Austin officials are using public funds to support a documentary screening later this month that connects Jesus with immigration and will be followed by a panel featuring a representative from CAIR-Austin, part of an organization designated a terrorist group by the state of Texas.
The Sept. 10 event at the Asian American Resource Center will include a screening of “Jesus Was a Migrant,” followed by an interfaith and civil-rights discussion, immigration-law resources and audience participation. Scheduled panelists include representatives from CAIR-Austin, Asian Texans for Justice and American Gateways, along with Stephen Reeves, who appears in the documentary.
Produced by Tisby Studios in partnership 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 explore how Christianity intersects with immigration.
The film argues that the Church “has been avoiding the question” of immigration and uses a series of on-camera conversations to examine what a press release called “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?”
Promotional materials for the documentary also criticize a January 2025 executive order from President Donald Trump that ended use of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection “asylum app,” claiming the decision left roughly 270,000 migrants “actively seeking asylum appointments with no pathway forward.” The press kit adds: “Many were Christians. So were the people who cheered.”
A spokesperson for the City of Austin’s Equity and Inclusion department told The Christian Post that the event is being supported by a $1,500 grant through the city’s We All Belong sponsorship initiative.
Natalie Hulsey, a spokeswoman for Austin Equity and Inclusion, said the “Jesus Was a Migrant” screening “is directly tied” to the city’s “equity and inclusion” work, which she described as “dedicated to strengthening belonging, celebrating diversity, and addressing hate, discrimination and bias through community engagement, education, partnerships, transparency, and coordinated action.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order in January 2025 directing state agencies to “eliminate any forms of [diversity/equity/inclusion] policies and to treat all people equally regardless of race.”
Abbott later designated CAIR a “foreign terrorist organization” in November 2025 over alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. The national CAIR organization rejected the designation as “defamatory” and said it would challenge the proclamation in court.
