-From very early in its history, the United States of America, despite being a nation of immigrants, has desired to keep more immigrants from breaching its shores. The populations of those deemed less tolerable have changed over time, from Irish to Italians, Jewish to Blacks, Asians to Hispanics–we never seem to run out of groups to place in a lower social stratosphere. White American males, especially those who are wealthy, and most of whom define themselves as Christians, have long controlled the definition.

But as Christians, we are called to so much more. Very early in the Israelites’ walk with God, He instructed them: “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt: (Leviticus 19:33-34, emphasis mine). 

When the Israelites sewed and gathered their crops, they were instructed to leave some of the harvest behind so that strangers among them could come and gather food. And in Malachi 3:5, the Lord says that there will be consequences if the foreigner is not treated fairly: “So, I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify…against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice.”

The poet Mary Oliver wrote what echoes my own heart here: “I tell you this to break your heart, by which I mean only that it break open and never close again to the rest of the world.”

Though many would deny it, these unprecedented times in which we Americans live in the year 2026 are strikingly similar to those of the early days of Nazi Germany. Congress has approved family separation, detention, and mass deportation policies. A small group of people holds tremendous power and an extremely loyal following. A new brutal domestic law force, composed of masked agents with high salaries and as little as three weeks training, has been given more jurisdiction and greater immunity than our military. They’ve been provided with the same weapons used to fight terrorists in Afghanistan and sent into our communities on the pretense of defending our borders. One group of people, who have been deemed inferior and often stripped of their humanity, are separated from their families and sent to detention centers conveniently hidden from the public eye. 

And now innocent American citizens who stand up for them are being mistreated, denied basic constitutional rights, and even murdered in plain sight while the administration lies to us. Because of the President’s September 25, 2025 edict that anyone who opposes his agenda is engaged in domestic terrorism, we are supposed to believe that those who were brutally murdered were actually involved in such acts. 

This is to say nothing of the countless others detained and imprisoned, many American citizens among them, brutally taken from their homes and cars without ever being asked for their IDs, and imprisoned. One American citizen and survivor of the Whipple Detention Center stated that as awful as the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti were, they could not compare to the horrors she experienced and witnessed inside the detention center. 

As Allison Burns La-Greca of St Mary’s Church in Stone Harbor, NJ  wrote:

“I am done pretending this is complicated. When an institution terrorizes communities, separates children from parents, disappears people into cages, and now sheds innocent blood, it forfeits any claim to moral legitimacy. ICE is not broken. It is functioning exactly as designed. It is an instrument of cruelty, and it is being wielded by an administration that has chosen fear over humanity, domination over dignity, and violence over justice.”

Political scientist and social justice activist Dr. Heather Cox Richardson affirms that we are now past the point where we can deny that we all have a role to play in standing up for justice. It is easy to stay quiet in our feelings of powerlessness, but we must remember that our own rights can quickly be lost. When imprisoned by the Nazis, Pastor Martin Neimoller stated: 

“First they came for the Communists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Socialists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the trade unionists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Jews

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me

And there was no one left

To speak out for me”

Once again, we are called to more than isolationism. The prophet Micah explains what God desires for us: “And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). Mercy is defined by the Oxford dictionary as “…compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm.” Justice is “…just behavior or treatment; a concern for fairness, peace, and genuine respect for people”. 

I realize that I am probably preaching to the choir. So many of us feel powerless, but it is in banding together as communities that we find our power, just as the Twin Cities has done. Perhaps, as Mother Teresa suggests, it is also through small acts of love that we can do great things. It is easy, perhaps even right, to be angry, but as the great social justice leader and champion for nonviolent resistance Dr. Martin Luther King said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love cannot do that.” 

I am praying daily, “For all in positions of power; that they may have hearts of compassion and become advocates for the vulnerable and the oppressed” (author unknown). May they be brought to their knees and have changes of heart through Scrooge-like encounters where they see how their pasts have led them to the present, and how their present choices will lead to everlasting consequences unless they change their ways. 

What is required of us is very simple, and yet sometimes so far beyond our grasp–”…to act justly…to love mercy…to walk humbly with [our] God.” I believe in love, that ultimately, love will help us find a way out of these dark times. As Jesus said in Matthew 25:35-40:

“35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”

One day, we shall overcome. May love rescue each and every one of us.