Christians and Immigration

(Published under title "Country's Hypocrisy Shown by Its Immigration Views," 4/12/08, page B5.)

Where did your ancestors come from? Europe? Africa? South America? Asia? What brought them here? Poverty or famine and a hope for a better life? A homeland overrun by war? Trouble with the law or the military draft back home? Religious or ethnic persecution? A quest for riches? Were they brought here in chains or as indentured servants? My own ancestors include impoverished Irish, Danes seeking work and a new start, Germans and French fleeing religious persecution, Scots fleeing the law, English who sold themselves into years of slavery for a chance at a better life. Very few of our ancestors fit today’s image of “most desirable” immigrants to this country.

The Bible’s story of the Hebrew people repeatedly stresses God’s command to welcome the stranger and be kind to the alien among them, and to remember that they were once aliens and strangers themselves in the land of Egypt (Ex. 22:21, 23: 9; Lev. 19:34; Deut. 10:19; Is. 52:4; etc.). God asks each generation to remember their ancestors’ experience as if it were their own—being strangers, fleeing hardship, living as aliens in a foreign land.
The University Baptist & Brethren Church held a four-part discussion forum this winter entitled: “Welcoming the Stranger: Christians and Immigration.” We learned how biblical tradition and historical experience have shaped the church as a sanctuary for the persecuted; that the face of America has changed and become more “many-cultural,” but that many who bring a new language or appearance face hostility.

Myths about immigration were exploded: Social Security records reveal that immigrants, even undocumented ones, pay billions of dollars in taxes every year; Urban Institute and Brookings Institution studies show that immigrants contribute far more in taxes than they get in social services, and that immigrant entrepreneurs create billions of dollars in sales and tens of thousands of jobs in this country. Most immigrants arrive at working age—so that our country spends nothing on their education—and fill jobs with gaps in the supply of native-born workers, at both the high and low ends of the skill spectrum.

Many Americans believe that big, bad problems occur when foreigners come into this country. Yet the affordable price of fresh food in our grocery stores often relies upon foreign workers who live in fear of being deported and so do not protest very low wages and unsafe, unhealthy and unjust working conditions. Isn’t it hypocritical of us not to develop an immigration policy that is both firm and fair, that remembers that we were aliens once too, and that lets the workers who put food on our tables—and who sometimes build, or care for our homes, and our children as well—live in dignity and security?

But immigration policy in this country is today being foolishly shaped—not by religious or biblical principles, but by fear and hostility. There is talk of building a wall on our southern border to keep out illegal immigrants. Are we then to live in a privileged gated community nation with “the tired, the poor, the huddled masses” outside its walls? Jesus told a story about a poor man who lived all his life just outside the gate of a rich man (Luke 16: 19-31). The poor man ended up in heaven; the rich man ended up in hell, pleading for another chance. We have our chance now.

Sarah Malone is an ordained Church of the Brethren minister currently serving as a Deacon at University Baptist & Brethren Church.