Wow. What a day this has been. What an incredible amount of energy and inspiration. I have listened to so many stories, heard so many testimonies, and learned so much. I have heard people talk about how they have been personally affected by immigration laws. I have heard about the root causes of migration. I have learned about Obama's less than stellar track record so far when it comes to policies in Latin America. I have learned about the challenges of refugee resettlement in this country. But perhaps most importantly, I have met so many people whose commitment to the issue of justice in immigration reform just completely humbles and inspires me. I am humbled to hear about the incredible work they do day in and day out-- tirelessly pursuing justice in the face of so many obstacles. And I am inspired to do better in my own commitment to justice. I am inspired to renew my commitment to justice advocacy in our churches, and I am reminded why it is I am going through the arduous process of ordination-- a process which so often makes me want to bury my head in the sand. But the people I have met today remind why I got on this crazy train to begin with. They inspire me to take my head out of the sand, stand up straight, and just get on with it. Because that's what needs to be done.
Early in the day, one of the speakers put it this way. He said that the push for comprehensive immigration reform is not simply about fixing a broken system. It's not just about reforming an ineffective law. It is nothing short of "fixing our nation's soul." I suppose that may seem hyperbolic to some. But after a day of hearing story upon story of families torn apart and children left without parents, after hearing about international aid that goes towards guns and helicopters rather than human development and infrastructure, and after hearing about our unwillingness as a country to take in those whose very lives are threatened in their home countries because of mere technicalities, I have to agree with this speaker's assessment. The United States sets the rules of the game, and we set the rules so that massive numbers of people cannot survive, let alone thrive, in their home countries. Yet when they arrive at our borders we shoot them, we imprison them, we deport them.
We are in a moral desert in this country. Immigration policy is one symptom of that. Unlike some other social issues that might be ambiguous in terms of biblical precedent, the bible is very clear about how we are to treat "aliens" in our midst. Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, the Israelites are instructed to care for the stranger and the foreigner, and to remember that they themselves were once living as slaves in a foreign land. If we, as God's people, refuse to listen to the cry of the poor, our own cries will not be heard (Proverbs 21:15). The book of Hebrews in the New Testament tells that when we welcome a stranger, we may be entertaining an angel without knowing it (Hebrews 13:2). Jesus himself told his followers that what we do for the "least of these" we do for him. I'm not sure that anyone can really argue that those who cross the border out of the sheer desperation of poverty don't fit the Bible's description of "the least of these."
So the bible is clear. Let me be clear as well. Having compassion for illegal immigrants does not mean that we don't have compassion for the poor who are American citizens. Showing decency towards one group of human beings does not suggest that we neglect or put down others. We are called to imitate God's compassion, which is limitless and not confined to borders. Our compassion towards the poor of this country is not diminished if we also show compassion to immigrants. The good news of the bible is that there is enough love and compassion for all God's people. And thank God for that.
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