An urgent exploration of borders as sacred objects in American culture.
 
Our national conversation about the border has taken a religious turn. When televangelists declare, “Heaven has a wall,” activists shout back, “Jesus was a refugee.” For Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, the standoff makes explicit a longstanding truth: borders are religious as well as political objects.

In this book, Hurd argues that Americans share a bipartisan border religion, complete with an array of beliefs and practices, including a reverence for national security, a liturgy for immigration, and an eschatological foreign policy. Through an analysis of the many ways the United States creates, enforces, and ignores borders at home and abroad, Hurd offers a bold new perspective on the ties that bind American religion, politics, and public life.

"“Hurd deftly shows how contemporary U.S. border politics are permeated with religious meaning.”" - Library Journal

"“An original perspective on how Americans are politically motivated by feelings of sanctity that at times verge on zealotry.”" - Publishers Weekly