August 25, 2007
Immigration: The Victimless Crime?

As I have participated in discussions on message boards concerning immigration, one of the attitudes I see most often among Christians is this:

We should not throw up any barriers to illegal immigrants coming here because we are bound as Christians to care for all people.

At first blush, this statement would seem to be a decisive blow to all attempts to keep people from illegally coming into the United States. But is it? Consider this:

There were 1,266,264 immigrants who were granted legal residence in 2006 in the United States. That is a lot of people to be sure, but that number is not just pulled out of a hat. It is significant, and I'll tell you why: It is the number of people that our government has determined can be assimilated into our country without causing social or economic problems. In other words, we all know that the economy is growing, and so we actually NEED these people to come in and take their place, wherever that might be, in it.

So what has that to do with us, ss Christians? Well, the Bible says we are to obey our leaders. This passage is especially relevant:

Rom 13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
Rom 13:2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
Rom 13:3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval,
Rom 13:4 for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.
Rom 13:5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience.
Rom 13:6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing.
Rom 13:7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Simply put, our leaders have worked out a plan that allows people to immigrate into this country in a controlled way. We should be honor their decision and be able to appreciate their reasoning for handling immigration in the way they have.

So, someone might say: We don't care what the government says, we are going to break the law and promote illegal immigration. We are the richest country on earth. It's immoral for us to turn our backs on these people!

Really?

Here is what is so sadly lacking in that attitude: An empathy for the citizens of this country who are already here. We might quibble over the figures. Maybe the law could allow a few more legal immigrants but then again we might be allowing too many. The point is, there is a number of immigrants that this country can absorb and when that number is reached, every illegal immigrant who comes in displaces, in economic terms, a citizen who is already here.

Suddenly, the rationale for letting immigration happen will-nilly loses much of its appeal, doesn't it? An illegal Mexican immigrant comes into the country and, because he is willing to work under the table for $4.00 an hour for a landscaper the African American landscaper, who can't afford to work for less than $7.00 an hour loses his job. On a macro scale, unionized factories in the Northeast shut down and their owners reopen them in the Southwest.

There is a reality here: The American Pie is big but it is nowhere close to being infinitely big. More workers chasing the same number of jobs results in incredibly large downward pressure on wages. It's supply and demand in reverse.

So really, rather than being the the moral slam dunk many people think it is, the issue of illegal immigration is morally neutral. It's simply a question of who gets hurt. If we follow the law, it is the Mexican, who is deported and has to go back to Mexico to live in substandard conditions. If we ignore the law, it is the American, who is displaced from his job because the Mexican is allowed to stay and will work for 50% of what the American can afford to work for. Not great outcomes in either case but I would submit that Americans should be more concerned about the fate of their fellow countrymen than the fate of foreigners.

The ironic thing about this whole situation is that as we allow more and more illegal immigrants in there is less and less ability to bring in LEGAL immigrants, for the system is already saturated with workers. The ultimate conclusion will be that we will be forced to cut the quotas for legal immigration, leading to more illegal immigration, thereby fostering more disregard for our nations laws.

Chris

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