The Bible consistently calls God’s people to treat immigrants with justice, compassion, and hospitality, while also assuming the reality of distinct peoples, lands, and laws.

Key Old Testament themes

  • Israel is repeatedly reminded that they were foreigners in Egypt, so they must not oppress the “stranger” (Hebrew: ger) living among them.
  • Laws command protection and equal treatment: “The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native‑born. Love them as yourself” (Leviticus 19:33–34), and “one law for the native and the immigrant who lives among you” (Exodus 12:49).

Commands to protect and care

  • The law forbids mistreating or exploiting immigrants and links this directly to faithfulness to God (Deuteronomy 10:18–19; Malachi 3:5).
  • Israel must ensure justice for immigrants alongside widows and orphans, and is warned that corrupting justice toward them brings a curse (Deuteronomy 27:19).

Practical hospitality in daily life

  • Farmers are told to leave the edges of their fields and leftover grain, olives, and grapes so that immigrants and the poor can gather food.
  • Job presents open doors to travelers as a sign of his righteousness: “No stranger had to spend the night in the street, for my door was always open to the traveler.”

New Testament perspective

  • Jesus identifies himself with the vulnerable outsider: “I was a stranger and you invited me in,” making welcome of the stranger a sign of genuine discipleship.
  • Christians are described as “sojourners” and “exiles,” emphasizing that God’s people themselves live as spiritual immigrants and should extend hospitality to others (for example, 1 Peter 2:11; Romans 12:13; 1 Peter 4:9).

Tension: hospitality, holiness, and order

  • Scripture assumes real borders, distinct nations, and governing authorities, but it never uses that to excuse hatred or neglect of immigrants.
  • Many Christian discussions today wrestle with how to hold together compassionate welcome, concern for the vulnerable (including citizens and immigrants), and respect for law and order in modern immigration systems.

TL;DR: The Bible does not give a modern immigration policy, but it clearly commands God’s people to love immigrants as themselves, seek just laws that do not exploit or exclude them unfairly, and practice practical hospitality and care for those who are far from home.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.