There has been a lot of talk among the internet community nowadays that has stirred up discussion on the issue of immigration, especially the vilification of conservatives and their responses to the issue of immigration. I have also seen plenty of Christians calling other Christians out for not supporting immigration. As a conservative Catholic Christian, especially as the son of an immigrant, I feel called to speak my mind and contribute my own two cents to the conversation.
First off, I’d like to dispel the idea that all conservatives are against immigration. Case in point, I am very much for immigration. I see the immense value and beauty that arises from it. The blending of cultures, the ability to learn from different peoples from around the world, the talents and gifts that these people bring; there are so many beautiful reasons as to why we should welcome into the USA those who genuinely wish to immigrate.
(I would like to take an aside and acknowledge the fact that that there are individuals with conservative beliefs that don’t believe immigration to be good. It must be stated, however, this vocal minority of individuals that are against immigration are not representative of all conservative individuals. I find it to be that this small subsection of conservatives are simply very loud.)
It is from this notion of welcoming immigrants where Christians will often cite the passage from the Bible,
“I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me”
Matthew 25:35 (Revised Standard Version)
This quotation in context is Christ talking to his disciples, teaching them that they do not know when or how they will encounter Christ. Christ himself says we will encounter Christ most often in the least among us. As a result, most Christians take this to believe that Christ is calling us to welcome in and give to those who ask for charity; more specifically, the immigrant.
In an article from the National Catholic Register, a prominent Catholic newspaper, author Dave Armstrong discusses the Bible’s words on immigration, the protection of property, and the defense of country borders.
Armstrong throughout his article discusses how these words of Christ from Matthew are truly advocating for immigration and the reception of immigrants. However, they are not advocating for illegal immigration. Armstrong writes that if Christ’s words were advocating for illegal immigration, Christ would have stated that the subject of his story be obliged to give what he has to the stranger instead of the subject freely giving to the stranger. This coincides with the idea that God does not force us to love; it is a free choice and cannot be forced. However, this then poses new questions. For example, how then can the USA have borders if we are called to be generous with our wealth? For this, I have another quote from the Bible,
“When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace; but when one stronger than he assails him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoil.”
Luke 11: 21-22 (Revised Standard Version)
With this quote, the author tells of Christ’s words as Christ is talking to onlookers that witnessed him perform an exorcism. The context of the quote appears to be Christ talking of how one must protect themselves internally from demons. Otherwise, these agents of evil will come in and cause you to be separated from God. This context then lends itself well to the idea that we must protect ourselves against external evils as there will be those who wish evil upon us, who will attempt to enter our lives and disrupt our peace and steal our goods. Whether this idea is used in a metaphorical/spiritual or literal/physical sense, the idea still applies that we are called to protect ourselves against evil, regardless of where it comes from.
This idea of protecting one’s self is often extended to enforcing borders and denying illegal immigrants citizenship. As such, conflict then presents itself when one attempts to reconcile generosity in immigration with protection from invaders. In response, I give two more Bible quotes,
“…[A]spire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we charged you; so that you may command the respect of outsiders, and be dependent on nobody.”
1 Thessalonians 4: 11-12 (Revised Standard Version)
“Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is living in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us…we were not idle when we were with you, we did not eat any one’s bread without paying, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not burden any of you…For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: If any one will not work, let him not eat. For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work in quietness and to earn their own living.
2 Thessalonians 3:6-12 (Revised Standard Version)
In both of these quotes, the context appears to be the author (commonly believed to be Paul the Apostle) is writing to the people of Thessalonica about how to adjust their lives to be holy and pleasing to God. Historically, the people of Thessalonica were receiving prophecy from false prophets that were teaching the second coming of Christ to be imminent in the coming days. As such, the Thessalonians were neglecting their daily work and simply lounging around and waiting for Christ to appear again. In response, Paul urges the Thessalonians to get back to their lives as before, only now they must keep doing what has been taught by Christ and his disciples. Paul tells the Thessalonians to go back to doing business as usual, doing one’s life work for their sustenance, just continue to do what God has taught us.
These words from Paul allow us to reconcile the issue stated before of the Christian faithful needing to be generous as well as us needing to protect ourselves. Do both in moderation.
Firstly, we must give as much as possible in terms of allowing individuals to be permitted into the USA. Allow me to state that I do recognize the vast majority of individuals who wish to immigrate into the USA are in fact coming in with the best of intentions in wanting to make a better life for themselves. I wish nothing but the best for these individuals as my family has been in their shoes. But, implore that we band together and figure out ways to streamline the immigration process for those who genuinely wish to become USA residents or citizens. However, the unfortunately reality is that there are some individuals who wish to come into the USA to only receive government benefits and a “free ride.” The above Bible quotes say that we as Christians should not allow that. Yes, we must have mercy on those who truly are in a position to not provide for themselves (i.e. true refugees or the critically poor), but we cannot also give to those who are unwilling to work. Furthermore, we must also make the conditions for those detained from illegal crossings as humane as possible as Christ still calls us to take care for those who are strangers.
Secondly, we must still keep systems in place that allow us to protect ourselves from those who truly wish us harm. How exactly we do all these is the better question and is beyond the scope of my understanding. But the notion of having both generosity and protection at the same time is not impossible. In fact, the Bible asks us to do both.
