DHS official justifies immigration enforcement with St. Augustine’s ‘City of God’

Tyler Arnold, Catholic News Agency

Thursday, November 20, 2025

The U.S. government used Christian philosophy for its justification of immigration enforcement efforts, relying on St. Augustine’s “City of God” as validation. The “blameless poor” are different from lawbreakers when considering how to interpret Scripture to show charity toward immigrants, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in response to concerns raised by U.S. Catholic bishops about immigration policy. Nate Madden, principal deputy assistant secretary for communications at DHS, said when considering that verse, one should recognize “a key distinction” in how to demonstrate charity “when you’re talking about people who have knowingly broken laws . . .”