I was glad to see the National Association of Evangelicals (http://www.nae.net/) pass a resolution last week calling for immigration reform, with the focus that immigrants should be treated with respect and mercy.
For a long time I’ve been saddened by some of the caustic rhetoric heard from the mouths of Christians about immigrants. Their arguments sound more like commentary from some radio talk show hosts rather than the Bible.
In early adulthood, living in small-town Iowa with a 99 percent white population, I had many of the same leanings. What’s with all these non-white people coming to this country trying to steal what I deserve? After all, I was born here.
My thinking changed radically when I moved to the Chicago suburbs and found myself surrounded by Filipino, Pakistani and Polish neighbors. It shifted further in 1996 when I met Carlos on a freelance reporting project. Carlos immigrated to the United States from Mexico as a teenager and soon found work in a factory in suburban Chicago. I interviewed him in his sparsely furnished tiny bedroom that he rented — from Bible-believing Christians — as an illegal alien. Carlos explained that he would have wound up in jail or dead if he stayed in Mexico. In the United States he became a Christian. When I talked to him, he led a weekly Bible study for other Hispanics.
If I lived on the U.S. side of the border with Mexico I may have a different perspective. I’ve heard the arguments that Mexicans entering the country are thieves, drug dealers and murderers, as if they had a monopoly on such activities. I don’t advocate allowing immigrants to move into the country carte blanche. But when someone has lived in this country for several years, worked at jobs few others would accept and accepted the gospel upon hearing it for the first time, is that grounds to despise them?
Most immigrants aren’t terrorists. They often moved here for economic survival. Afterwards, they become productive citizens. Scripture has admonition after admonition about how to treat aliens compassionately. There’s no distinction between legal and illegal.
For example, Leviticus 19:33-34 declares, “When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born.” Jesus’ Parable of the Good Samaritan teaches that we need to be kind to reviled foreigners.
Last fall I visited the Statue of Liberty in New York. It might be a good idea for all of us to remember the famous poem written by Emma Lazarus that is inscribed on the base of that beacon of hope in the harbor:
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
In the immigration debate we need to adhere to biblical and ethical principles rather than political bombast.
That some are here illegally is, indeed, a problem. That they are, overwhelmingly, lured here by employers looking for cheap labor who actively recruit illegal workers, is a bigger problem. And, that they are thus abused on both sides of the border -- by "coyote" smugglers there, and ethically-challenged businesses here -- is just plain sad.
ReplyDeleteWe don't need to be hateful...but ethically is it fair to let people who have come here illegally stay when there are so many that are trying to come here legally that are not let in?
ReplyDeleteIs it fair to allow them on the welfare rolls, pay for their health care and food when many native-born people here do not receive these benefits?
I agree with remims in that the employers that are wiling to hire illegals are the bigger problems. The truth is, most Hispanic people are very conservative, strong family people and they make good workers, contributing much to society. We may need to discriminate who we let immigrate her, but there should be ways to alow more Mexicans to immigrate legally. I don't think the issue is so much immigrants, but illegal aliens, and I know there are lots of illegals here we should be glad to have here legally, but what do you do? God also tells us to obey the laws of the land.
Good points though John.