Bearing Witness

Isaiah 6:8  And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

The second AZ2DC (round 2) bus has come home from the trip to DC to pray outside The Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner’s door.  This hallway has become a place of holding vigil since October.  The desire of all those that stand in that hallway to sing and pray is to see Congress move on immigration reform.  The families that we know and love are suffering and the window of opportunity for a bill to pass this year is quickly disappearing.

Much has happened in establishing a presence in DC since the first bus left.  Many groups of people like ourselves have come from around the country to pray together for reform.  They, like we have done, sleep on the floor of St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church; like us, they traveled long distances to come to DC to appeal to the members of the House of Representatives to place a bill on the floor.  Our method is prayer and telling our stories.  We also sing.

I came home from this trip last night and have an overwhelming sense that though this mission to DC has a very specific objective of ending suffering by repairing a broken immigration system, it also holds in its hands a very holy purpose of “bearing witness”.  It wasn’t lost on any of us that at this Advent season, where we Christians bear witness to the coming of Christ, that we were enacting many of the same motifs of the Christmas story.  We knocked on closed doors looking for “room” in our nation for the strangers among us.  We experienced the good favor of “kings” and the fear of powerful people who could hurt children and mothers.  We met and affirmed those that “pray and wait” in the fasters tent, resembling the Simeons and Annas among us.  We sang loudly in the open air like the angels, made pilgrimage like the wise men, asked for help from people who could help if they were willing, worshipped and prayed and prayed some more … and we bore witness in the open to anyone who would dare listen to the stories of those affected by our flawed  immigration system.  We sang and prayed of the coming of Jesus into this very space and place for our rescue. Jesus is our hope, for He is the one who reminds us that when we welcome the immigrant (the stranger) we welcome Him.

The faithful core team that has been present since the beginning will remain until the 13^th, when congress ends its session for the year.  They will serve to integrate others from around the county who will come throughout the week to carry the work of the vigil daily.  There will be many who come.  They will bear witness also, they will offer their stories … of dads in deportation proceedings who committed the crime of having a bolt missing from a license plate … of the dreams of parents for their children and how these children intend to make them proud … they will tell of the children left behind after a hardworking parent is forcibly removed from the U.S. … they will tell of their faith in God, their commitment to sacrifice until the suffering stops, their hope and love for this country, and their persistent endurance to continue in the struggle.  They will look like our team looked, grandmas, moms, dads, college students, young adults, teen-agers, small children, a few scattered white and black people … all of them ready to bear witness to what they know.

Our last activity on this trip was to visit DC as “touristas”.   Providentially, we had just left the Lincoln memorial and were at the Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial when CNN came up to us to do an interview.  We had been singing there.  They wanted to get our reaction to the death of Nelson Mandela.  We were stunned, we hadn’t heard, so busy all week and all day in particular.  It seemed so extraordinary to be located directly among this much history, all mingled up inside the same message … “we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal”.  CNN left us, and we prayed that we would be and raise up Lincolns and Mandelas and Kings and that we would suffer long and that we would always, “bear witness”.

Matthew 18:16

But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.

Submitted by Kit Danley from a bus somewhere between Washington, DC and Phoenix, Arizona, Neighborhood Ministries.

(To follow AZ2DC’s activity log on to Facebook and Twitter)

We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

CHURCH BETWEEN BORDERS

Pilot Workshop May 19 from 8:00 am- Noon Bethany CRC, Bellflower, CA

Discuss Challenges faced by immigrants and the Church’s Response

Part 1: values and Relationships  

Group discussion on immigration and the challenges (including being undocumented) and opportunities that are present in your community.

part 2: Immigration Storyline

When has the U.S. welcomed immigrants? When have we limited their entry?  Where does your family story land on the timeline?  What was your experience?

part 3: Immigration Law AND BiBlical Advocacy

Overview of the four doors people can pass through to work in the United States legally.  Description of why the current system results in struggle.  Ideas from the CRC on how Christians can respond.  

  

part 4: YOUR RESPONSE

Open discussions in small rotating groups to share what’s been learned, ask new questions, dig deeper into scripture, discuss new insights, and make commitments to seek justice.   

SPONSORED BY: The CRC’s Southern CA Race Relations Team and the Office of Social Justice

What is your dream for the Church’s response? 

