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It's a living Bible: The authorities arrest a carpenter named Jesus. [1]

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Date: 2025-07-31

An arrest

On July 8, a Venezuelan émigré visited the ICE office in Pittsburgh for an immigration check-in. It was one of many appointments he kept over the four years since he had fled the violence of his home country in 2021 to seek sanctuary and resettlement in the US.

This political refugee trained as a civil engineer. But lacking American credentials and fluency in English, he worked for DoorDash and convenience stores. In late 2024, the KML Carpenters Training Center accepted him into its carpenters' apprenticeship program. He might have considered the trade a step back from his profession. But he was willing to do what he needed to keep his family fed, housed, and secure. He played by the rules, kept his nose to the grindstone, and contributed to his community.

ICE didn't care; on that July day, they arrested Jesus Taran.

So far, America's Sanhedrin have not claimed that Jesus is a criminal. They haven't published pictures of body art, claiming it's gang tats. Probably because Jesus leads an exemplary Christian life. And he is highly regarded by his community.

Nevertheless, Jesus remains locked up in the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Phillipsburg, PA — a facility operated for ICE by a private contractor, the GEO Group.

Follow the money

Note: GEO's PACs gave Republicans $3,718,518 in 2024, including $1 million to the Make America Great Again PAC. They have also spent $2.6 million to lobby Congress in the last two years. Why the largesse? Consider this: Trump's big piece of legislation authorized $45 billion to construct new ICE detention facilities — more money than allocated in the last 15 years combined.

That's a lot of money sloshing around. And there are sharks in that funding water. In addition, some may wonder if these new camps will be reserved solely for immigrants.

Back to Jesus

Jesus's fans include Rev. Jay Donahue of St. Oscar Romero Parish, where Jesus's family worships. The priest told the local Observer-Reporter newspaper:

"Jesus is not someone who should be subjected to this undignified experience that he's going through. It's a shame the way they are treating him; it is inhumane. It's been inspiring to see the community rally around Jesus and to recognize what he means to our community."

Donahue added:

"It's been a heartbreaking experience. He's been faithfully appearing at ICE appointments for more than four years, he was following the protocols of ICE, he was complying with everything he's supposed to do. All of a sudden, he's detained."

Jesus took his Christianity seriously and gave more to the community than he took. The paper reported:

On Sunday, congregation members and others turned out for the blessing of a community garden at Canonsburg's St. Patrick Church, a plot that Teran and his wife, Liseth Carvajal, and their two children, Kamila, 14, and Lukas, 5, played a large role in transforming into a garden. The community garden was launched to bring together the local church community and the Latino church community, many of whom attend services at Miraculous Medal, where Donahue celebrates Mass in Spanish. Teran helped till the ground, repaired a faulty tiller, and his family helped with planting and watering, with Liseth bringing along her homemade watermelon juice for refreshment.

Chris McAneny, director of housing for the nonprofit Wellness Collective, which led the garden installation, said Jesus, who also delivers food to people in need:

"Is the neighbor that everyone would want." Adding: "He was building a life for himself and his family. He's been contributing to his community and he's well-respected within this community. He wanted to be a part of the community garden, and he was a big part of it. And when we put in the plants, he was here two days a week watering them."

Fundamentalist evangelicals and other conservative Christians have tarnished their religion's reputation. It is due to their support that the convicted sinner Donald Trump is in a position to expel Jesus from America.

This Jesus, on the other hand, is acting in the way that the biblical Jesus would have celebrated.

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