(As an aside, I would like to mention the idea that we should not take all of the words said from politicians and news outlets true at face value. In particular, I am talking about the recent comments made from US Senator Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on the conditions at US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) detention centers, facilities in which those who illegally cross the border are held before being deported to their country of origin. Senator Ocasio-Cortez likened these detention centers to Nazi Germany concentration camps. This is shortly after the Senator was given a tour of the ICE-CBP detention center in Clint, Texas. In response, a Latino Christian pastor from California, Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, called in a favor to the White House and demanded that he be admitted into the same ICE-CBP facility that the Senator toured. Given his influence as the president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (a high profile evangelical organization), he was granted access and toured the same facility as the Senator just days prior. In his report to the press, Rev. Rodriguez told that the media greatly misinformed the public based on his experience. Upon asking the agents at the facility, they all assured that this was the same facility that the Senator and press toured and the words coming from the press and the Senator are fabrications. In fact, the agents told Rev. Rodrigue that most of the press and the Senator herself did not even tour the entire facility. The article linked above goes on to state that ICE-CBP are still not entirely off the hook as there are some facilities that have failed inspections in years past. So there are in fact some instances in which ICE-CBP has failed at providing basic needs for those being detained. But this again is not representative of the entire ICE-CBP system and their facilities.)
One last issue I have with the idea of illegal immigration is on the issue of illegal vs. legal crossings. What do we say to the aspiring immigrant who is genuinely trying to put all the pieces in place for their/their family’s immigration when we have hundreds of others who pay a coyote, cross a desert, crawl tunnels and cross illegally? Is it just? I find it to be highly unjust.
When my father’s family crossed over to the USA, my grandfather perused legal channels for his family. I understand some people will argue that it is unfair that those who are more wealthy can more easily immigrate through legal channels into to the USA from Mexico due to their socioeconomic status. To which I acknowledge, perhaps that is the case. I am not fully aware of the immigration process to speak to the validity of this claim. But I do acknowledge that can be somewhat unfair. However, just because something is unfair and someone has an advantage over you in something does not mean that it is impossible for you to do likewise.
Take for example, my own grandparents. My grandfather is currently a mechanic and has always been a mechanic. My grandmother always an entry-level worker. Yet when my grandfather wanted to move his family to the USA, he worked his hardest to set up a home for his family in the USA while my grandmother, my father, and his siblings waited back in Mexico. It was hard. I have heard stories of my father living two lives in his younger years; one foot in the USA and one in Mexico for quite some time. Eventually, the time came when my grandfather made enough money to support his family in the USA, the paperwork was fully processed, and my father and his family became permanent residents of the USA.
Looking at this story of my father, I find it highly offensive that people can look at stories like this and willingly say, “Yeah, that’s great. But I’m more important,” and then cross the border illegally, travel to a sanctuary city and receive treatment like any other citizen, spitting in the face of the hard work and dedication my grandfather has put in for me and the rest of my father’s family to be here.
I understand that not everyone can do the same things my grandfather did because they may have even less ability to do what he did. So it does make sense why they turn to illegal crossings. However, that still does not make it okay for them to do so. This ties back to Paul’s words in his letters to the Thessalonians, “If any one will not work, let him not eat.” How can we reward illegal immigrants who cross the border and avoid the hard work that all other legal immigrants have put in? Yes, I acknowledge the fact that illegal crossings do take work themselves, but when that work is actively disobeying the law of the land and subtracting from the work done by other immigrants, I find it difficult to sympathize. This notion of obeying government rules also is stated in the Bible within the letter to the Romans,
“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore he who resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of him who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good.”
Romans 13: 1-4 (Revised Standard Version)
Here, the author (again believed to be Paul), writes to the Roman people about their disobedience to the law. The context of the text appears to be that the Roman people were acting somewhat literally when Paul taught that Christians are no longer under the “law” (Romans 6:14, RSV). Most scriptural scholars agrees that Paul here was referring to the Law of Moses, the traditional law of the Jewish people. However, the Romans took it a step further and began to tell the Roman government that followers of Christ need not listen to the government anymore since they have “grace.” Paul immediately shuts this idea down with the above quote saying that Christians still must obey the government since those laws are here to protect us. Paul reasons that these laws are to encourage the good and discourage the bad for if we are doing good, what fear should we have of government?
Allow me to close then by saying that it is entirely possible that some laws can be unjust. For example, I believe that any form of abortion is unjust. (Article on that to come soon.) And if we feel that any law is unjust and not from God, we as Americans have the power to overturn those laws through the processes written into the law of the land. We ought not make exceptions to the law for this raises even more questions and muddies the water further in rectifying the potential issues in our laws.
Furthermore, I believe we must address the greater issues at hand. For example, why is there all of a sudden a huge crisis of people attempting to cross the border illegally? How long has this been an issue? What can we do about it? Is it a prudent and wise move to simply welcome everyone in without question? How can we change the immigration process to streamline the legal channels for immigration?
I encourage everyone to take a step back and ponder these questions and think for themselves. Do not simply take what is given to you.
In est Amoris et Pax Christi – In the Love and Peace of Christ
Noah Dimas
Roman Catholic Conservative: The Political Musings of Noah Dimas 