Vice President Mike Pence Defends Cruel Anti-Immigration Policy With Scripture

This shouldn’t come as a shock, but Vice President Mike Pence wants to make clear that he wholeheartedly supports the United States’ “zero tolerance” policy when it comes to illegal immigrants — even those who are fleeing certain death from their countries of origin.

Even worse, he’s using Scripture to do it. (I guess he learned nothing after the Jeff Sessions debacle…)

In a speech in Guatemala, [Pence] said the U.S. was working to reunite families “from your nations who’ve been caught trying to illegally enter the United States — because we believe that we can — as the old book says — “do justice and love kindness.”

But Pence also cautioned: “If you want to come to the United States, come legally, or don’t come at all.”

How about that? Love thy neighbor… but if you’re in danger of being murdered back in your homeland and seek asylum in the U.S., then we may have to love you from afar. Oh well. #ChristianLove

Daniel Schultz at Rewire does a good job of putting that Pence citation in context:

After this speech, though, I’d want to run a metal detector over Pence’s zipper to check for brass castings. “Do justice and love kindness” is a quote of Micah 6:8, a scripture much beloved by social-justice types, and one followed up by admonitions like:

Your wealthy are full of violence;
your inhabitants speak lies,
with tongues of deceit in their mouths.
Therefore I have begun to strike you down,
making you desolate because of your sins.

Pence of all people should read the rest of that chapter.

As is customary for this administration, Pence also ignores facts like how the overwhelming majority of immigrants aren’t criminals and pose virtually no threat to the safety of Americans.

Can you imagine if ancient Israel had an anti-immigration policy that was enforced on Mary and Joseph, as they fled for safety when Herod decreed that all infant boys be massacred? Or when they were desperately searching for a safe place to give birth to baby Jesus?

Not only would Pence have separated Jesus and kept him in a cage, he would would forced baby Jesus to represent himself in court.

(Image via Shutterstock)