David Noble is a member of Riverside and former intern.
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” This is the inscription on the Statue of Liberty, which has been the historical entry point for millions of people immigrating to the U.S. from all over the Western hemisphere for hundreds of years. Throughout our nation’s history attitudes toward immigration have swung back and forth between hostile and welcoming. Sadly to duplicate this inscription on our Southern border would be the height of hypocrisy. Current attitudes in the U.S. toward immigrants are split and tending toward hostile. Attitudes in Evangelical Christian circles tend to be more hostile toward immigrants, especially toward those in this country illegally. The Family Research Council, an Evangelical Christian organization, conducted a survey of its members in March 2006, which indicated that 5 out of 6 members believed that immigrants living in the U.S. illegally should be “detected, arrested and returned to their country of origin.” Is this attitude a Biblical one? Does the Bible speak to the proper attitude of Christians toward immigrants?
Usually in discussions about illegal immigration the focus is on a country’s right to secure it’s borders, which is a question grounded in the rule of law, which is a concept derived directly from Scripture. [Whether the way our country does this currently is just is a question beyond the scope of this post, but certainly a valid question.] But discussions about a country’s right to secure it’s borders, don’t take into account another Biblical concept, which has also been present in international understandings and law for millennia; the individual’s right to migrate. Biblical examples supporting this notion abound; one is that God commanded Abraham to migrate from Ur, and another is God commanded Moses to lead an entire oppressed people group out of North Africa and into the Middle East.
Beyond this, God actually has a place in his heart for the immigrant and requires His people to care for them as a subset of God’s command for us to love our neighbors. The basis for God requiring us to have compassion on immigrants is that Israel is to remember that they were once immigrants and oppressed and that God delivered them, so that they may deliver others from oppression by welcoming the immigrant (eg. Exod. 22:21; 23:9). In fact God used Israel’s time under the oppression as a migrant labor force to develop in them compassion for those who were migrants in their land, because they were to be the people of God to whom all the nations came to meet God. Part of this meeting with God included being welcomed by his people. This applies to the Christian because we have been grafted in (Romans 11) – God has welcomed us to be part of His people, and He expects us to extend this attitude of welcome to people everywhere (e.g. Rom 15) and in particular immigrants. The extent of the welcome includes celebration as well (e.g. Deut 5:14; 14:29; 16:11, 14; 26:11-13). While these passages are describing religious celebrations, in the context these are also social celebrations. We can understand this today as welcoming the immigrant and encouraging them to integrate into our culture; not in a hostile “do it or else” way, but in a way that allows them to continue to rejoice in the way God has made them as a particular people. The Psalms encourage us to identify with the immigrant: Ps 39:12, “Hear my prayer, O LORD/ and give ear to my cry /hold not your peace at my tears!/For I am a sojourner with you/ a guest, like all my fathers,” and Ps 119:19, “I am a sojourner on the earth;/ hide not your commandments from me!” Because the immigrant is at greater risk for exploitation and marginalization, special care must be given to him to ensure that equity is maintained. Finally although obvious it bears mentioning that immigrants are created in the image of God (Gen 1:26-28) just like the native born and that is sufficient reason in and of itself to care for their dignity and lives, and that indeed all the rest of what has been said here flows out of this notion.
I have left the question of precedence between the right to secure borders and the right to immigrate open in this post, mainly due to space limitations, but also to encourage discussion on the question. My goal here has been to challenge the prevailing Evangelical notion that the United States’ right to secure its borders is absolute. If we are honest in our approach to Scripture we must admit that we have a responsibility to welcome those who are marginalized and oppressed and find ways to welcome them into our businesses, churches, homes and hearts.
David Noble
PS - for more political/religious discussion roll out to Llywelyn's tonight (Thursday Night) for On Tap: www.ontapdiscussion.blogspot.com
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