We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

Some Ancient Wisdom

Its walls are patrolled day and night against invaders,
but the real danger is wickedness within the city.

--Psalm 55:10 (NLT)

We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

Arizona Voters Consider Recall of Russel Pearce

Voters in Arizona will consider the recall of Republican Russell Pearce who has devastated human rights in that state through anti immigrant legislation such as AB 1070. Some bits from emails this morning:

From a youth pastor in Phoenix: "We will be out canvassing again today and reminding folks about the election. It will be our last day for awhile. Students are excited and energized still after all this work! A lady told me yesterday as I spoke at her door that she has been watching students walk up and down her street all year. She said she was thankful for them and proud youth in her community care and are trying to help. With Promise Arizona we have registered now over 14,000 low propensity Latino voters.

Pray that people who try to suppress voters will themselves be suppressed. Pray that everybody who wants to vote is allowed to vote. Pray that people remember the elections and are not confused by all the tricks and lies Pearce has used. He put a fake candidate with a Hispanic surname on the ballot to split the vote. He sent out 20 different mailers claiming he supports public education when he has cut more from K-12 budgets as Senate President and Appropriations Chair than any legislator in history. He is down in the polls but within the margin of error. It's going to be close.  Pray with us."

From the news: "Russell Pearce, the Republican Arizona state senate president whose SB 1070 anti-illegal immigration law continues to inspire similarly strict immigration laws in other states, could lose his seat to a recall Tuesday."

See more news here:  http://multiamerican.scpr.org/2011/11/the-russell-pearce-recall-election-a-referendum-on-arizonas-immigration-politics/

A prayer from the Hebrew Scriptures: 

Psalm 94 (Common English Bible)
1 LORD, avenging God—
avenging God, show yourself!
2 Rise up, judge of the earth!
Pay back the arrogant
exactly what they deserve!
3 How long will the wicked—oh, LORD!—
how long will the wicked win?
4 They spew arrogant words;
all the evildoers are bragging.
5 They crush your own people, LORD!
They abuse your very own possession.
6 They kill widows and immigrants;
they murder orphans,
7 saying all the while,
“The LORD can’t see it;
Jacob’s God doesn’t know
what’s going on!”

8 You ignorant people better learn quickly.
You fools—
when will you get some sense?
9 The one who made the ear,
can’t he hear?
The one who formed the eye,
can’t he see?
10 The one who disciplines nations,
can’t he punish?
The one who teaches humans,
doesn’t he know?
11 The LORD does indeed
know human thoughts,
knows that they are nothing
but a puff of air.

12 The people you discipline, LORD,
are truly happy—
the ones you teach
from your Instruction—
13 giving them relief from troubling times
until a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 The LORD will not reject his people;
he will not abandon
his very own possession.
15 No, but justice will once again
meet up with righteousness,
and all whose heart is right
will follow after.

16 Who will stand up for me
against the wicked?
Who will help me against evildoers?
17 If the LORD hadn’t helped me,
I would live instantly
in total silence.
18 Whenever I feel my foot slipping,
your faithful love steadies me, LORD.
19 When my anxieties multiply,
your comforting calms me down.

20 Can a wicked ruler be your ally;
one who wreaks havoc
by means of the law?
21 The wicked gang up
against the lives of the righteous.
They condemn innocent blood.
22 But the LORD is my fortress;
my God is my rock of refuge.
23 He will repay them
for their wickedness,
completely destroy them
because of their evil.
Yes, the LORD our God
will completely destroy them.



We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

Bernard's Story

The first time I heard about Bernard Pastor and his story was from Troy Jackson, a pastor in Cincinnati, Ohio. Bernard was in custody at that time and there were very few precedents of these stories turning out well. The narrative did turn out well in this situation. But the whole story has not has not yet played out. I share this because of its similarity to hundreds of youth who I have known in the last 20 years. It illustrates the need for justice, compassion, the DREAM Act, and Comprehensive Immigration Reform.

This is the story of how one community changed a young man's life. You can learn more about what happened with Bernard, his faith community and his larger community at this website and video. What follows here is a short introduction.

Bernard's Story from Bernard's Story on Vimeo.


We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

What's so wrong about "Secure Communities?"

