Arizona, Illegal Immigration, and the Church

Arizona's new law dealing with illegal immigration has stirred much debate in religious circles. As time passes, it is becoming clear that those Christians who oppose the Arizona law are biblically and theological mistaken in doing so.

Such is Jenny Hwang who writes in Christianity Today why Christians should oppose the state's new immigration law. "I have read the entire Arizona law," she says, "and fear that there will be many unintended consequences that will impact...Christian ministries and churches that serve immigrants in Arizona."

Mrs. Hwang seems to have a problem understanding the difference between immigrants and illegal immigrants. When she writes "serve immigrants," certainly she leaves out the word "illegal." Why? Do Christians dissemble this way?

Likewise, it may have been premature when the Catholic News Agency reported, "...the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) denounced a recently signed law in Arizona which criminalizes undocumented immigrants."

They go on: "Calling the legislative move 'draconian' and saying it 'could lead to the wrongful questioning and arrest of U. S. citizens.'"

There is something perfidious in the speech and writing of those who use the word "undocumented." Is this their way of simply avoiding the reality of a crime?

The reality is that we are talking about something that is illegal. The reality in Arizona is that many are illegal workers and illegal immigrants, not undocumented workers or undocumented immigrants.

These attempts to cover-up or use language to hide corruption raise many questions. Why is it so difficult for some bishops and clergy to understand how a "meaningful and just" immigration policy includes arrest and deportation for those who break U.S. immigration laws?

Why are some in Arizona "draconian" when many Mexicans are more to blame for the problem of illegal immigration? Trying to solve their social problems by exporting poverty, the Mexican elites deserve the condemnation of Christians. Instead, the good people of Arizona are condemned for trying to protect their way of life.
The Bible and Illegal Immigration

The two biblical passages that are most often used by Christians in the illegal immigration debate are those passages found in Leviticus 19 and Romans 13. One passage discusses being an alien in a foreign land and the other asks us to respect the laws of our nation.

Besides these references, there are other passages and books in the Bible that may guide us in making moral choices about illegal immigration. Paul's Letter to Philemon is one of them.

Tradition teaches that Onesimus was a runaway Roman slave. Onesimus was not unlike the illegal immigrant in Arizona who has run away from his moral obligations in Mexico.

We learn from Paul's letter to Philemon that it is best to return and deal with your moral and social obligations at home. To flee from your moral duty leads to the false life of what Augustine of Hippo called the freedom of a runaway slave.

The moral duty to follow the law becomes clear when the apostle Paul admonishes us in his letter to the Romans to respect the laws of the land where we live. Paul would not see United States immigration laws as unjust. Instead, these laws have been ignored.

Immigration laws already on the books offer a just path to U.S. citizenship. For those who desire to be patriotic Americans and do not view the United States as simply a glitzy shopping mall, current legislation is no more draconian than immigration laws in Mexico.

Then there is the eighth commandment: You shall not steal (Exodus 20:15 and Deuteronomy 5:19). Illegal immigrants steal U.S. citizenship along with the rights and privileges that accompany it.

In turn, many employers "kidnap" illegal workers by keeping them in low paying jobs. Christian pastors ought to preach against this theft instead of fixing blame on the straw man of racial profiling.

Finally, the Bible respects nations, not progressive globalization. Nations will remain until the end of time. The book of Revelation speaks of nations and the Talmud lists them as seventy.

The globalization that those who criticize Arizona demand is not a biblical concept. Where we find globalization in the secular world, more often than not, it is a mask for Marxist world domination.

The crypto-Marxism that permeates the illegal immigration debate should remind us that the devil will quote scripture to justify his own ends. The truth is that when we turn to the Bible for guidance on illegal immigration, there is more in scripture that supports the efforts of the new Arizona law than not.

If this support for Arizona from scripture is not clear, if we find we are in a situation like that of Peter Abelard, caught between "sic et non," then we must move from scripture to theology.

Theology and Illegal Immigration

What guidance does Christian theology offer to us in regard to the problem of illegal immigration to the United States?

Thomas Aquinas argued that the nation was a natural form of human association. From his argument we learn men have a moral obligation to support their nations. From these obligations flow Aquinas's idea about a just war.

Marxist theory, on the other hand, argues for the abolition of the nation state on the way to world communism. This Marxist view is often found in the background of those who claim, "no human being is illegal." Their false questions is: "Money flows unchecked, so why can't workers? Let's abolish nations."

Marxism and Christianity, like oil and water, do not mix. The Columbian priest turned Marxist revolutionary, Camilo Torres, and those who argue for liberation theology are fundamentally mistaken.

Instead of Marxist liberation theology, Christian theology offers us the principle of subsidiarity as a guide to making moral decisions about illegal immigration. Simply stated, one aspect of the principle of subsidiarity encourages us to find moral solutions at the local level instead of at the level of larger social units.

What this means is that solutions to the problem of illegal immigration to the United States must be found in the Mexican pueblo, not solely in the U.S. federal government.

