Being forced to choose sides on immigration

A year ago, as a Christian, I cared and thought little about unlawful immigration and immigration enforcement.

I interacted with people on a daily basis I suspected were here illegally, but I frankly didn’t care. Further, I suspected those who talked so much about illegal immigration were just xenophobic. I may still suspect that.

But now it seems I don’t have a choice.

The issue has been thrust front and center, and I’m being pressured to take sides for or against ICE and unlawful immigration. Suspecting you may feel the same pressure to choose on an issue about which you were formerly blissfully indifferent, I offer up this blog post. As always, I try to approach the subject with a Kingdom worldview.

Also, if you follow this blog, you know I am not a MAGA Christian Nationalist or whatever the latest popular label is. I have questioned to what extent nationalism is even biblical. I am not a Trumper.

I am a Kingdom nationalist. I love my country, but I don’t love it more than the Kingdom. And I hope I don’t love it more than my neighbor, even if my neighbor is from a different country.

On enforcement breaking up families

Let’s start with the most compassionate argument.

Much of the current debate presupposes enforcing immigration laws is inherently cruel, while opposing enforcement is inherently compassionate. That framing is not only unhelpful; it is misguided.

First, the presence of families does not nullify the legitimacy of law enforcement. This is true in every other area of civil life. When an American citizen is arrested for theft, assault, rape, or murder, the state does not suspend enforcement because the offender has children or dependents.

The suffering of innocents is tragic, but it does not invalidate the rule of law. If it did, no law could ever be enforced.

Christians have always recognized this distinction: we can visit, care for, and minister to those who are in prison without denying the justice of enforcement of the law.

The cost of not enforcing laws

Second, the claim that enforcing immigration laws somehow undermines the moral character of a society misunderstands the nature of law.

A law that is not enforced ceases to function as law. Selective non-enforcement does not produce mercy; it produces chaos. It rewards those who violate the law, penalizes those who comply, and erodes public trust.

From both classical jurisprudence and Christian political theology, restoring the integrity of the law through consistent enforcement is not cruelty. It is justice.

Thinking clearly about love and mercy

Christian leaders rightly emphasize mercy, hospitality, and care for the vulnerable.

But there is a critical distinction between pastoral ministry and political obstruction. Visiting detainees, providing food, supporting families, and advocating for humane treatment are all Christian acts.

Placing oneself between law officers and law breakers is not. It is setting oneself up as a rival authority to lawful government. Much of the opposition to ICE is not based on the belief our immigration laws are unrighteous or immoral. So, this is not primarily an issue of righteous civil disobedience–but if that is you, keep reading.

On Leviticus 19

Scripture is often invoked when Christians argue over immigration, particularly appeals to caring for the “stranger.” Leviticus 19 is most often quoted:

‘The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God. — Leviticus 19:34

The “stranger”–Hebrew word “ger”– here is not referring to every foreigner who happened to be physically present in Israel. It is referring to the resident alien, a person who lived under Israel’s legal protection and social order. And they were protected under Israel’s laws:

There shall be one standard for you; it shall be for the stranger as well as the native, for I am the Lord your God. — Leviticus 24:22

So, far from disregarding the law, the Bible supports the rule of law and demands it be applied equally to all regardless of their country of origin.

And this is where biblical law can and should be used to call out inhumane enforcement tactics. Illegal aliens are no less human than American citizens; they are both made in the image of God. A proper Kingdom worldview can properly call out protestors who interfere with ICE agents enforcing the law as it does those ICE agents who abuse their authority. People who elevate politics over the Kingdom must choose one or the other.

The real challenge for Christians here is not in choosing between law and compassion. It is in recognizing and rejecting the false dichotomy. A society governed by law–which all must be until the Kingdom is fully manifested on earth–must enforce its laws, but it should do so humanely.

Finding Truth in the balance

If Christians find themselves growing more hardened in this debate, it may not be because they have lost compassion—but because moral language is being used imprecisely and irresponsibly. Or it may be that they have chosen politics over the kingdom of God.

When law enforcement is treated as sin and illegality as morally irrelevant, as Christians we should be suspicious, just as we should be when authority is never called to account when it is abused.

The proper Christian posture is neither indifference nor obstruction but justice with restraint, mercy without confusion, and a refusal to surrender moral reasoning to slogans or political preference.

That balance is harder to manage than outrage, but it is worth the effort. GS