By Robert Chao Romero

Since the horrific terrorist attacks of 9/11, the United States government has continually criminalized undocumented immigrants as scapegoats for the "war on terror."  ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) was created in 2003 through a merger of the Immigration and Naturalization Service and sections of the U.S. Customs Service, and it's stated mission is to "promote homeland security and public safety through the criminal and civil enforcement of federal laws governing border control, customs, trade, and immigration."  Even though none of the perpetrators of 9/11 were undocumented, ICE has systematically targeted undocumented immigrants and their families for deportation over the past decade.  In the past two years alone, nearly 800,000 undocumented immigrants have been deported.  Latino, Asian, and other immigrant groups have become scapegoats in the war on terror. 

G92: Equipping the Next Generation for an Effective Biblical Response to Immigration — October 20-22, 2011

Register Online NOW!
*The first 250 college students to register will get housing in Cedarville University’s dormitories*
www.cedarville.edu/G92 <http://www.cedarville.edu/G92>

What is G92?
At G92 you will hear from prominent national leaders who will inspire attendees to think Biblically about immigration and equip a new generation to respond in a way that exalts Jesus and draws people to Him.  G92 refers to the 92 times the Hebrew word for stranger, ger, occurs in Scripture.  It refers to people who have come from another land and is often referenced in connection with how God’s people are to treat the “ger” in their midst.

Speakers
Invited speakers who come from across the political and evangelical spectrum include keynote speakers Richard Land of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention and Jim Wallis, founder and President of Sojourners. We will also hear from Shane Claiborne, founder of The Simple Way, Carlos Campo, President of Regent University, Galen Carey, Vice President of Governmental Affairs at the National Association of Evangelicals, and many other religious leaders, writers, and academics.

Why?
The goal of this event is to promote a high-level conversation about immigration in a way that honors the example of Jesus Christ and the written Word of God. Keeping Jesus and Scripture at the center of this discussion can transcend partisan and media sound-bites and model a high level of civility as attendees think carefully about immigration.

Sponsors Include:

• National Association of Evangelicals
• Esperanza USA
• National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference
• Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU)
• Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention <http://erlc.com/>
• Immigrant Hope <http://www.efca.org/>
• Evangelical Free Church of America
• Regent University
• Conservatives for CIR
• World Relief

Register Online NOW!!!
*The first 250 college students to register will get housing in Cedarville University’s dormitories*

VISIT www.cedarville.edu/G92 <http://www.cedarville.edu/G92>

Dates: October 20-22, 2011 at Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio

Cost: Full Conference is $95 per person for adults and $45 per person for students.
A conference day-pass is also available as follows:
Thursday, October 20, 2011 is $30 per person
Friday, October 21, 2011 is $50 per person
Saturday, October 22, 2011 is $30 per person

Registration Deadline: Wednesday, October 12, 2011
ONLY Online Registration is available. Pay online by credit card or by postal mail.
Registration fees are not refundable after the deadline.

Spread the word!
Forward this email, print out the flyers and pass them out, or check out the below online resources!

Join the G92 Facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/G92-Immigration-Conference/114681011957085

Check out the G92 blog here: http://blogs.cedarville.edu/g92/




We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

Immigrants and faith leaders speak out about immigration reform

Faith leaders and immigrants in California speak out about the need for immigration reform. Check out what some of our friends say about the current immigration situation and the need for reform. The voices for immigration reform come from many different perspectives and Christian traditions in Los Angeles and Orange County. How will you respond when you read the Bible and God's concern for the stranger, the sojourner, the immigrant?





This video is from one of the Loving the Stranger Network partners, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice--Orange County (CLUEOC)

Guest Post: The Right to Wander, A Pastor Plants a Flag, by David Housholder

I’m going to plant a flag on this issue.

Please hear me, I respect the opposing view. I just don’t share it.

The truth is, God gave the whole earth to the human race and told us to go forth, be fruitful, and multiply.

Even when he gave Israel to the children of Jacob, he warned them to treat the foreigners nicely; that they would be evaluated, as a nation, by their hospitality toward them. All through the Old Testament stories, there are prominent foreigners sharing the lives of Israelites (e.g. Uriah the Hittite) at a high level.

I have Scandinavian heritage, and you have the right, in my ancestral homeland (the Swedes call it “Allemansrätten”), to wander across anyone’s property, as long as you respect their privacy and leave everything the way you found it. And you can camp for free on anyone’s land, as long as you don’t disturb anyone or make noise, for up to two nights.

