My Blog

Tag: Immigrants

  • A Biblical Perspective on the Treatment of Immigrants

    For a number of years, we have witnessed quite a lot of political rhetoric and harsh treatment of immigrants to the United States, especially along our southwestern border. The treatment of immigrants, whether legal or not, was a biblical and moral issue long before it became a political issue. It is time that people of faith and people of conscience take back the narrative!

    When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The stranger who lives as a foreigner with you shall be to you as the native-born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God. – Leviticus 19:33-34

    Recently, the governors of Texas and Florida have lured immigrants onto busses and airplanes with promises of housing and employment in other states. Upon arrival in those places, the immigrants discovered they were lied to. Taxpayers have footed the bill for that transportation, making all of us complicit in the unjust and inhumane treatment of those aliens. We've also paid for solutions such as uncompleted and ineffective walls on the border, separation of family units, locking immigrants in cages, and sending National Guard units to patrol the border with no actual authority to do anything. Some politicians have borne false witness against the vast majority of immigrants by claiming they are mostly criminals or insane. In fact, the data clearly shows that immigrants are far less likely to commit crimes than our own citizens. In spite of claims to the contrary, undocumented immigrants cannot vote or receive benefits such as Social Security and Medicare.

    Politically motivated disinformation and unjust and sometimes brutal policies carried out in the name of U.S. citizens have often been executed by and applauded by people who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ and who claim to be pro-family and believe in the sanctity of life. Nothing about these horrific solutions to our "border crisis" reflects the teaching of Jesus, protects families, or respects the sanctity of immigrant lives.

    Many of those entering illegally are not simply immigrants – they are refugees, fleeing violence and/or poverty in their own countries. There are international laws pertaining to how refugees are identified and how they are treated. We helped write those laws!

    Some immigrants have been tricked into paying for transportation into the U.S. only to be abandoned or, worse, left inside a hot container to die.

    As you can see by clicking the links in this reflection, fact-checking false claims about immigrants is not difficult. It is incumbent upon us as people of faith and as responsible citizens to deal with facts and seek the truth.

    I am not suggesting that we have "open borders" or abandon all immigration laws. But I am advocating for less political theatrics and more collaboration on just and humane ways to treat those who are seeking a new life as neighbors in our country. The Partnership for Central America is one example of how to mitigate illegal immigration by making it more desirable to remain in one's country rather than seeking refuge in the U.S. The most comprehensive, bipartisan immigration reform legislation in a generation has been drafted. Political lust has prevented its adoption by Congress. What if people of faith took back the narrative to get it adopted?

    Using human beings as pawns in a political game is cruel, un-American, and certainly contrary to biblical standards. The treatment of immigrants is a huge and unambiguous issue in the Old and New Testaments. Here are some examples and reflections from General Board of Church and Society of The United Methodist Church. Feel free to share them and print them out.

    Also, here are some online resources for gaining a deeper understanding of what is at stake according to several different religious bodies.

    United Methodist Immigration Resources

    Episcopal Church Migration Ministries

    Interfaith Immigration Coalition

    I hope you will give this prayerful consideration and, if you are moved to speak or act as an advocate for just and humane immigration policies, may God give you the grace and the will to do so!

    Blessings,

    Ron Short Blue Sig Cropped

     

     

     

     

    The Very Reverend Ron Pogue

     

     

  • Loving Our Neighbors Includes Those Who Are Refugees

    In addition to the political debate regarding President Trump’s executive order on immigration, there is also a theological debate. Some have suggested that immigration and refugee resettlement are not major biblical issues or, perhaps, not a biblical issue at all. Here is a list of examples of biblical passages regarding refugees and immigration found in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.

    Today, I would like to focus just on refugees, who are perhaps the most vulnerable immigrants in this controversy. A refugee is a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape persecution, war, or violence. Faced with life-threatening circumstances, refugees have no choice but to flee, leaving behind their home and community, family, and friends. As many of the scriptures I have listed show, many of our ancestors in the faith were refugees. Even Mary and Joseph took the infant Jesus and fled to Egypt to escape Herod’s order to kill all the young Jewish males in the vicinity of Bethlehem (Matthew 2:13-18).

    The Episcopal Church, like many other religious communities, has long been active in refugee resettlement and in working with immigrants to the United States. Episcopal Migration Ministries resettles approximately 5,000 refugees each year. Saint John’s Cathedral is the spiritual home of the 350 members of Sudanese Community Church and the majority are refugees. Denver's Lutheran Family Services (LFS) Refugee and Asylee Programs are frequent guests at this Cathedral. We are not disinterested parties and have not been for a very long time.

    Worldwide, there are more than 65 million people have been displaced by war, violence, famine, and persecution. Some critics of refugee resettlement have said that the United States already has taken in more than our share of refugees. The reality is that the United States is doing far from its fair share. Only ten nations host 76 percent of the worlds refugees. The United States is nowhere close to being on that list.

    Some have claimed that refugees don’t assimilate into our society. However, in communities across America, refugees are predominantly model citizens and have revitalized small towns, learned to speak English, hold jobs, started businesses, contributed to charities, sent their children to public school, and held elected offices.

    Another myth about refugees is at the heart of the controversy over the executive order. Namely, the assertion that the vetting process is lacking. In fact, the United States already has an extremely rigorous and thorough vetting process for allowing refugees into our country. The State Department, the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and the National Counterterrorism Center all contribute to the process that our military leadership and national security experts from recent Democratic and Republican administrations have called “thorough and robust,” safeguarding the American people while also extending the country’s hand to the refugees in greatest need. If you want to learn more about the vetting process, see the Obama White House’s infographic here and the Department of Homeland Security’s video here.

    And, finally, what about the potential for terrorist activity by refugees? No person accepted to the United States as a refugee has been implicated in a major fatal terrorist attack since the Refugee Act of 1980 set up systematic procedures for accepting refugees into the United States, according to an analysis of terrorism immigration risks by the Cato Institute. Before 1980, three refugees had successfully carried out terrorist attacks; all three were Cuban refugees, and a total of three people were killed. Since the Cato Institute analysis was published in September 2016, a Somalian refugee injured 13 people at Ohio State University in November 2016 in an incident described as a terrorist attack. No one was killed. The Cato Institute report also says, "The chance of an American being killed in a terrorist attack committed by a refugee was 1 in 3.64 billion a year. The annual chance of being murdered by somebody other than a foreign-born terrorist was 252.9 times greater than the chance of dying in a terrorist attack committed by a foreign-born terrorist."

    As I write this reflection, I am thinking about thirty-six Vietnamese refugees my parish and I helped to resettle in Houston in 1975. They lived in our homes until we could find suitable housing for them. We helped them find jobs. We helped their children prepare for the school year. We welcomed them to the life and worship of our church. I still hear from some of them from time to time. Four generations of them now live on the West Coast, the East Coast, and the Gulf Coast. They are respected and contributing members of their communities. They are engaged in businesses and professions that have created jobs and contributed to the nation’s economy. And they are grateful for the opportunities life in the United States has provided.

    My Christian faith and community provided the necessary motivation and compassion that I needed at the time to direct my own prayers and action to respond to their plight. I learned from them that refugees are among the most vulnerable of our neighbors. I feel the same way today, forty-two years later.

    So, because our Scriptures and teachings of our faith call upon us to action on behalf of refugees, and because welcoming refugees is an important value in our national heritage, I invite you to prayer and action on their behalf.

    I'll see you in Church!

    Ron Short Blue

     

     

     

     

    The Very Reverend Ron Pogue
    Interim Dean
    Saint John’s Cathedral
    Denver, Colorado