Crossing Borders: What Would Jesus Do About Immigration?
by Andy Larsen
On March 25, 2025, video footage went viral showing a Tufts University student, Rumeysa Ozturk, being arrested by ICE agents while walking to class. Her quiet, stunned compliance—the way she whispered "I'm a student at Tufts..." as agents pulled her away—echoed through social media like a lament. Though she was later released, the imagery haunts: an unarmed woman of color, quietly disappeared in broad daylight, on a college campus.
This is not an isolated moment. It’s part of a broader climate of fear and dehumanization toward immigrants in our country—especially those whose presence challenges dominant narratives of whiteness, power, or security. In the face of all this, a friend recently asked me, “What would Jesus do?” That question hits hard. And it’s worth flipping: What did Jesus do? Because we actually have a pretty solid record.
What did Jesus do?
Let’s take a moment to look beyond today’s noise and remember what Jesus actually did.
He was a refugee. Fleeing Herod’s violence, his family crossed borders into Egypt. From the start, his life was shaped by forced migration. He consistently moved toward the marginalized—Samaritans, Gentiles, lepers, women, the poor, foreigners. He wasn’t just about “welcoming” them; he lifted up their humanity, often placing them at the center of his teachings. He challenged systems—both religious and political—that dehumanized or excluded people, including those who used "law and order" to maintain oppression.
The fact that immigration is so politicized today says more about us than about Jesus. Somehow, compassion has become partisan. Hospitality is viewed as naïve. And fear dominates public discourse, especially in spaces where Christians hold influence. But if we’re following Jesus, shouldn’t we be the ones least afraid? Shouldn’t we be the first to say, “This person is made in the image of God, no matter where they’re from, what papers they carry, or which side of a border they were born on”? When Jesus said, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me…” (Matthew 25), he wasn’t speaking metaphorically. He was giving us a measure of our faithfulness.
So, what would Jesus do? Probably the same thing he’s always done: break down barriers, tell uncomfortable truths, and remind us that our love for God is shown in how we love the most vulnerable. Let’s not start with politics—let’s start with Scripture.
Jesus and the Stranger
Jesus Was a Refugee (Matthew 2:13-15) – Jesus' family fled to Egypt to escape Herod’s violence. Jesus' earliest experience is one of forced migration. "Out of Egypt I called my son."
The Syrophoenician Woman (Mark 7:24-30) – A Gentile woman pleads with Jesus to heal her daughter. Jesus listens, learns, and heals. This story shows a bold crossing of ethnic and religious boundaries.
The Roman Centurion (Matthew 8:5-13) – A foreign military officer asks for healing. Jesus praises his faith, saying it surpasses any in Israel. "Many will come from east and west and recline at the table..."
The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) – Jesus uses the figure of a despised outsider to show what true neighbor-love looks like. "Go and do likewise."
The Final Judgment (Matthew 25:31-46) – Jesus identifies with the hungry, the imprisoned, and the stranger. "I was a stranger and you welcomed me."
God’s Heart for the Immigrant: The Old Testament Witness
Abraham Was an Immigrant (Genesis 12:1) – The father of faith begins his journey by migrating.
God’s Command to Love the Stranger (Exodus 22:21) – “Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner” and (Deuteronomy 10:18-19) – God "loves the foreigner" and commands Israel to do the same.
Justice, Not Just Charity (Leviticus 19:33-34) – "The foreigner...shall be as the native among you."
Ruth the Moabite (Matthew 1) – A foreign woman is welcomed, honored, and becomes an ancestor of Jesus.
The Church: A Borderless Community
Pentecost (Acts 2) – The Spirit falls on people from every nation. The Church begins as a multilingual, multinational movement.
Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8) – A foreign, marginalized individual is baptized and welcomed fully.
Cornelius the Centurion (Acts 10) – Peter declares: "God shows no favoritism."
Paul’s Theology of Belonging
No Longer Strangers (Ephesians 2:14-19) – Christ breaks down walls. We are all "fellow citizens."
One in Christ (Galatians 3:28) – “Neither Jew nor Gentile...for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
God's Ultimate Vision
The Multitude (Revelation 7:9) – "A great multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language" worships together.
The biblical narrative is a migration story. From Abraham to Revelation, God calls us to love the stranger, welcome the outsider, and break down walls of fear and division. If Jesus is the lens through which we interpret Scripture, his actions and teachings lead us not to build higher walls, but longer tables.
What would Jesus do? He’d walk across the border. He already has.
Let’s be honest: much of the fear driving immigration panic in the U.S. is rooted not in policy concerns but in racism, xenophobia, and a refusal to see the image of God in people who don’t look or speak or worship like “us.” When students are arrested walking to class and entire communities live in fear of being detained or deported, it’s not about “sovereignty”—it’s about power, and who gets to belong.
Jesus was never concerned with protecting borders. He was concerned with breaking barriers—social, political, religious, and racial. He touched the untouchable. He humanized the despised. He healed across ethnic lines and dined with outsiders. So to those claiming we’re being “overrun,” ask this: overrun by what? By hardworking people seeking safety? By families who, like Mary and Joseph, are fleeing violence? By the very people Jesus prioritized? Come on, church. You’re embarrassing me—if not Jesus.
The question isn’t just What would Jesus do? or What did Jesus do?—but Where is Jesus now? Because if you want to find him, he’s not standing guard at the border with ICE. He’s crossing it with the vulnerable. He’s sitting beside the detained. He’s whispering to us, “Whatever you did for the least of these, you did for me.”
Let’s go meet him there.
This blog was originally posted at https://blessedarethepeacemakers.substack.com/p/crossing-borders-what-would-jesus
Andy and Cari are peacemakers devoted to engaging their “other” as followers of Jesus Christ, believing this is a core characteristic of true disciples of Jesus. Andy uses his camera to build bridges of understanding between groups and to decrease social distance. Andy and Cari spend much time facilitating encounters with their “other” across the country and in the Middle East, helping disparate communities build relational bridges of understanding, and their greatest passion is to hang out with Muslim friends and get people out of the pew, or off their prayer rug as the case may be, and into relationships with their “other.” Learn more about Andy here.