I believe in the right of every peaceful man or woman on Earth to be able, unhindered, to:

• Travel anywhere on planet Earth he or she can afford to visit. As long as you pay your way and are not a burden.
• Seek and take gainful and respectful employment anywhere it is legitimately offered.

I don’t believe in gated communities.

I don’t believe in national fences that keep people in (Berlin Wall) or keep people out (Mexican border at Tijuana).

All God’s people have access to all God’s world.

People of Western/Northern European ancestry have no greater right to staying in my California county than people of Latino ancestry.

And I believe that a mobile population is good for the economy. Anytime free labor can find its way to free capital, there is prosperity for all. That’s the free-market libertarian in me, talking.

Mobility is a basic human right.

The big question is: Do you see people as an asset or a liabilty?

Sure there are people who are one or the other. But on balance, how do you see the human race?

America was founded on the idea that people are, on the whole (and with some exceptions), an asset. Look at the Statue of Liberty. We saw the “huddled masses” of peasant Europe as an amazing asset. They built the farms that now feed us. Their blood now runs through our veins…

Overpopulation is a total myth. Europe and Russia are starting to decline in population. Most of America is empty (every spend much time looking down out of the window seat?). Our rural areas are depopulating. Detroit has thousands of acres of emptiness and some of it is returning to native forest. Sure there are areas of overcrowding, but Anglo North America could easily handle two billion people. (Currently 350 million). Our biggest challengers in this new century will be China and India, because they are blessed to have more people. More workers. More ideas.

We have to re-think transportation and energy–but that’s been done before and we can do it again.

People are not bad for the earth. People are beautiful and creative. We are the crown of creation. Made in the image of God.

I live in California. We are so blessed to have hard-working Latino and Asian immigrants in our midst. They have, together with us, built this state. I have driven all over our great state for the past ten years, and most of it is….empty. There is room for all–especially those willing to work.

You can’t have free markets (and I’m a free market guy) without freely mobile labor. We can’t put a fence around America.

My wealthiest California friends say “Unless we let inexpensive labor connect with our abundant domestic capital, we may as well ship all of our manufacturing to China.” Sobering.

Fences just accumulate and build up tensions, artificially. It’s where weapons tend to congregate. The barbed wire fence across Korea is a source of great tension right now.

Truth is, fences don’t work anyway. The Great Wall of China was a colossal failure. And the “Iron” Curtain rusted in one generation. Walls will always be breached, just like in medieval warfare.

Eventually, European towns just quit building them because they were ineffective.
We have to learn to live together. It won’t be easy. There will be huge challenges.
We may have to get rid of the welfare state altogether to make for a workable world.
But building more fences is not the answer.

They won’t last.

They won’t work.

This article was originally posted on David Housholder’s Journal on December 29, 2010, cross-posted here with permission of the author. David Housholder is teaching pastor at Robinwood Church in Huntington Beach California. He finds his spiritual and cultural roots as Norwegian-American Lutheran and now considers pentecostals to be his tribe. He is the author of  The Blackberry Bush (Summerside Press, 2011) that deals with immigration. He does not like to wear shoes when he preaches, and believes socks were a really bad invention. He moved to California mostly to get away from socks.

We append the following disclaimer on all guest blogs: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

Guest Post: A Pulitzer Prize Winner and the Dream Act

Last month José Antonio Vargas, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, revealed that he is an undocumented immigrant. One can read about his journey in countless stories on the internet or watch an interview. He came from the Philippines when he was 12 and did not find out until several years later that he did not have proper documentation. From a very poor family, his mother sent him to live with his grandparents in San Francisco in order to have a better life. He has lived all these years with incorrect documents, but he has made quite a career for himself. In the interview he talks about the constant fears and contradictions of living without proper papers.

Last week Senator Durbin of Illinois again brought the Dream Act before Congress. This is another chance for legislators to do justice for the hundreds of thousands of high schoolers who are here without legal status. They came when they were small and have finished their studies. This is a whole generation with potential that could contribute to the country in so many ways. Vargas is a sterling example.

