ON A WARM MAY NIGHT, at least seventy-four people, including women and children, squeezed into a trailer headed to Houston, Texas. They were eagerly anticipating a new life. Many were excited to meet up with their friends and family who had come to America earlier. Tragically, the truck became so sweltering hot that nineteen of the passengers died of suffocation, hyperthermia, and dehydration.[1]
Raul Gomez-Garcia is an illegal immigrant who is presently serving an eighty-year prison sentence for ambushing two cops. Though he was a gang member in Los Angeles, Gomez-Garcia fled to Mexico after the shooting, where he was later caught and sent back to the United States for sentencing. Of the two police officers Gomez-Garcia shot, one of them, Donald Young, died on the spot. Young left behind his widow and two daughters, who were understandably devastated.[2]
At sixteen years old, José Antonio Gutiérrez came to Los Angeles without legal papers from Guatemala. Orphaned as a child, he joined the Marines to help pay for his university education. He was grateful to the United States for giving him a chance. He was one of the first casualties of the Iraq war and was granted citizenship a month after his death.[3]
Immigration Is Complicated
Each of these stories is a tragedy. It is a tragedy that some people have lost their lives fleeing to the United States (thousands have died this way). It is a tragedy that some American citizens have been the victims of car wrecks, robberies, and other crimes at the hands of undocumented immigrants. It is a tragedy that a young man like José, who left his home country looking for a better life, was unable to realize his dreams of citizenship, education, and a prosperous life in the United Staets.
Immigration is a complicated issue. It is an emotional one too. Think about it. On the one hand, if you were living in another country that limited your ability to be free and possibly even put you and your loved ones at risk, wouldn’t you want to come to this country? No question about it. The United States is an unparalleled nation that offers freedom, security, and opportunity. On the other hand, if you were an American citizen and you or your loved ones were threatened or harmed by an undocumented immigrant, wouldn’t you want stronger borders and more enforcement? Again, of course you would.
There are legitimate questions and concerns on all sides of this issue. The goal of this chapter is not to find simple answers. There aren’t any. The goal is to bring balance to a complicated issue. We aim to find a balance between overly strict border enforcement and indiscriminate borders that are open to anyone who wants to enter.
Above all, as followers of Jesus, we need to think Christianly about immigration. With that in mind, our goal is not just to get the issue right but to learn how to love our fellow citizens and immigrants better. Isn’t that what Jesus would do?
Defining our Terms
Let’s begin by defining a few terms. There is an important difference between a refugee and an immigrant. A refugee is someone who has fled their home country because of safety concerns. Many Syrian refugees have left their home country in fear for their lives and have settled in various countries throughout Europe and beyond. Some refugees have also fled various countries in South America, seeking asylum in the United States and Canada.
In contrast, immigrants choose to leave their homeland for another country where they can become permanent residents or citizens. Many are children. Some immigrants enter their new countries legally, and others enter illegally.
It is important to keep in mind that people immigrate for a range of different reasons. Some flee their home country for survival, some are looking for a better life, and some immigrate for less noble reasons. Understanding why people have immigrated can help us understand how best to relate to them.
Christians and Immigration
As with many other issues we have approached in this book, the place to begin is the recognition that immigrants are made in the image of God. This seems obvious, but often immigration debates focus solely on economic impact, national security, or cultural identity. These are important issues, yet as Christians, we must begin the conversation with a recognition of the humanity of immigrants rather than the best policy regarding immigrants. We must approach the conversation with a caring demeanor and a desire to love immigrants.
Most immigrants are motivated to find a better life for their families, yet many struggle to adapt to their new homes. Can you imagine how tough it would be to learn a new language, eat new food, and live in an entirely new country? Immigrating to a new country is often motivated by the desire to make a better life for a family, but that doesn’t mean it’s an easy life. The more we recognize that, the better we’re positioned to think about loving our immigrant neighbors.
And yet, people living in a host country are also made in the image of God. Their needs are important too. As Markus Zehnder has noted, “Love can also be expected on the side of the migrants. It is not an act of love when illegal immigrants . . . benefit from a foreign country’s welfare system. It is also not an act of love when illegal immigrants put migrants who abide by laws in a position of relative disadvantage. . . . It is not an act of love when immigrants do not respect the hosts.”[4] Christians must find a way to show love and support to both immigrants and citizens of the host country.
The Bible and Immigration
While there are considerable differences between biblical times and today, the Bible has a lot to say about how we should treat immigrants. Let’s consider two big points.
Point #1: God Cares for Immigrants
The Bible begins with a command for people to spread across the earth (“Multiply and fill the earth”—Genesis 1:28). Consider how many key figures in the Bible were either immigrants or refugees:
Can you see how central movement is to the Bible? Whether for safety or because of a call from God, immigrants and refugees appear throughout the Bible. It is interesting to note that these immigrants are not a problem for God’s plan, but instead, God works through them to further carry out his plan!
