It’s that time of year again for immigration activists to claim falsely that the story of the birth of Jesus Christ is the story of a refugee family.

Because nothing says I'm a serious and thoughtful person quite like re-writing the nativity story to own the “anti-immigrant pundits.”

On Christmas Day this year, Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., became the latest in a long line of activists to latch onto the nativity story as a means of touting pro-immigration policies.

“Joy to the World! Merry Christmas everyone – here’s to a holiday filled with happiness, family, and love for all people. (Including refugee babies in mangers + their parents.),” her social media team tweeted on Dec. 25.

Joy to the World!



Merry Christmas everyone - here’s to a holiday filled with happiness, family, and love for all people. 🌎(Including refugee babies in mangers + their parents.) — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) December 25, 2018



I’m not sure where this bogus narrative alleging the holy family were refugees at the time of the Nativity originated, but it’s certainly not from scripture. Mary and Joseph were under the jurisdiction of King Herod, who answered to the Roman Empire. The holy family made the trek from Galilee to Judea so that they could pay the empire’s taxes and participate in its census, identifying their official place of residence and listing their property. More specifically, they traveled to Bethlehem, the town of David, because Joseph and Mary were both of the line of David, meaning Bethlehem would be counted more or less as their “home town.” They did all of this precisely because they were citizens.

To call them refugees would be like calling me a refugee for leaving the nation's capital to visit family in Indiana. Don't be absurd. I mean, I understand why immigration activists do this. Tying the Nativity to refugees isn’t about celebrating refugees or the Nativity. It’s about accusing the pro-enforcement side of the debate of hypocrisy because even baby Jesus was a refugee (the assumption here is that the pro-enforcement side is also predominately Christian) . It’d be a great point, were it true.

Now, there was a moment in the early life of Christ when his parents were forced to flee to another country for fear of death. That’s called the “Flight into Egypt,” and it takes place after the Nativity. There aren’t hard dates on when this happened. All we’ve been told is that they took off for Egypt after the visit from the magi, which some Church scholars have placed at 14 days after Christ’s birth. To put it in clearer terms, the Nativity and the flight are two separate, distinct events in the life of Christ.

Even after having much of this pointed out to her, Ocasio-Cortez, who never tires of being wrong, dug in her heels, tweeting an article she claimed backed her false assertion, writing: “For all the anti-immigrant pundits uncomfortable with and denying that Christ’s family were refugees, too …”



For all the anti-immigrant pundits uncomfortable with and denying that Christ’s family were refugees, too: https://t.co/lLQCupyG3N — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) December 25, 2018



The article she supplied, titled “ Were Jesus, Mary and Joseph refugees? Yes,” comes from America magazine. The story’s author focuses specifically on the “Flight into Egypt,” which he at no point conflates with the Nativity.

It’s not just that Ocasio-Cortez is ignorant of basic facts. It’s that she is aggressively, joyfully so.

Her original tweet suggests she hasn’t read the Nativity story closely enough to know that the “refugee” designation is made up from thin air. Later, she pointed to an article she claimed proved her point, though it did no such thing. She would’ve known that had she read past the headline.

All I’m getting from this story is that Ocasio-Cortez doesn’t like to read, which is a great quality for an incoming member of Congress.