Jesus says, set them free

On Saturday August 16, 2025, hundreds gathered for Mass outside Alligator Alcatraz in protest of reported harsh conditions for the hundreds of immigrants held at this remote detention center in the Florida Everglades. During his homily, Fr. Frank O’Laughlin advocated for “Liberty to the oppressed,” echoing Jesus’ proclamation at the beginning of his public ministry. At the intersection of faith and activism, we find Jesus the Liberator.

It is not difficult to imagine Jesus, who himself was detained without crime, calling for the release of those awaiting deportation.  Yet in the Gospels, we do not see Jesus breaking down prison doors, or calling for the delivery of his people from Roman occupation. And while Jesus was sought after for releasing people from their bodily infirmities, he was chiefly concerned with the imprisonment of hearts and minds.  Followers of Christ, the hands and feet of Jesus, must be no less concerned today.  For every person held within detention centers there are many more outside, gripped by fear, unable to fulfill the dreams God shares with them.

There are asylum seekers with cases suddenly dismissed, only because they were not interviewed regarding their “credible fear” of harm in their home countries at the time they crossed the border.

Jesus says, Set them free.
Let us set them free.

There are neighbors, afraid to leave their homes, to go to work, to buy food for their families, to take their children to school, or worship God in church.

Jesus says, Set them free.
Let us set them free.

There are parents in school or seeking work authorization, wondering if they are preparing themselves for a future that may never happen.

Jesus says, Set them free.
Let us set them free.

There are aging Dreamers who recall no other home, and elders who have lived here many decades, having built their lives and loves, knowing they could wake up to them vanishing in an instant.

Jesus says, Set them free.
Let us set them free.

There are children, born on this soil, who are being told they do not belong here or anywhere. 

Jesus says, Set them free.
Let us set them free. 

There are sons and daughters, husbands and wives, who have nightmares about their loved ones being taken away in the night, or in the light.  For some, these nightmares have happened while awake.

Jesus says, Set them free.
Let us set them free.

“But aren’t you with them, Jesus?” Jesus always goes a bit further than being on the side of the oppressed. If he’s not with them, then he is them. This boundary becomes blurred, meaningless.

I am reminded of the icon Christ of Maryknoll, in which Jesus looks piercingly through barbed wire, a line of metal thorns across the crown of his head. His location is intentionally unclear.  The artist, Brother Robert Lentz, OFM, has written, “Is he imprisoned or are we?…We and our institutions also try to imprison Christ in various ways, to tame him and the dangerous memories he would bring us of our goals and ideals.” 

In order to justify the degradation of human dignity and to deny that the people we terrify and torture are our brothers and sisters, made in the image and likeness of God, we must arrest him, hide him, claim he is a threat.  And we must resurrect the false gods who in turn imprison us with the cadences of prosperity for the few, who lull us into believing that this country became great without the very people we seek to subdue and oppress, who teach us that fear and hate make us strong. This is why Jesus also came to the tax collectors, the Pharisees, the thieves.  

That is why he still comes to us, the powerful, in spite of wire fences or border walls. 

I see him daily, in the young man perched on his bike, a bulky cooler on his back, waiting for someone’s food app order. And I have heard him, in the child asking me to buy his candy bars.  I fumble to pull out any kind of cash from my backpack. I say in fractured Spanish, “Here you go. No, I don’t need the candy.”  But this Christ child doesn’t want me to say that. I am his hands, his feet, his voice. I can do so much more.

Jesus, set us free. 
Free from self-righteousness.
Free from helplessness.
Free from fear of those who wield terror:
Agents in masks and 
Politicians with forked tongues. 
Free to dispel lies with truth.
Free to protect and push back.
Free to restore your vision of a world without division.

Read more by this author and more about immigration at our web site.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Angela Paviglianiti was ruined for life in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps around the turn of the century.  She is what happens when you mix women’s studies, social work, and seminary.  Angela is indebted to Ignatius of Loyola and Dorothy Day, although she probably wouldn’t have gotten along with either of them. She still believes in fairies, and the Gospel according to you and me and us.