Pastor Paula White, chair of President Donald Trump’s evangelical advisory board, defended Trump’s child separation policy earlier this week by claiming that Jesus did not live in Egypt illegally, and that “he would not have been our Messiah” if he’d broken the law.

After gushing over how “amazing” the child detention center she visited was, White addressed immigration advocates’ point that Jesus himself was a refugee.

“Yes, he did live in Egypt for three-and-a-half years,” the televangelist told CBN News. “But it was not illegal.”

“If he had broken the law, then he would have been sinful and he would not have been our Messiah,” White added.

In fact, Jesus was famously crucified specifically for breaking the law by claiming to be the son of God. Before that, he was persecuted by religious leaders and the Romans for violating laws like resting on the Sabbath.

Several Christian leaders weren’t having it with White’s take:

Jesus was a refugee & did break the law. He was crucified as a felon under Roman law. Christian nationalists like @Paula_White are enabling injustice w/ biblical interpretations that echo #SlaveholderReligion. https://t.co/FhV8qgUn9u — Rev. Dr. Barber (@RevDrBarber) July 11, 2018

No. Jesus "broke the laws," both religious and civic, several times, which is one of the reasons he was crucified. He healed on the Sabbath, permitted his disciples to pluck grain, had contact with the unclean, and so on. Plus, he was indeed a refugee: https://t.co/sDMECI3IDj https://t.co/sRc4FgqClN — James Martin, SJ (@JamesMartinSJ) July 11, 2018