City officials in Texas’ state capital are using public funds to screen a documentary later this month that links Jesus with illegal immigration and includes a panel discussion that features speakers from an Islamic organization deemed a terrorist group by the state.
The Sept. 10 event at the Asian American Resource Center will feature a screening of the documentary “Jesus Was a Migrant,” followed by an interfaith and civil-rights panel, immigration-law resources and audience discussion. The panel is slated to include representatives of CAIR-Austin (Council on American-Islamic Relations), Asian Texans for Justice and American Gateways, as well as Stephen Reeves, who appears in the film.
Produced by Tisby Studios in collaboration with FaithWorks, “Jesus Was a Migrant” follows historian and New York Times bestselling author Jemar Tisby as he travels to the U.S.-Mexico border to examine the relationship between Christianity and immigration.
The film, which alleges that the Church “has been avoiding the question” of immigration, follows Tisby through on-camera conversations to tackle what a press release described as “a question that cuts to the core of American Christianity: how did a religion born among the poor, the foreign-born, and the displaced become the spiritual backbone of a movement that closes its doors to them?”
A press kit for “Jesus Was a Migrant” claims a January 2025 executive order from President Donald Trump that shut down the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) “asylum app” left approximately 270,000 migrants “actively seeking asylum appointments with no pathway forward.”
The kit adds: “Many were Christians. So were the people who cheered.”
Sponsored through the “We All Belong: Austin Against Hate” initiative, the screening has been promoted as an opportunity to discuss immigration and the experiences of immigrant communities across religious backgrounds. Organizers say the documentary itself focuses primarily on Christian immigrants encountered at the U.S.-Mexico border, while the accompanying panel will broaden the discussion to immigrants of “all faiths and no faith.”
According to the city, We All Belong is directly tied to the City of Austin’s broader effort to “strengthen belonging, celebrate diversity, and address hate, discrimination and bias” through community engagement, education, partnerships, transparency and coordinated action. The city describes the initiative as taking a “holistic, community-centered approach” that coordinates efforts among government and community partners on hate prevention, outreach, reporting, response, education and support services for people affected by hate and exclusion.
A spokesperson for the City of Austin’s Equity and Inclusion department confirmed with The Christian Post that a $1,500 grant through the city’s We All Belong program sponsorship initiative will be used to host the event.
According to Austin Equity and Inclusion spokeswoman Natalie Hulsey, the “Jesus Was a Migrant” screening “is directly tied” to the city’s “equity and inclusion” initiative, which, said Hulsey, is “dedicated to strengthening belonging, celebrating diversity, and addressing hate, discrimination and bias through community engagement, education, partnerships, transparency, and coordinated action.”
In a January 2025 executive order, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, directed state agencies to “eliminate any forms of [diversity/equity/inclusion] policies and to treat all people equally regardless of race.” Abbott also designated CAIR as a “foreign terrorist organization” in November 2025 for alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. The national CAIR organization has called the proclamation “defamatory” and vowed to fight it in court.
It’s not clear whether Austin’s Equity and Inclusion initiative or CAIR’s involvement violates Abbott’s order. The governor’s office did not immediately respond to CP’s request for comment Tuesday.
Last month, Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas said it would no longer host a scheduled event for CAIR-Texas, which was set to hold the Muslim Youth Leadership Symposium (MYLS) on Sept. 19 at SMU as part of a simultaneous two-city event, according to an online flyer.
“After reviewing plans for an upcoming unaffiliated youth leadership symposium advertised to take place at SMU, the University has determined that permitting the event to take place on campus, given the State of Texas’ current designation of the symposium’s organizer, is inconsistent with our mission and related University policies,” Megan Jacob, SMU’s director of media relations, told CP. “As a result, the event will not take place on campus.”
Ian M. Giatti is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: [email protected].
