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When it comes to Christian values, welcoming the stranger and treating them with dignity is Jesus‘ fundamental teaching. And as all the data show, it’s wise, too, because it brings concrete economic and social benefits to our country. While it’s true immigration reform is needed, because the system isn’t working is not a reason to vilify immigrants. As Christians, we care that reform cares for families and children, welcomes those fleeing danger, and treats the most vulnerable among us with dignity. We know this story because we know another child who was a refugee in a desert with his family, fleeing an authoritarian government, and he taught us to treat other refugees as if they were him.
Most of us cannot imagine how difficult life must be for someone to choose to flee their home, family, and community. Add to it the dangers of making their way across borders. The US-Mexico border is the deadliest land route on record for migrants worldwide due in large part to the harsh desert conditions. Then imagine arriving in a place with barely more than the clothes on your back, a language you don’t speak, a culture you don’t know, and a country who calls you a terrorist.
Christianity could not be clearer. We are given these instructions dozens of times, from Leviticus to Matthew, “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself for you were strangers…” [Leviticus 19:33-34]. “I was a stranger and you welcomed me…” [Matthew 25]. (Just to list a couple).
We are all made in the image of God and we are all sojourners. Our sacred scripture instructs us to welcome and care for the stranger, the widow, and the orphan, the most vulnerable who need and deserve our care. This “hospitality” we are called to is beautifully defined in Jesus’ teachings as he instructs us to not see the other, but to see yet another image of God—and opportunity to share God’s love more fully.
Pope Francis said migrants “represent the suffering body of Christ when they are forced to leave their country, to face the risks and tribulations of a difficult journey, when they find no other way out.” They are “the face of Christ,” to whom the Church is to offer “relief and hope.” He also pointed out that immigration is our story. “The history of mankind is the history of migrations on every latitude; there is no people that has not known the migratory phenomenon.”
Churches have a long history of offering compassion and sanctuary. By the end of the 4th century under Roman rule, it was a religious practice for churches to provide safe sanctuary to poor and weak fugitives running from cruel punishments. That tradition continues today. Faith-based organizations will always provide care for migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, including Christians escaping persecution for their beliefs. It is one of the surest signs that we are well-rooted in the teachings and love of Jesus.
“Love your neighbor” means love your next door neighbor and protect them from the rest. Because the rest are violent, dirty, job-stealing criminals. They say immigration reform should have government agencies go city-by-city, turn neighbor against neighbor; conduct raids and round ups in homes, workplaces, and churches (yes, churches.) Then separate families; lock people in mass internment camps; then deport them no matter the dangers.
The terrible truth is, the harder we make immigration, the more human trafficking cartels benefit, and the more people die in the dangerous conditions that lead them to our borders. Imagine a young Jesus locked up in a cage and separated from his parents. We certainly must not turn a blind eye to these policies.
Raiding schools and houses of worship, immigrant round ups, false imprisonment, mass deportations, turning neighbors and colleagues into snitches … These policies violate the most fundamental Christian teachings. They do not provide the reforms we need but they do accomplish their goal: provoke fear of “the other” with grievously misleading information. So let’s clear that up, and since the Biblical text doesn’t track that kind of data, we’ll leave the texts for a moment.
“Immigration fuels the economy.” That’s what the George W. Bush Institute says and economists agree. “When immigrants enter the labor force, they increase the productive capacity of the economy and raise GDP. Their incomes rise, but so do those of natives. That’s the phenomenon dubbed the ‘immigration surplus’.” Contrary to popular propaganda, migrants don’t take our jobs because immigrants flow to “industries and areas where there is a relative need for workers—where bottlenecks or shortages might otherwise damp growth.” Need for workers is going to grow as our nation’s population ages and leaves the workforce.
As for those so-called “skyrocketing” crime rates, immigrants are “60% less likely to be incarcerated than the U.S.-born,” according to a comprehensive study by Stanford University and Northwestern University. In fact, “first-generation immigrants have not been more likely to be imprisoned than people born in the United States since 1880.”
Back to the biblical texts. Everyone agrees—immigration reform is needed, so let’s be wise about it. The very essence of Jesus’ teachings is to treat the sojourner with welcome and respect. That must include caretakers, too, because today’s faith-based groups that care for migrants are consistently targets for attack. They’re harassed, threatened with violence, and even accused of everything from child sex trafficking to not being real Christians. As Deuteronomy 27:19 makes so clear, “‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen’.”
Maybe we all need to say “Amen” and remind ourselves that not only was Jesus a refugee, our Christian history and our personal family histories are rooted in immigration. The result has been one of America’s greatest strengths. Let’s be sure immigration reform is real reform based on real data and not misleading propaganda meant to scare Christians into supporting very un-Christ-like policies.
Our spiritual DNA is that of immigrants. Jesus may be the world’s most famous refugee [Matthew 2:13-23], but we were all strangers in a strange land [Exodus 22:21]. Our society and Christianity have flourished in our nation of immigrants and together we built a country that became the envy of the world. Immigrants bring the economy up and crime down. So it’s exceedingly difficult to wrap your head around the hate and dehumanization aimed at immigrants. Maybe it’s not about immigrants. Maybe it’s about leaders who tell us to fear a false enemy because holding onto power through fear and division is time-tested and incredibly effective. It’s time for Christians to embrace immigrants and show them the love and care Jesus calls us to abundantly share.
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