And yet, Markus Zehnder offers an important qualifier: “The biblical flight stories cannot be used to support the argument for liberal immigration policies, because they have no direct connection with the current phenomenon of mass-(im)migration.”[5] In other words, while God clearly has a heart for immigrants—and he has worked immigration into his divine plan—it does not follow that Christians must support certain statewide immigration policies. These are different issues.
Point #2: God Commands His Followers to Care for Immigrants
God not only cares about immigrants; he commands his followers to care for them too.
IMMIGRATION IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
There are a few Hebrew words often translated as “foreigner,” “resident alien,” “stranger,” and “immigrant” in English Bibles. While there are many political, cultural, and theological differences between Old Testament times and our own, Scripture consistently demonstrates God’s heart for outsiders. The Israelites were not to mistreat the foreigners in their midst because they had been foreigners in Egypt for four hundred years (see Exodus 22:21). The people of Israel were commanded not to strip their vineyards bare so sojourners and the poor could glean them for food (see Leviticus 19:10). Immigrants were to receive part of the tithes so they could eat (see Deuteronomy 26:12). And there were serious consequences for Israelites who took advantage of immigrants (see Deuteronomy 27:19).
Because of the historic differences between ancient Israel and today, as well as the focus these passages place on a limited number of individuals, these biblical commands should not be transferred to state laws involving mass immigration. But they do show God’s desire that Christians treat outsiders, such as immigrants, with care and concern.
JESUS AND IMMIGRATION
While Jesus never spoke directly about immigration, he and his family were refugees in Egypt when Herod wanted to kill him. He also pushed the boundaries of who his followers were supposed to love, as we see in the story of the Good Samaritan. In response to the question, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus included the Samaritans, who were despised foreigners to the Jews (see Luke 10:25-37). Would Jesus include immigrants among those we are supposed to love? Of course!
And yet, this is not a story about mass migration. The Good Samaritan made a free choice on a personal level and used his own time and resources to help a neighbor in need. This story is not about whether Samaritans should be accepted as immigrants.
Jesus clearly taught that we should love our neighbors, including immigrants. Our love for others should have no ethnic or social boundaries. Yet Jesus did not address the political issue of mass migration. We must be careful not to confuse his command to love our neighbors with certain policy issues. These are different matters.
Should Christians Follow the Law?
Am I suggesting we dismiss the law? No! God ordained governments to protect and care for their own citizens. Like a mother who cares for her kids, governments have an obligation to care for their citizens. Unauthorized immigration does raise legitimate national security concerns. Any nation is unwise to have lax immigration policies that allow anyone through its borders without knowing who they are and where they came from.
The apostle Paul says to “be subject to the governing authorities,” which exist “for your good” (Romans 13:1, 4). The apostle Peter says, “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution” (1 Peter 2:13). Clearly, Christians are called to respect governing authorities. How do we balance the commands to love outsiders and respect governing authorities? Professor Daniel Carroll helps:
If one begins with a biblical orientation that includes the centrality of the importance of the immigrant as made in the image of God, if one can appreciate how pervasive migration experiences are to the history and faith of the people of God, if Old Testament law projects an ethics of compassion, and if the thrust of Jesus’ ministry and the New Testament as a whole is to love the outsider and be hospitable, then the inclination is to be charitable to the immigrant in the name of God and Christ.[6]
In other words, Christians need to find the balance between supporting just immigration laws and loving immigrants in our midst. Like most issues in this book, the challenge is to be both loving and just.
While this issue is complicated, Scott Rae offers a few reasonable goals that should guide immigration policy for countries:
What Christians Can Do
To end this chapter, I simply want to give you one personal challenge: find a way to love an immigrant. Is there someone at your school, in your community, or on a sports team that you can befriend? Listen to them. Hear their stories. Ask about their family. Be curious about their life and what it’s like for them in the United States. Learn from them. Try to treat them as you would want them to treat you if you were an immigrant. Isn’t that what Jesus would do?
[1] Jorge Ramos “We Are Going to Die in Here,” Texas Monthly, May 2005, https://www.texasmonthly.com/politics/we-are-going-to-die-in-here/.
[2] Howard Pankratz, “Gomez-Garcia Gets the Max: 80 Years,” Denver Post, updated May 8, 2016, https://www.denverpost.com/2006/10/25/gomez-garcia-gets-the-max-80-years/.
[3] Martin Kasindorf, “Marine Lance Cpl. José Gutiérrez,” Honor the Fallen, Military Times, accessed November 12, 2021, https://thefallen.militarytimes.com/marine-lance-cpl-jose-gutierrez/256506.
[4] Markus Zehnder, The Bible and Immigration: A Critical and Empirical Reassessment (Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2021), 259.
[5] Zehnder, The Bible and Immigration, 279.
[6] M. Daniel Carroll R., Christians at the Border: Immigration, the Church, and the Bible, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos, 2013), 122–123.
[7] Scott B. Rae, Moral Choices: An Introduction to Ethics, 4th ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018), 472.