Jesus Was a Migrant

Jesus Was a Migrant Premieres April 9, 2026 at Lumiere, Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES, CA — When the Trump administration shut down the CBP One app on January 20, 2025, approximately 270,000 migrants were left actively seeking asylum appointments with no pathway forward. Many of them were Christians. So were the people celebrating.

That contradiction is the starting point of Jesus Was a Migrant, a new documentary from historian and New York Times bestselling author Dr. Jemar Tisby, premiering April 9, 2026.

The film follows Tisby to the U.S.-Mexico border, where he sits with ministers, doctors, laborers, and families who have lost everything except their faith. What he finds raises 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?

Jesus Was a Migrant doesn’t offer familiar talking points on immigration policy. It takes an uncomfortable look at the theology that got us here.

“These families did everything right,” says Tisby. “They filed the paperwork, waited their turn, risked their lives, and showed up. And the door closed anyway. I needed to understand how we got here – not politically, but theologically.”

Director Lauren Vernea says, “by naming the film Jesus Was a Migrant, I wanted to explore how the call of the Christian faith has always been to care for the foreigner and the most vulnerable—regardless of political systems. As Scripture makes clear, we are ‘cursed’ if we fail to do so (Deuteronomy 27:19). This film looks at how we moved away from the weight of that calling—and what it means to reckon with it.”

Jesus Was a Migrant is produced by Tisby Studios in collaboration with FaithWorks. It is executive produced by Dr. Jemar Tisby, and directed and co-executive produced by Lauren Vernea.

Premiere: April 9, 2026   Venue: Lumière Cinema in Los Angeles

Beginning April 10, 2026, the film and a screening guide — including discussion questions and resources — will be available for community screenings. To bring Jesus Was a Migrant to your community, submit a screening request at forms.gle/6HsMddhmLJLzNkxv9

Request a Screening →

Media inquiries: admin@tisbymedia.com

Tisby Studios is the production arm of Tisby Media, founded by Dr. Jemar Tisby. Through documentary film, courses, and community media, Tisby Studios equips people to take informed, courageous action at the intersection of faith and justice. Learn more at jemartisby.com.

FaithWorks is an ecumenical nonprofit that mobilizes Christians to practice compassion and pursue justice. Founded in 2017 and established as FaithWorks in 2025, the organization works at the intersection of immigration, racial justice, Native issues, and hunger. Their border trip program brings churches, families, and individuals to the U.S.-Mexico border to meet migrants firsthand, serve at shelters, and engage with ongoing ministries. Learn more at faithworks.com.

A documentary following NYT bestselling author and historian Dr. Jemar Tisby to the U.S.-Mexico border to examine the contradiction at the heart of American Christianity: the same faith that compels some to welcome migrants compelled others to shut the door on 270,000 of them.

When the Trump administration shut down the CBP One asylum app on January 20, 2025, approximately 270,000 migrants were left with no legal pathway forward. Many were Christians. So were the people who cheered.

Jesus Was a Migrant follows NYT bestselling author, historian, and public educator Dr. Jemar Tisby to the border to ask the question American Christianity has been avoiding: What does our faith actually require of us?

When the Trump administration shut down the CBP One asylum appointment app on January 20, 2025, approximately 270,000 migrants were left actively seeking entry with no legal pathway forward. The men and women who celebrated that decision, and the men and women who wept at the border in protest, shared the same faith. They read the same Bible. They prayed to the same God.

That is the central contradiction at the heart of Jesus Was a Migrant — a documentary that travels with NYT bestselling author, historian, and public educator Dr. Jemar Tisby to the U.S.-Mexico border to examine what American Christianity has done with the migrant. The film does not offer easy answers. It asks hard questions: Where did the church’s welcome end? When did the refugee become a threat? And what does the story of a displaced, asylum-seeking Jesus demand of his followers today?

Produced by Tisby Studios in collaboration with FaithWorks, Jesus Was a Migrant is a film for faith communities willing to sit with the tension between what they say they believe and what their country is doing in their name.