WELCOMING the STRANGER: JUSTICE, COMPASSION, and TRUTH in the IMMIGRATION DEBATE by Matthew Soerens and Jenny Yang


Published in 2018 by IVP.

A few years ago I was determined to learn a lot about immigration in the United States. I bought Welcoming the Stranger during that time, but I put it aside because the other books I had read were, to put it simply, not good. 

So, this book went into the dreaded to-be-read pile, and it might have stayed there forever except for the reelection of President Trump. His actions to fight immigration of just about any sort prompted me to pick up this book and learn a little more about the immigration system.

Even though this book was written in 2018, just 7 years ago, some parts of it felt hopelessly out of date thanks to Trump's relentless push against so many norms, rules, and laws in 2025 when it comes to immigration. 

The basics are there, however, so the book does have value as a primer on immigration. But, the book is more than that - it is a Christian look at this issue because the authors work for World Relief, a Christian organization that works with refugees around the world and helps immigrants seeking asylum in the United States. Their budget was decimated when the DOGE cuts came after USAID funding in January of 2025.

Even though this book was written long before that, its look at what the Bible teaches about how to deal with foreign people living among God's people. The book is actually designed to be used as a small group Bible study - there are discussion questions included in the back.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion, and Truth in the Immigration Debate.

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