Neighbors Know No Borders
For centuries there has been division among churches on where they stand on social issues like immigration. This is a very personal topic for me as I am an immigrant myself. I came to the United States in the year of 2000 with my family and the church played a big role in helping us process paperwork, obtain necessities like food housing, transportation, finances, and jobs, and they helped us learn the English language.
I remember when we visited English speaking churches, they would go out of their way to help us, to make us feel welcome and at home. There were times it was so hard knowing that everything that we had in Ukraine was left behind. Coming over, all we were allowed to bring with us was two suitcases each. But, the churches pooled together and helped us to establish our lives here in our new country. I remember people came to JFK airport to meet us, many we did not even know, but we felt the love of Christ through them and his care for us in this unknown land. If it was not for the church, I strongly doubt our experience would have been as smooth as it was.
My experience is a testimony to the church’s vital role in helping the needy, specifically the immigrant. The Bible is quite clear about the Christian’s responsibility to help the poor and needy. Besides Jesus’ own examples from his life here on earth, there are many verses that plainly and sometimes quite strongly communicate the responsibility. Philippians 2:4 says that we are to “look not only to [our] own interests, but also to the interests of others” (ESV). 1 John 3:17 says, “if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?” And, Proverbs 28:27 says, “Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse.” And this is just citing a few.
So, how then, can Christians in the United States be anti-immigrants? At least a good portion of those who this question might be addressed to would probably say, “wait, I’m not anti-immigration, I’m just anti-illegal immigration.” And that’s fair. Each country should have the right to vet and control their borders because, as our president Donald Trump says, “a country without borders is not a country at all.” I tend to agree with him. This statement is not an anti-immigrant one, but simply a statement on the need for controls regarding borders and the necessity of making people go through a process if they want to come to United States.
The national divide, even among Christians, regarding how we should view immigration is very real though. So how is this the case if we agree that we as Christians should help the needy, the immigrant included, and also believe that it’s ok to have processes in place for controlling the borders? The news regarding the recent ‘migrant caravan’ presents a perfect case for analysis of this question.
The individuals that make up that caravan are journeying at least 2,000 miles, on foot and in extreme heat, unless they end up finding some other modes of transportation along the way (Correal & Specia). And, most of them have reasons they are leaving their homes and journeying to an unknown land. It’s relevant to look at why people are leaving their own countries and coming to the United States. It’s relevant because it can help determine whether these intended immigrants can indeed be classified simply as “law-breakers” or if they fall in some other category; a category that should at the very least move us to compassion, even if we aren’t sure whether they tick all of the boxes to legally remain in the United States.
Again, to insert my personal experience, it’s often that these people are fleeing suppression, oppression, and very real threats to their lives. They come seeking a better life, a safer life and a more promising life for themselves and their families. My parents did not immigrate to the United States because they wanted a better life just for themselves, but for their kids. My grandfather specifically had been imprisoned for his Christianity under the Soviet Union and was able to come to the United States because of this persecution and we, as his family, were able to come over the years due to the chain immigration laws. Another topic for another time, but one that should also be carefully spoken about from a Christian perspective, a perspective that should honor and value family ties.
And, so, in the United States the laws permit those who are in fear of their lives to show up at our borders and request asylum, or, simply put, a safe place to live, to work, to raise their families (“Questions & Answers: Credible Fear Screening”). This then would remove the qualifier of “illegal” from these potential immigrants in this caravan, because it’s most probable that they are planning on seeking asylum. Whether their individual cases will qualify for asylum or not is a different story. But, regardless, their motives are humanitarian in nature. They come from countries, particularly Honduras, where government turmoil and gang violence has given inhabitants more reasons to leave than purely economic ones (Abedi).
What would keep the church from reaching out and helping immigrants or intended immigrants, such as those in the caravan? I think the primary reason is that we as humans have a tendency to be self-centered and only recognize problems when they are our own or affect us in some way. We tend to be like the lawyer in the passage in the book of Luke and be more focused on defining who we have to love, instead of just loving and showing compassion (Luke 10:25 -37). We prefer to think of our neighbors as just the family in church we signed up to take a meal to once a week or literally the people next door whose kids we watch on occasion. Not that these people aren’t are neighbors, but Jesus clearly expands this point of view. He takes the lawyer’s question about who he must love and broadens it. Jesus, in his reply, highlights the self-centered tendencies of humans and ultimately shows that loving our neighbor involves helping another human who needs help, no qualifiers attached. The good Samaritan in the story gave fully to the man in need, he gave his time, his attention, his care and his resources. Jesus ends the parable by telling the lawyer to “go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37).
When we discussed this topic in class and how it relates to the church, another thought caught my attention. I don’t believe that the church’s role is only helping the immigrants when they get here, but I believe we have a responsibility to help those in need overseas, in their countries, cities and community.
If we, as Christians, cannot live under a mentality that looks at the atrocities that happen in other countries and say, ‘that’s their problem, not mine’, then we should be looking at the needs of people even before they are headed to our borders. I did mission work in Mexico, Russia, Ukraine and in each location our team brought a lot of help to those that are in need, and that is part of the church’s responsibility. We need to be aware of and willing to help those that are in need, beyond our borders. It seems like a sad reality that we are prone to only see the need when it arrives at our borders.
I think the church has a responsibility to help people in need, that includes immigrants and potential immigrants. In fact, it is being reported that church groups along the way are in fact providing shelter and food for those in the caravan headed north (Correal & Specia). As a church body, we can help immigrants establish their lives and get them integrated into the community. We can band together to provide resources to those who don’t have them. The church community is one of the most productive entities that can have a long and lasting effect on the lives of immigrants. Through the help the church provides, we can shine the love of Jesus Christ. When we do that, we don’t just become hearers of the word, but doers also; we don’t just say that we are followers of Christ, but we are truly showing that we are his followers by example. We don’t risk being the person in Proverbs 28:27 who “hides [our] eyes” to the needs of others.
Works Cited
Correal, Annie, and Megan Specia. “The Migrant Caravan: What to Know About the Thousands Traveling North”. The New York Times, Oct. 26, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/26/world/americas/what-is-migrant-caravan-facts-history.html
The Holy Bible. English Standard Version, Crossway Bibles, 2016.
Abedi, Maham. “MAP: Where the migrant caravan began, and why people are fleeing these countries”. https://globalnews.ca/news/4620659/us-migrant-caravan-map/