We must ask the question of why is there no work to be found in Mexico, not why there is no comprehensive immigration reform in the U.S. Congress?

When we look to Mexico for moral solutions at the local level, we want to know why Mexicans won't accept their moral responsibility to improve their own society, instead of breaking U.S. immigration laws and stealing U.S. citizenship. Is NAFTA to blame for Mexico's poverty or is it a long history of colonialism and Aztec culture?

The principle of subsidiarity also shows us that the greed of the illegal immigrant is just as sinful as the greed of the employer who hires him. One wants to make more money than he can make at home and the other wants to pay less then he should at home. Both are greedy in their own way.

The principle of subsidiarity affirms that the city of Phoenix and the state of Arizona have a moral right to protect their citizens, when the federal government refuses to do so. They are obligated to solve local problems locally.

We should be weary of those who are globalists and Marxist dressed in the vestments of Christianity. Theology and the principle of subsidiarity teach us that Christianity is not Marxism.

Christianity helps the weak by preaching the truth, not by preaching dialectical materialism. The truth is, Arizona is doing the right things by enforcing immigration laws locally.

Illegal Immigration and Charity

According to CBS News, Carlos Slim, a Mexican, is the world's richest man. "With a recovery in the value of his cell phone holdings pushing his estimated fortune to $53.5 billion, Slim jumped past Microsoft founder Bill Gates and investor Warren Buffett."

Why do we not hear how Señor Slim is acting charitably to solve the problem of poverty and unemployment in Mexico? In light of the wealth and resources to be found there, the Christian churches ought to preach against the selfishness of the Mexican elites.

Without the finger of morality pointed at Mexico, those who blame only Arizona for being ''draconian'' seem disingenuous. They would be more honest to admit that their opposition to the Arizona illegal immigration law is motivated by a desire to get more parishioners or more money for their church hierarchy, or more votes for the Democrats, instead of claiming that they wish to minister to the souls of the dispossessed.

Are there not churches in Mexico that can deal with those who are deported from the United States? These churches should support such charity in Mexico, instead of trying to turn the sow's ear of illegal immigration into the silk purse of amnesty.

Instead of forcing a false moral obligation on Americans, the Christian church should expand its ministry in Mexico. In doing so, Christians will work to change the sinful and oppressive structure of Mexican society, while supporting the rule of law in the United States.

Christian theology teaches us to respect other cultures and the borders between nations. When millions from one culture invade another, welcoming the stranger becomes practically impossible. Those who point to the slavery of the Hebrews in Egypt conveniently forget that the Hebrews left Egypt and returned home.

If the churches were serious about a just and fair solution to the problem of illegal immigration from Mexico to the United States, then they could at least do the following, all of which are biblically and theologically sound advice:

Preach Paul's letters and the commandments, especially the commandment against stealing; tell Mexicans to respect the laws and the borders to the United States and go home if they are in the United States illegally; work with Mexicans for justice and social change in Mexico; and preach against the drug cartels and human smuggling.

There are biblical and theological principles applicable to the problems created by illegal immigration from Mexico to the United States. These principles lead us to support the laws of Arizona.

Charity Is Not Amnesty

The solution to U.S. illegal immigration problems requires both law enforcement and charity. The former requires secure borders and the latter requires, among other policies, deportation.

Without any firm Christian principles, we have to wonder at Jenny Hwang's one-sided fear of the many unintended consequences that flow from illegal immigration.

She worries about the illegals, but her worries and charity are not extended to the many U.S. citizens who experience the destruction of neighborhoods, families, schools, and hospitals, all caused by an invasion of illegal immigrants to the United States. Her myopic act of charity has the unintended consequence of disguising evil under the veil of mercy.

Like a pouting child, illegal immigrants know they are wrong. Instead of facing their mistake, they transfer blame on to those who wish to enforce just laws. Regrettably, some also use the veil of Marxism to hide their warts.

This transfer of blame is often accompanied by the demand for comprehensive immigration reform. When all we need to do to solve the illegal immigration problem is to enforce the laws already on the books, this demand for comprehensive reform disguises a more sinister motive.

Comprehensive immigration reform is a smokescreen for special interests that are driven by Marxist ideology, greed, politics, and misplaced goodness, rather than Mexican or U.S. patriotism or Christian mercy.

The Marxist leadership of the present Democrat Party is especially guilty of leading Christians astray by using the smokescreen of amnesty. This leadership cares little for Mexico or the United States. What they care for most is power. Once they get power, they will keep their supporters in poverty, just like they do in Chicago.

The cry for amnesty that is part of comprehensive immigration reform is a cry given in bad faith. It is the cry of the crypto-Marxists and the misguided.

Christian charity is not furthered by amnesty, because charity does not encourage the sin it forgives. Amnesty for illegal immigrants will encourage more illegal immigration to the United States.

That, in turn, will further more amnesty, on and on, until Mexico becomes a fountain overflowing with poverty. With that poverty will come a cultural transformation. Then, the exceptionalism of the United States will disappear into the Marxist swamp of a North American Union.


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