People will tell you the border is complicated. They will use big words, talk about systems and reform and nuance, and while they are talking, children are being trafficked and families are being destroyed. The border is not complicated. It is a test.
Scripture does not ignore this question. In Nehemiah chapter 2, a man looked at broken walls and a city in ruins and he wept. Then he got up and built. He did not apologise for the wall. He did not call it cruel or divisive. He called it necessary, and God called it righteous.
I have heard people quote Leviticus at me. Love the stranger, they say. And I agree completely. I have loved strangers my entire life. But loving a stranger does not mean leaving the gate open for the wolf. A shepherd who loves his sheep builds a fence. That is not fear. That is faithfulness.
For years, politicians told you that open borders were the compassionate choice. And then the cartels grew richer. Children disappeared in the desert. American towns were overwhelmed. Communities that had nothing were asked to absorb everything. The people who designed those policies flew home to their gated neighbourhoods and called you heartless for noticing.
President Trump said enough. Not because he hated the stranger, but because he could see what the broken system was actually producing. Scripture is clear: you will know them by their fruits. The fruit of open borders was not compassion. It was chaos. And the people suffering most were not in Washington. They were on both sides of that border.
A nation that cannot protect its people is not being merciful. It is failing. And a Church that cannot speak honestly about that failure is not being loving. It is being silent when God is calling it to speak.
Nehemiah built the wall. The critics laughed. They said he was dividing people, that he was acting out of fear. He kept building. The city was protected. And God was not embarrassed by it.
Neither am I.
— Father Thomas