Controversial ‘Hell has open borders’ sign isn’t about US immigration, IL church says

An Illinois church posted an electronic sign with what appeared to be an immigration-related message, upsetting several community members. Screengrab from New Hope Community Church's Facebook video

Originally published February 12, 2025 for the Miami Herald

An electronic sign with a controversial immigration-related message lit up outside of a church in Illinois, but according to the church’s pastor, the sign was not about U.S. immigration policy.

“Heaven has strict immigration laws. Hell has open borders,” flashed the sign outside of New Hope Community Church in Palatine, drawing backlash from several community members who took the sign as politically charged commentary against immigration.

“Part of why we moved to Palatine was the diversity — being able to show our kids that,” Katharine Huddleston told WLS-TV. “Seeing something like this is really upsetting.”

The message — which was displayed on the sign for about six days, according to Pastor James Pittman — comes amid new immigration guidelines from President Donald Trump’s administration, including one directive that allows immigration officials to enforce laws in places of worship and other previously considered “sensitive” locations.

Twenty-seven religious groups filed a lawsuit Feb. 11 challenging the recent policy change, McClatchy News reported.

For the church, however, the sign was meant to give community members an opportunity to examine their relationship with God, not an attack on immigrants, Pittman said in a Feb. 11 YouTube video addressing the controversy.

In the video, Pittman pointed to Bible verses in the book of Matthew that reference a “narrow gate” to heaven.

“We often times take issues of the day and put it up on our sign pointing people to the righteousness of God and who he is,” Pittman said in the video.

Later in the video, Pittman stated that the church is “against illegal immigration” as it teaches that Christians are to “obey the laws of the land,” but he emphasized that the church’s sign was not about that.

Still, many thought the message was in poor taste and did not receive the pastor’s justification well.

His church sign is not only insensitive but also perpetuates harmful stereotypes. It’s a thinly veiled attempt to stoke fears and push a divisive agenda, masquerading as a message of faith,” one person commented on Facebook.

Some residents made plans to place signs of encouragement around the church, WLS-TV reported.

According to a recently released Lifeway Research poll, a majority of evangelical Christians said they believe the U.S. has a moral responsibility to accept refugees and to help immigrants who are undocumented, McClatchy News reported.

Palatine is about a 30-mile drive northwest from Chicago — a city that has received some of the most migrants in recent years, with about 40,000 people since 2022, according to the latest data from the Migration Policy Institute.