Imagine yourself as a young parent. You find out that your family is in mortal danger at the hands of the government, and you’re forced to flee your homeland.

If this were to happen to you, you would be a refugee.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, a refugee is a person forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war or violence. A refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group.

This is the story of millions of people around the world. There are currently 26 million people around the world who have had to flee their countries as refugees; half of those are children. Since Feb. 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, this has also been the story for more than 3 million Ukrainians.

It’s also the story of Jesus.

When Jesus was only an infant his life was threatened by a powerful despot. Like so many other refugee families, his family fled their home in the middle of the night, leaving everything behind, and walked through the desert to safety in another country.

Many people reading this would not describe themselves as Christian. But, regardless of who we are or of our faith, most of us believe that if a family is forced to run from its home because some members are likely to be murdered, they deserve compassion and care.

The question, then, is what this means for our actions.

The West has reacted to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the refugee crisis it caused with compassion and care.

Our faiths and our ethics tell us that when someone is in need, we help them, particularly if they have been through a disaster like war. Maine’s readiness to welcome these people should they need and choose to come here is a great show of compassion.

But compassion for people fleeing war, natural disasters or epidemics in their home countries should not begin and end with Ukrainians. And we should not limit our compassion to those whom the federal government designates as refugees. All people with the courage and tenacity to move to the United States for a better life help make our country the “land of the free, home of the brave.”

Together, we can create a fair immigration process that upholds our values to make this a place of liberty and justice for all. We must insist that our representatives in Washington, D.C., use their power to create a path to citizenship for undocumented DACA recipients (“Dreamers”), holders of Temporary Protected Status, farmworkers and essential workers; to declare a moratorium on deportations; to make sure that TPS protects all those who need it so no one risks being returned to a country where they are not safe; and they must end the cruelty of our interior detention and deportation system.

Immigrants are valuable members of our communities and leaders in our schools, workplaces and local governments, but they are often treated differently simply because of their legal status.

Maine’s asylum seekers and other immigrants have also fled violence and threats to their families’ safety and well-being. Just as we want to support those fleeing Ukraine, we can take actions to support those building new lives here. That includes ensuring they have access to housing, health care and other basic needs.

There are bills before the Legislature and opportunities to address these urgent needs in the supplemental budget. There are also opportunities to utilize funds from the American Rescue Plan at the state, county and municipal level that can be used to build an equitable response for those who need help today and who will help strengthen our communities over the months and years to come.

Jesus was a refugee and, during his short life, he spoke and acted on behalf of refugees, the marginalized and the most vulnerable among us.

In the book of Matthew, Jesus reminds us that any time we “welcome the stranger” we welcome Jesus himself. So, and again, regardless of our faith, we can ask ourselves at this moment — what would Jesus do?

Rev. Stephen Carnahan of Auburn has served as a pastor in the United Church of Christ for over 35 years.

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