The Christmas story is one we return to again, especially in this Advent season as we prepare for our Messiah.

Mary travels to Bethlehem exhausted, pregnant, and afraid, forced to move under the decree of a tyrant, Caesar Augustus. She and Joseph arrive only to hear the words so many still hear today: there is no room for you. The vulnerability they face is profound. And yet, it is there, in a manger, surrounded by God’s creation, in a simple and unexpected place, that Christ is born.

Soon after, King Herod, threatened by rumors of a child who might challenge his power, enacts a horrific policy of violence, ordering the slaughter of children in and around Bethlehem. To survive, the Holy Family becomes refugees, fleeing to Egypt in search of safety.

This story feels painfully relevant.

Today, fear grips so many communities, immigrants and refugees, transgender Americans, people of color, people with disabilities, and those living on the margins. Once again, entire groups are scapegoated, treated as threats, told they are less worthy, less human, less deserving of care and protection.

That is why I am always drawn back to the Christmas story. Jesus is born in a manger, not a palace. God comes into the world amid displacement, poverty, and rejection. The nativity is not just a sentimental decoration, it is a story of vulnerability. A story of needing a place to rest when the world says, we do not have room.

And yet, Christmas calls us to make room.

This month at St. Paul’s, we are living into that call by serving as a warming shelter for neighbors experiencing homelessness in Carson City. Each night throughout the winter, churches across the city open their doors as part of a shared ministry, supported by local congregations, a non profit, and the Sheriff’s Office, to ensure that people have warmth, safety, and dignity during the coldest months. We continue to hold hope for a permanent shelter in Carson City, a long-term solution rooted in compassion and justice. Until then, we make room.

This is what the gospel looks like in action.

I was reminded of this during the recent Special Session when the Windsor Park neighborhood in North Las Vegas, after nearly thirty years of fighting for dignity and justice, finally saw an end to their struggle. Their story is a powerful witness to the importance of treating one another with respect and honoring the inherent worth of every community.

Housing affordability will be a priority for Lutheran Engagement and Advocacy in Nevada in 2026 because the crisis is affecting our congregations and our neighbors alike. Rents continue to rise, and too many families are being pushed to the brink. During the Special Session, LEAN advocated for a cap on the amount of housing that out-of-state corporations can purchase in Nevada. During the 83rd Legislative Session, we supported tenant protections, an Affordable Housing Fund, and policy changes to allow greater flexibility and equity in housing development.

The Christmas story reminds us that God shows up where the world least expects, and often least welcomes. In a time when fear and exclusion are loudly proclaimed, we are called to embody a different story. A story of welcome. A story of dignity. A story of making room.

May this season remind us that caring for our neighbor is not optional—it is the very heart of the gospel.

Grace and peace,

Rev. Paul M. Larson

Anchored by the faith engagement working group of the National Coalition to End Family and Child Detention and the Kairos Center, Free Families invites communities to connect and coordinate our actions around family separation, detention and deportation; to plan and carry out activities that nurture and protect our families; and respond and prepare for greater crises. Our message is straightforward: The use of family detention is wrong, inhumane, and must come to an end.

On Thursday, December 11th at 5 pm PT/ 6pm MT/ 7 pm CT/ 8 pm ET, the National Coalition to End Family and Child Detention invites you to join us for an interactive call where they will:

• Share stories from around the country of how communities are taking action against this violence 
• Share new resources – including a toolkit with songs, rituals, prayers, and more – that you can use in your next gathering or action.

Through vigils, song, prayer, action and more, Free Families is a rallying cry and public expression of our commitment to the beloved community we all deserve.

In his Christmas message to the church, Bishop Curry delivers a children’s sermon, describing the night when Jesus was born. “One silent night, far away in a town called Bethlehem, the stars twinkled brighter than ever. And the angels were there too. It was as if the whole sky was whispering: ‘Something wonderful is happening.’”

Curry emphasizes that “whispers make us stop, listen and pay attention” and reminds us that, this Christmas, we should listen closely because “the heavens are still whispering: ‘Jesus is here. God loves you. Share that love with the world.’”

As families gather around the dinner table during the holidays, political debates are bound to come up—with immigration being no exception.

To counter the misinformation on this contentious topic and keep the conversation productive, the American Immigration Council is here to bust five common myths about immigrants in the United States.

1. Do undocumented immigrants commit more crimes?

False narratives about immigrants bringing crime to the United States are not new and have been exacerbated by claims that recent immigration enforcement efforts are focused on “the worst of the worst.” But the data is clear: noncriminals are increasingly being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). People without any criminal record now make up the largest population in immigration detention.

Welcoming immigrants into American communities can actually strengthen public safety. In fact, immigrants—including those without legal status—are less likely to commit crimes than their U.S.-born counterparts.

