Faith and Fear: Religion and Anti-immigrant Discourse in the U.S.
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Start Date
25-3-2026 6:00 PM
End Date
25-3-2026 7:30 PM
Description
Immigrant policy in the United States is increasingly shaped not only by the law and enforcement, but by religious rhetoric which frames exclusion as moral necessity. The Department of Religion hosts Dr. Thomas Lecaque for a lecture examining how faith-based symbolism and Christian imagery are mobilized to shield aggressive immigration enforcement, including the expanding justification and visibility of ICE.
By situating these developments within broader U.S. religious and political histories, the lecture critically considers how religion can sacralize state power, normalize fear, and reshape public understandings of belonging, citizenship, race, and human dignity.
Event Flyer
Faith and Fear: Religion and Anti-immigrant Discourse in the U.S.
Immigrant policy in the United States is increasingly shaped not only by the law and enforcement, but by religious rhetoric which frames exclusion as moral necessity. The Department of Religion hosts Dr. Thomas Lecaque for a lecture examining how faith-based symbolism and Christian imagery are mobilized to shield aggressive immigration enforcement, including the expanding justification and visibility of ICE.
By situating these developments within broader U.S. religious and political histories, the lecture critically considers how religion can sacralize state power, normalize fear, and reshape public understandings of belonging, citizenship, race, and human dignity.
Comments
Thomas Lecaque is an associate professor of History at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa. He specializes in the nexus of apocalyptic religion and political violence. He has written for the Washington Post, Religion Dispatches, Foreign Policy, and The Bulwark, among others.