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The Conversation
The Conversation
Yii-Jan Lin, Associate Professor of New Testament and Public Voices Fellow, Yale University

Americans use the Book of Revelation to talk about immigration – and always have

A French tapestry depicts Saint John the Evangelist gazing at the New Jerusalem. Octave 444 via Wikimedia Commons

During a campaign speech in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 19, 2024, Donald Trump promised to save the country from immigrants: “I will rescue every town across America that has been invaded and conquered, and we will put these vicious and bloodthirsty criminals in a jail or kick them out of our country.”

Depicting immigrants as a threat has been a pillar of Trump’s message since 2015. And the types of terms he uses aren’t just disparaging. It might not seem like it, but Trump is continuing a long tradition in American politics: using language shaped by the Bible.

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