Those who speak against it say that these kids take jobs away from young citizens. Perhaps this is so in the very short term, but the longer view is that they will generate jobs and move the market forward, as well as become full-tax paying participants in the economy. Another argument is that this will encourage illegal immigration. Really? How does waiting years and years for a chance to enter a legal process that itself will take years encourage immigration? What kind of ‘plan’ is that?! The Dream Act is for those who are already here and who meet certain qualifications. In no way is it an open door policy. Others say that U.S. kids have to pay out-of-state tuition if they come in from elsewhere. The fallacy of that argument is that these kids have been living where they are for years. A U.S. citizen can move to a new state and get residency in another state usually in a year. If a U.S. citizen were living as long as they had in a state, they would pay in-state tuition.

None of these kinds of arguments against the Dream Act are moral, let alone biblical. They are misinformed perspectives about the contents of the bill and actual immigration patterns and motivations, and they are designed to raise the emotional quotient.

As Christians, we need to focus the discussions on the biblical value of people and the mandate to love the neighbor (even our enemies!). How many more José Antonio Vargases are there? How much energy could they generate for the common good!

M. Daniel Carroll Rodas, who celebrates his heritage from both Guatemala and the United States, joined the faculty of Denver Seminary in 1996. He currently is Distinguished Professor of Old Testament. He is the author of Christians at the Border: Immigration, the Church, and the Bible. This article was originally posted on Danny's blog: Immigration and Other Matters hosted at Denver Seminary and is cross-posted here by permission of the author.

Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.

Note: Jose Antonio Vargas has a website, Define American.

Guest Post: How Can the Law Assure Social Order?

By Robert Chao Romero

A key biblical principal is that God has established the institution of government to maintain social order (Romans 13: 1-7).  How is the follower of Jesus to respond, however, when government knowingly violates the legal guidelines it has created for itself in order to guarantee this social order?  This is one of the central issues involved in the immigration debate in America—though not in the way that many Christians typically frame the issue. 

According to the 1976 U.S. Supreme Court case of De Canas v. Bica, “[p]ower to regulate immigration is unquestionably exclusively a federal power.”   This important case stands for a simple, and uncontested, legal principle:  it is the job of the federal government to regulate immigration.   States and local governments do not have this authority.  Only the federal government can create laws and policies which determine who gets to stay in this country and who can be forced to leave.  Only the federal government has the authority to check the immigration status of individuals and make decisions about visas, asylum, and deportation.   With limited exception, states and local governments cross the line into unconstitutional territory every time they try to engage in these types of activities.  One basic exception to this rule is that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is allowed to enter into special agreements with local law enforcement agencies which authorize them to enforce immigration laws.   According to these “287(g)” agreements, ICE provides basic training to local police and then delegates to them some of its authority to regulate immigration.  Outside of these special agreements it is illegal for states and cities to engage in the regulation of immigration.   This is the current state of immigration law and it is uncontested.  It is really that simple.

Arizona Senate Bill 1070, and the 14 copycat bills which have been introduced in states such as California, Illinois, Florida, and Texas, knowingly violate existing federal law and Supreme Court precedent.   SB 1070 and its modified version, House Bill 2162, empower Arizona police to investigate a person’s immigration status as part of a "lawful stop, detention, or arrest."   This provision flagrantly violates federal law because it takes the regulation of immigration out of the hands of the federal government and places it unconstitutionally in the hands of Arizona state authorities.    It basically says, “we the state of Arizona, by our own prerogative, authorize all of our police officers to regulate immigration by checking peoples’ immigration status.”   Again, this is not contested legal territory.  Regulation of immigration is entirely a federal prerogative. 

Hazleton, Pennsylvania provides another recent example of the way in which this legal principle has been blatantly disregarded.   By passing the “Illegal Immigration Relief Act” in 2006, the city tried to take the issue of undocumented immigration into its own hands by fining landlords who rented to undocumented immigrants and suspending the business licenses of people who hired them.   In other words, as reflected in the name of this legislative act, Hazleton sought to regulate immigration through the implementation of fines and the revocation of business licenses.   As the federal District and Circuit courts have since ruled, Hazleton’s “Illegal Immigration Relief Act” represents a clear unconstitutional attempt to regulate immigration. 

How is the Christian to respond to the Arizona state legislature, the city council of Hazleton, and other government authorities who consciously violate the legal norms which the U.S. government itself has established to ensure social order? Ironically, they themselves are breaking the law.  I leave this question for you to reflect upon and decide.  It is my hope that this brief discussion has provided a different angle on the immigration debate for you to consider and that through the legal perspective offered we might all be sharpened. 

