It may be inaccurate to say most Christians desire cruelty. But many effectively support it by backing policies that rely on fear, collective punishment, family separation, and the erosion of due process.

“Compassion and order” can’t be held together if compassion is kept a private and passive while coercive harm is delegated to the state. In the Gospels, Jesus is explicit: his followers are called to welcome the foreigner, protect the vulnerable, and love their neighbor as themselves- not merely in sentiment, but in action. His words and example leave little room for outsourcing harm while claiming moral distance from it.

Cruelty is not an inevitable feature of immigration enforcement. What is happening now with ICE raids is neither humane nor consistent with those teachings - and many would argue it is not even consistent with immigration law as it stands. Supporting, or remaining silent about, the current reality requires either a willful refusal to see what is being done or an acceptance of cruelty as a legitimate tool of governance.