The good book says to love your neighbor as yourself, but a pastor in San Diego, California, did the exact opposite as he threatened to call ICE on a woman speaking Spanish over a simple parking dispute. The woman captured the encounter in a video, which was later posted on TikTok.
“Call ICE on ‘em,” the pastor ordered a Chinese man who appeared to be with him. “Call ICE? I have paper. Call ICE,” the woman dared them in broken English, making the pastor reiterate that the other man should actually report the woman to the immigration authorities. Mixing a bit of Spanish and the English she could speak, the woman shared that the pastor of New Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church was asking the Chinese man to call the authorities on her. She then zoomed in on the church, which was just across the street from where they were standing.
The post has since gone viral, sparking criticism towards the religious leader. “Love thy neighbour apparently now comes with an asterisk and a threat to call immigration,” a TikToker wrote in the comments, pointing out the irony. Another one joked, “I think calling ICE is not the smartest decision, because if ICE shows up, all of them are gone.” This netizen wrote, “Shame on those pastors who call themselves men of God. That’s why I don’t give my money to the church.” Another one added, “Imagine invoking ICE as a first resort in a parking dispute. That’s not conflict resolution, that’s weaponizing fear.”
Many were stuck on the fact that the threat came from a supposed “man of God.” “A pastor, a man who preached the Lord’s word and preaches about loving thy neighbor, wants to get a person deported,” one pointed out. “When a pastor treats speaking Spanish like a suspicious act, the Sermon has officially turned into hypocrisy,” another chimed in. “Scripture says blessed are the peacemakers, not blessed are those who call ICE on bilingual women. The pastor should be ashamed,” one added.
“He should be ashamed of himself. If he isn’t grieved by the Holy Spirit for his hate, he needs to check out his ghost, because he got the wrong one,” a user stated. “Why would a man serving God and the people want others to call ICE?” another asked. “That is low down… I don’t care how mad someone makes me; I would not call them. I may call the police, but no…” another TikToker wrote.
Threats of calling immigration officers on people seem to have become the easiest weapon when dealing with immigrants these days. The NerdStash reported that a Los Angeles rideshare passenger threatened to call ICE on his driver. The disgruntled berated the driver for not being able to speak English, all while speaking almost incomprehensible broken English. The local accused the driver of driving wrong and demanded that he go back to his country.
