November 12, 2024 NCP Immigrant Justice Committee Chair, Terry Dykstra (an excerpt from Presbyterian Outlook) - Proposals to raid houses of worship, turn neighbor against neighbor, mass deportations? These harsh policies violate the most fundamental Christian teachings, and do not provide the reforms we need. But they do accomplish their goal: provoke fear with false “facts” and grievously misleading information. So let’s clear that up, and since the Biblical text doesn’t track that kind of data, we’ll leave the texts for a moment.
“Immigration fuels the economy.” That’s what the George W. Bush institute says and economists agree. “When immigrants enter the labor force, they increase the productive capacity of the economy and raise GDP. Their incomes rise, but so do those of natives. That’s the phenomenon dubbed the ‘immigration surplus’.” Contrary to popular propaganda, migrants don’t take our jobs because immigrants flow to “industries and areas where there is a relative need for workers—where bottlenecks or shortages might otherwise damp growth.” Need for workers will actually continue to grow as our nation’s population ages and leaves the workforce.
As for those so-called “skyrocketing” crime rates, immigrants are “60% less likely to be incarcerated than the U.S.-born,” according to a comprehensive study by Stanford University and Northwestern University. In fact, “first-generation immigrants have not been more likely to be imprisoned than people born in the United States since 1880.”
Back to the biblical texts. Everyone agrees—immigration reform is needed, so let’s be wise about it. The very essence of Jesus’ teachings is to treat the sojourner with welcome and respect. That must include caretakers, too, because today’s faith-based groups that care for migrants are consistently targets for attack. They’re harassed, threatened with violence, and even accused of everything from child sex trafficking to not being real Christians. As Deuteronomy 27:19 makes so clear, “‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen’.”
Maybe we all need to say “Amen” and remind ourselves that not only was Jesus a refugee, our Christian history and our personal family histories are rooted in immigration. The result has been one of America’s greatest strengths. Let’s be sure immigration reform is real reform based on real data and not misleading propaganda meant to scare Christians into supporting very un-Christ-like policies.
For Your Consideration: Our spiritual DNA is that of immigrants. Jesus may be the world’s most famous refugee [Matthew 2:13-23], but we were all strangers in a strange land [Exodus 22:21]. Our society and Christianity have flourished in our nation of immigrants and together we’ve built a country that remains the envy of the world! Immigrants bring the economy up and crime down. So it’s exceedingly difficult to wrap your head around the hate and dehumanization aimed at immigrants. Maybe it’s not about immigrants. Maybe it’s about leaders who tell us to fear a false enemy because holding onto power through fear and division is time-tested and incredibly effective. It’s time for Christians to embrace immigrants and show them the love and care God calls us to abundantly share.
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