The flight to Egypt and modern times

This Sunday many churches will hear Matthew 2:13-15,19-23 in which Joseph flees to Egypt with Mary and the child Jesus.

Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, 15and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I have called my son.’

When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, ‘He will be called a Nazorean.’

We often hear revisionists refer to the holy family as illegal immigrants in an attempt to justify an open border policy.

I saw a response from Robert A. J. Gagnon to such a comment which deserves your attention, 

 ...as is typical of your exegesis and hermeneutical appropriation of Scripture, you are missing the point regarding your application of the story of the flight of Joseph and Mary to Egypt. 

(1) The issue is not whether Joseph and Mary were in flight when they went to Egypt. Obviously they were. The issue is rather whether they were violating Egyptian law through their emigration (btw, temporary) to Egypt. The answer is: They were not. While Egypt was outside the jurisdiction of Herod the Great, it was still part of the same Roman Empire to which Israel also belonged. 

(2) They were also not entering a welfare state that guaranteed them welfare benefits for food, housing, medical care, and a basic income. They were not a burden to Egyptian taxpayers. 

Moreover, (3) Egypt was not viewed generally as a destination to which untold millions around the Roman Empire and beyond wanted desperately to emigrate for economic reasons. 

In addition, (4) while the vast majority of illegal immigrants now in the US came here for economic opportunity, Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt because their child was being specifically targeted for execution. 

Finally, (5) the stay of Joseph was only temporary, limited in duration to the reign of Herod the Great who was already advanced in age. There was no plan to stay in Egypt permanently.