nor consistent with Jesus’ call to treat immigrants as we would treat Him.
A plethora of federal judges have called out the Trump Administration’s violations of due process, the law and court orders in its current detainment and deportation policies.
April 18, 2026: Federal Judge Says ICE Violated More Court Orders Than Most Agencies in Their Existence
February 26, 2026: Judge Patrick Schiltz (a federal judge nominated by George W. Bush) identified 210 orders issued in 143 cases in Minnesota in which he said Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials had not complied with court orders.
February 26, 2026: Judge Says U.S. Is Intentionally Violating the Law on Immigration.
February 23, 2026: At least 35 times since August, federal judges have ordered the administration to explain why it should not be punished for violating their orders in immigration cases.
Early 2026: Federal judge accuses Trump administration of 'terror' against immigrants.
February 19, 2026: Federal judges in the Republican stronghold of West Virginia are standing up against President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
District court judges there describe rampant lawlessness by masked ICE agents, defiance of court orders and a wanton infliction of fear and intimidation. After ICE operation “Country Roads,” focused on targeting immigrants driving along the state’s roadways, the courts there have seen a flood of lawsuits by people seeking release from ICE custody. Most have longstanding ties to the U.S. and no criminal records.
In addition to detainments, the Trump Administration, without due process, continues to deport both legal and illegal immigrants to countries where they are at risk of torture and death.
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.”
She tells of the detention of a close friend, his family’s only breadwinner, who worked with the US military in Afghanistan, is in the United States lawfully, and who will be executed if returned to Afghanistan.
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.”
Is this how we want Jesus to be treated?
If not, what can we do about it?
New York City ICE holding cells: open toilets, menstruating women denied basic hygiene - Click here for multiple reports on this ICE holding location.
A federal judge on August 12th, 2025 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.
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
Read here about the horrifying conditions at the Whipple Federal Building detention area in Minnesota:
In early 2026, U.S. Representative Kelly Morrison took advantage of a court order to make an unannounced visit to the Whipple building where detainees were being held. Morrison said the conditions inside were “horrifying and heartbreaking” - cold temperatures, inadequate food and bedding, the use of leg shackles.
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.
Read this investigative report on the suffering of children at the Dilley Detention Center in Texas.
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 has transformed 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.
ICE officers operate with impunity. A judge in Minnesota evaluated that they had ignored hundreds of legal court orders regarding their operations.
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, most of whom have no criminal background. They often cannot be reached or located by family members, friends, or lawyers for days, weeks, or months.
CRUEL CONDITIONS IN DETENTION CENTERS
The Trump administration has sent detainees to the CECOT prison in El Salvador, one of the most notorious and cruel prisons in the world. 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, former 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, rivals the terrible conditions at CECOT. Click here for multiple reports on conditions at Alligator Alcatraz.
Detainees have been isolated from their families and lawyers, and forced to live in crammed cages of over 30 people with lights on 24 hours per day, using toilets out in the open. Click here for a description by one U.S. representative of the terrible mistreatment that she witnessed in April 2026 after an unannounced visit. Reports have indicated that some detainees are singled out for beatings, or “the box,” where they are shackled and confined in a small container in the blazing sun for hours without water or food.