J.D. Vance, speaking with the Fox News host Sean Hannity, (recently, as quoted in The Atlantic) provided further "Catholic" reasoning for his administration’s approach to migrants and refugees, arguing that he thinks it’s “a very Christian concept that you love your family, and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens in your own country, and then after that you can focus and prioritize the rest of the world.”

In fact, J.D., the Bible, a well known religious text to which many Christians purport to adhere, makes no mention of Jesus imposing a hierarchy of whom to love, the sole exception being God. To wit: Jesus provides several key teachings about loving one's neighbor in the Gospels:

"Love your neighbor as yourself." This is one of the most well-known statements Jesus makes about loving one's neighbor, found in Mark 12:31 and Matthew 22:39. In both instances, Jesus presents this as the second greatest commandment, after loving God.

In Matthew 22:37-39, Jesus says:
"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

With regard to "strangers" — AKA foreigners as used throughout the New Testament — Jesus expands on this concept in Luke 10:27, stating:
"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind' and 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

Additionally, in John 13:34-35, Jesus gives a new commandment to his disciples:
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

In Matthew 25:35-36, Jesus directly equates welcoming strangers with welcoming Him:
"For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me."

Jesus goes on to explain that when we treat "the least of these" with kindness, we are treating Him with kindness. This teaching elevates the act of welcoming strangers to a profound spiritual significance.

Now I frankly don't believe for a moment that these are direct quotes, as they were written decades after Jesus' death and likely mistranscribed over the centuries, but these teachings emphasize the importance Jesus placed on loving one's neighbor as a fundamental aspect of Christian faith and practice. One need not be a professing Christian to grasp the universality of such principles.

Vance in his "Hillbilly Elegy" alludes to the paucity of his upbringing and early education, and now he offers proof.