Was Jesus an Illegal Immigrant?

Every Christmas season, countless nativity scenes appear around the world, showing Jesus as a fragile newborn surrounded by family, shepherds, and celestial beings. These nativity scenes are put up in town squares, churches, and other high traffic areas (and occasionally are modified in controversial ways). 

But when you read the biblical narratives closely, there’s an overlooked nativity theme with parallels to a hot button-issue of our own time: immigration. 

The holy family travels, relocates, flees, returns, and crosses territory not entirely their own.

So, a question arises: was Jesus an immigrant? And did he cross borders legally, or did he break some rules in the process? 

Let’s review some history. 

From Nazareth to Bethlehem

The Christmas story begins with a journey. According to the Gospel of Luke, Mary and Joseph leave their hometown of Nazareth because of a Roman census requiring subjects to register in ancestral areas. This was no cakewalk; traveling under Roman occupation meant navigating checkpoints, threats of extortion, banditry, and the whims of local officials. 

This journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem wasn’t immigration in the modern sense, as both towns were part of the same imperial system. But it could certainly be called forced migration under authority of the state. 

It was here in Bethlehem, according to the Bible, that Jesus was born. 

Flight Into Egypt: A Border Crossing Story

After the birth of Christ, the story takes a dramatic turn. According to the Book of Matthew, King Herod – the leader in the region at the time – was shocked to learn of the birth of a new “King of the Jews.” Fearful of losing power, Herod ordered that Jesus be killed to prevent a potential usurper.

In response, the Holy Family fled urgently across the border into Egypt. Leaving Judea for Egypt could certainly be considered immigration, as Egypt was a separate province, with distinct government and cultural practices. 

Scholars also note that it reads like a classic asylum story: a vulnerable family, escaping a violent ruler, looks for refuge in a foreign land. In modern terms, we might say they fled religious and political persecution.

Whether one calls this “immigration,” “asylum seeking,” or “forced displacement,” the point is clear: Jesus spends his earliest years as a refugee. 

Did the Holy Family “Break the Law”?

This is where modern debates get messy. Some argue that because the ancient world lacked strict national borders, the Holy Family could not have been “illegal.” Others counter that crossing imperial boundaries without authorization was, in fact, regulated.

The truth is likely somewhere in between.

Ancient governments controlled movement primarily for taxation, labor, and military purposes (not national identity). “Illegal immigration” as a category did not exist. There were no passports, or visas, or even "nations" as we know them today. Yet, it’s possible that people who crossed borders to escape oppression were technically breaking other laws or decrees set by local authorities. And they almost certainly would be considered "undocumented" in some sense of the term.

So did Mary, Joseph, and Jesus “break the law”? Probably not – because the law itself was nothing like ours. But that doesn’t mean certain rulers (King Herod, for example) wouldn't have wanted to hurt or punish them. 

Jesus’s Adult Movements

Jesus’s travel stories don’t end after childhood. In fact, much of the Gospels take place on the road. He moves through Galilee, Judea, and Samaria, crossing ethnic, political, and religious boundaries.

Many of those crossings were culturally fraught. Samaritans were outsiders to Judean society, and vice versa. When Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan, his audience reacts not because of the kindness of the stranger, but because the stranger comes from “the wrong people.”

But again, this was a time before “immigration policy” was a thing – and there are no historical sources pointing to specific laws that Jesus broke by traveling to different lands. 

What It Means to Be an Immigrant

So, was Jesus an "illegal immigrant"? Well, not necessarily in the modern legal sense in which some may use that term today.

But Jesus’s life featured many journeys – he began his life as a brown-skinned baby fleeing political violence, and ended it as a poor teacher traveling from region to region. In doing so, he inevitably crossed borders – political, cultural, and religious – and ended up in places where he certainly wasn't welcome.

So, in a more general interpretation, Jesus was an immigrant. Whether he broke any rules in the process? Well, probably! His travels certainly weren't pleasing to many of the folks in charge. Just something to think about... We'll leave you with some of Jesus's own thoughts on the matter:

 “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” - Jesus Christ (Matthew 25:35)