ICE would Zip-tie Baby Jesus Today

About this episode

The episode discusses the parallels between immigration issues faced by the migrant community and the themes in the YA novel 'Tethered to Other Stars'.

Jennifer tells Courtney about the eerie similarities between ICE’s perpetual torment on America’s migrant community and the YA novel Tethered to Other Stars by Elisa Stone Leahy…A book that you’d be hard pressed to find in the public school libraries of today’s ‘ Merica . The book follows seventh grader, Wendy Toledo, as she navigates the nuances of friends, bullies, and science fairs, while also trying to make sense of the woman hiding out from ICE in her local church…as well as her own family’s “legal status”. Despite its similarities, there are a few major differences between this novel and today’s reality…one being that people can no longer seek sanctuary in a church. There aren’t many places that the Proud Boys, I mean ICE, won’t illegally enter to kidnap you. Something that hasn’t changed, though, is church support. Many (not all) churches across the country are offering their assistance with securing food, housing, education, employment to people impacted by Trump’s secret polICE. In addition to concrete support, many churches are sending messages that advocate for “meaningful immigration reform,” and call for an end to “dehumanizing rhetoric and violence” through their…

People in this episode

Host: Courtney

Guest: Jennifer

Topics covered

• immigration
• literature
• social issues
• church support
• youth literature
• dehumanization
• sanctuary

Keywords

• immigration
• ICE
• Tethered to Other Stars
• youth literature
• sanctuary
• church support
• dehumanization
• Trump
• Proud Boys

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: ICE, Proud Boys

Books & works: Tethered to Other Stars

Places: Lake Street Church, Evanston, Il, America, Merica

More episodes of Moms Into Literary Freedom

• How the Church censored the Bible for Power and the Patriarchy · June 4, 2026 · 1h 10m
• "The Boys" Comic & TV Show Banned for What? · May 16, 2026 · 1h 14m
• Duggar Drama, Republican's Hypocritical Kinks, Why to say "SWANA", not "middle east", & American Imperialism (part 2) · April 8, 2026 · 1h 6m
• What's going on in Iran? And how do Nukes at Bikini Bottom 🍍 and Godzilla's 🦖 True Origins relate? · March 13, 2026 · 1h 4m
• How 'Heated Rivalry' will Destroy Misogyny... · February 27, 2026 · 1h 11m
• Don't Ban Bad Bunny, Ban Bigots! · February 10, 2026 · 1h 19m