WASHINGTON — In January 2026, during large-scale immigration enforcement actions in Minnesota, the Department of Homeland Security released a video featuring night-vision footage of armed agents conducting raids, set to Lorde's cover of “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” and included the biblical quote “Blessed are the peacemakers.” The video later displayed the continuation of the biblical passage: “for they shall be called the sons of God.”

“DHS is causing surprise for a certain reason—to make a statement: that whatever Homeland Security is doing is to create peace, even if it looks violent,” said Yii-Jan Lin, professor of New Testament at Yale Divinity School. “I think it can be a conversation partner with many different ways of thinking about immigration policy, but there are many different sacred texts that could be used, and also just ethics that doesn't have to subscribe to any one religion at all.”

The Rev. John Dickson, who teaches at Wheaton College, noted that the verse “Blessed are the peacemakers” is part of the Sermon on the Mount, which begins with “Blessed are the poor in spirit” and emphasizes meekness, humility, and love.

“My first thought was, there is a gun called the Peacemaker,” said Dyron Daughrity, dean of religion and philosophy at Pepperdine University and a minister in the evangelical Church of Christ. “It's very common for armies, militaries just throughout history to invoke the name of God, to invoke the name of Jesus Christ.”

A Pew Research study released in May 2026 found that, for the first time, a majority of respondents said the Bible should have a great deal or at least some influence on U.S. laws. Twenty-eight percent of respondents in the study said that when the Bible and the will of the people conflict, the Bible should have more influence over laws.