Abstract
The Trump administration’s controversial immigration policy has provoked significant opposition, including against a 35-day partial shutdown of the federal government over Trump’s insistence on a “wall,” but the most outrage was generated by the “zero-tolerance policy” for refugees and asylum seekers that resulted in the forced separation of thousands of children from their parents. This essay evaluates the current U.S. policy in light of the life and teachings of Jesus as portrayed in the New Testament Gospels, beginning with the flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13–15; cf. Deuteronomy 10:19–20) but focusing primarily on Jesus’s teachings on hospitality—including the love of neighbor and the stranger—for those people with their “backs against the wall,” in the words of Howard Thurman. Key passages include the parables of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:26–37), the Sheep and Goats (Matthew 25:31–46), and the Great Dinner (Luke 14:15–24).
Highlights
With the Trump Administration Immigration Policy, “the Cruelty Is the Point”“[T]his administration chooses to cage children and tear families apart
According to a senior official who was involved with this decision, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) made this change in order to avoid doing the additional paperwork required to readmit the adults
The positions of these white evangelical Christian leaders in support of Trump are the polar opposite of the religion of Jesus, a religion that emerged from and stood in solidarity with the poor, the marginalized, the oppressed, and, in the words of Howard Thurman, the disinherited
Summary
“[T]his administration chooses to cage children and tear families apart. Compassionate treatment at the border is not the same as open borders.”—Stacey Abrams, Democratic. According to a senior official who was involved with this decision, CBP made this change in order to avoid doing the additional paperwork required to readmit the adults This unnecessary, additional punishment of immigrants and refugees seeking asylum is part of the Trump administration’s plan to inflict as much suffering as possible upon these human beings as a means to deter others from seeking to (im)migrate to the U.S Only when public outrage becomes too great or the courts intervene does the Trump administration (apparently) back down. Other examples could be cited, such as a 24-year-old Honduran woman giving birth to a stillborn baby boy while in ICE custody in February 2019
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
