Biblical Commands to Love Immigrants Should Guide Modern Immigration Policy
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/by/shai-held. "Opinion | The Bible Tells Us to Love Immigrants - The New York Times." February 22, 2026. www.nytimes.com
The Gist
The author argues that the Bible clearly commands people to love and protect immigrants, not hunt them down. Since many politicians claim to follow the Bible, they should stop demonizing immigrants and instead create policies that protect them, as the Bible repeatedly demands.
Conclusion
The Bible's explicit commandments to love and protect immigrants should inform how religious Americans approach immigration policy, making demonization and violent pursuit of immigrants morally unacceptable
Premises
- The Bible explicitly commands three loves: love of God, love of neighbor, and love of the ger (immigrant/stranger)
- The Hebrew word 'ger' should be translated as 'immigrant' - someone who has left their homeland due to upheaval like war, famine, or oppression
- The commandment to love immigrants was a moral revolution, expanding protection beyond widows and orphans to include foreign-born residents
- Multiple biblical books (Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy) repeatedly forbid mistreating immigrants and command active love for them
- The Bible requires societies to provide immigrants with legal protections, fair wages, and social benefits
- Biblical morality demands that readers imagine themselves as vulnerable and identify who in their society is most at risk of exploitation
- Many current administration officials invoke God and the Bible while pursuing policies that contradict these biblical mandates
Assumptions
- The Bible should serve as a moral guide for contemporary policy decisions
- Biblical commands have relevance beyond their ancient historical context
- Religious Americans who cite biblical authority should be consistent in applying biblical teachings
- The ancient concept of 'ger' maps meaningfully onto modern immigrants
- Moral principles can be extracted from religious texts and applied to political issues