• Data from 1980 to 2022 shows that as the immigrant share of the U.S. population grew—from 6.2% to 13.9%—the crime rate declined by 60.4%. The violent crime rate fell by 34.5%, and the property crime rate fell by 63.3%.
• Nineteen separate research reports published between 2017 and 2024 have found that the portion of immigrants in an area did not impact either the violent crime or property crime rate in that area. Increased shares of immigrants were actually associated with lower violent or property crime rates.
• Despite President Trump claiming that immigration enforcement is focused on going after “the worst of the worst,” government data show that the majority of people detained by ICE have no criminal convictions. Read more: Debunking the Myth of Immigrants and Crime.

2. Can undocumented immigrants vote?

Increasingly, politicians are changing voting systems under the guise of stopping noncitizens from voting. There is no evidence, however, that noncitizens are voting in any significant way at all.

• A database from the Heritage Foundation going back to the 1980s identifies 1,546 cases of alleged voter fraud. Only 68 cases pertain to noncitizens. Despite significant efforts to document noncitizen voting, proven incidents of noncitizen voting over a 40-year period were below 0.0001%.
• Most cases of noncitizen voting involve lawful permanent residents—many who ended up voting due to bad information, being encouraged to vote by a government official, or being falsely told they were eligible to vote.
• Read more: Unpacking Myths About Noncitizen Voting — How Heritage Foundation’s Own Data Proves It’s Not a Problem.

3. Do undocumented immigrants pay taxes?

The value of immigrants to the U.S. economy is under increased scrutiny, especially regarding their tax contributions. This is despite immigrant households—including undocumented immigrant households—contributing billions of dollars in federal, state, and local level taxes each year.

• Although they cannot access many taxpayer-funded programs and services, undocumented immigrants make significant contributions to the U.S. tax system by paying sales, income, and property taxes.
• In 2023, immigrant households paid a total of $651.9 billion in taxes. They also contributed $215.8 billion to Social Security and $58.7 billion to Medicare. Undocumented households paid $55.8 billion in taxes and had a combined spending power of $299.0 billion.
• Read more: The Council’s interactive data tool, Map the Impact, provides information about the economic and demographic contributions of immigrants at the federal, state, and local levels.  

4. Can undocumented immigrants get Medicaid and SNAP?

Who qualifies for specific federal public benefits can be complicated. Complex eligibility rules and political rhetoric have fueled confusion and misinformation. The passage of President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act has further muddied the waters, but the truth about immigrants and public benefits is simpler.

• Undocumented immigrants are ineligible for federally funded programs like Medicaid, Medicare, or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). They do not receive Social Security benefits (despite paying into the program), cannot purchase healthcare coverage through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace, and are ineligible for SNAP benefits. Undocumented parents can apply for SNAP on behalf of their U.S. citizen children, but benefits can only be calculated based on the number ofeligible household members.
• Lawfully present immigrants, including green card holders, can receive some public benefits, but must wait five years before they can apply, with limited exceptions.
• Many immigrants avoid applying for benefits they may otherwise be eligible for due to confusion and fear stemming from a prior “public charge” rule—something the Trump administration is considering bringing back—leading to mixed-status households unenrolling from public benefits for which they are entitled.
• Read more: Can Undocumented Immigrants Get SNAP or Medicaid? The Truth About Federal Benefits and Immigrants Help Fund Our Public Programs.   

5. Do immigrants take American jobs?

Immigrants are frequently portrayed as competitors for American jobs. In reality, immigrants are complementary to the U.S.-born workforce. They are job creators, fill labor shortages in key industries like agriculture and healthcare, and are vital to the long-term health of the U.S. economy.

• Despite making up 14.3% of the population in 2023, immigrants made up 17.7% of the U.S. workforce in 2023—filling 26.1% of jobs in the agriculture industry and 25.7% of jobs in the construction industry.
• Immigrants are vital to the U.S. healthcare system. They are twice as likely as U.S.-born individuals to work as home health aides, and twice as likely to work as physicians or surgeons. In 2023, 15.9% of nurses and 28.4% of health aides in the U.S. were foreign-born.
• Millions of American workers are employed at immigrant-founded and immigrant-owned companies. In 2023, 23.6% of entrepreneurs were immigrants, and immigrant-owned businesses had a combined income of $116.2 billion. 
• Read more: Trump’s Immigration Actions Are Taking a Toll on Local Economies – Here’s What the Daya Says So Far.

While this is not an exhaustive list of myths, it highlights the widespread misinformation and confusion surrounding immigrants in the U.S. These myths not only affect our immigrant neighbors but also impact the well-being, safety, and prosperity of all Americans.

As we gather with our loved ones during the holidays, it’s important to remember that not only are we a nation built by newcomers, but we are a nation sustained and made prosperous by immigrants.