Bio:

Robert Chao Romero is an Assistant Professor in the UCLA César E. Chávez Department of Chicana/o Studies.  He received his J.D. from U.C. Berkeley and his Ph.D. in Latin American History from UCLA.  He is the author of The Chinese in Mexico, 1882-1940 and various articles related to race in Latin America and the United States.   He is Founder and President of Christian Students of Conscience, a ministry devoted to training and mobilizing university students around issues of race and justice from a biblical perspective (cscrevolution.org).  

This article is cross posted from
UnDocumented.tv blog by permission of the author.

March 8, 2011

Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.

Opinion: Scapegoating behind anti-immigration laws

Yet another state, populated largely by people who consider themselves Christians, has apparently criminalized Christian behavior toward illegal immigrants. At least according to the Associated Press which says in an article published in my local newspaper June 10 that Alabama’s new immigration law makes it “a crime to knowingly give an illegal immigrant a ride.”

This an excerpt from Associated Baptist Press' Travis Loller.

Several states, mostly in the South, have recently passed laws criminalizing humanitarian aid to illegal immigrants. True, some of these laws (perhaps all of them) contain exceptions for government regulated humanitarian organizations and for emergency responders. However, where does that leave the average Christian who feels called by God to reach out and help an illegal immigrant in need?

Read the whole article here. 

From a Birmingham Jail to Georgia and Alabama

Guest blog: Lessons from “A Letter from Birmingham Jail”

From Robert Chao Romero

“I would agree with St. Augustine that ‘an unjust law is no law at all’… I have traveled the length and breadth of Alabama, Mississippi and all the other southern states. On sweltering summer days and crisp autumn mornings I have looked at the South's beautiful churches with their lofty spires pointing heavenward. I have beheld the impressive outlines of her massive religious-education buildings. Over and over I have found myself asking: ‘What kind of people worship here? Who is their God? Where were their voices when the lips of Governor Barnett dripped with words of interposition and nullification? Where were they when Governor Wallace gave a clarion call for defiance and hatred? Where were their voices of support when bruised and weary Negro men and women decided to rise from the dark dungeons of complacency to the bright hills of creative protest?’… Yes, these questions are still in my mind. In deep disappointment I have wept over the laxity of the church.”

 These words, penned by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in a jail in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963, still ring unfortunately true today. In his day, Dr. King was the leading Christian voice protesting the unjust Southern laws which enforced unbiblical segregation between blacks and whites.   Citing St. Augustine, Dr. King asserted that unjust laws are not really laws at all because they stand in contradiction to God’s eternal Law.   He found himself deeply disappointed with most evangelical and fundamentalist churches of the South because they failed to  publicly   challenge the southern segregation laws which stood in direct opposition to the biblical truth that all men and women, regardless of ethnic background, are made equally in the image of God.  

Many applications from “A Letter from Birmingham Jail” can be made with regards to undocumented immigration issues in the South today.   The state legislatures of Alabama and Georgia have once again penned some of the most hateful and unbiblical laws targeting ethnic minorities—in this case, undocumented immigrants from Latin America.   These laws are like Arizona SB-1070 on steroids.  The Alabama laws, passed earlier this month, bar undocumented immigrants from attending college, prohibit undocumented immigrants from applying for or soliciting work, and criminalize the rental of residential property to undocumented immigrants.  The Georgia legislation, signed by state governor Nathan Deal in May, authorizes police officers to question individuals about their immigration status in certain criminal investigations and threatens to fine undocumented immigrants $250,000, or send them to jail for 15 years, for using fake identifications in search of employment. 

This mean-spirited racist legislation from Alabama and Georgia violates both the letter and spirit of several biblical principles: 

1. God commands that immigrants are not to be mistreated or oppressed.  Exodus 22:21
2. God loves immigrants.  He provides for their needs.  Deuteronomy 10:18;
3. God calls us to advocate for immigrants and to defend their rights.  Proverbs 31:8-9. 
4. Jesus teaches that if we love him we will love immigrants.  When we love immigrants, we are actually loving him.  Matthew 25: 34, 35, 38, 40. 

 It is immoral and unjust to benefit from the labor of undocumented immigrants and simultaneously to blame them for all of our society’s social ills.   Undocumented immigrants contribute more than 2 trillion dollars to the U.S. Gross Domestic Product every year.  Our economy is entirely dependent upon them.   They pick our fields, raise our kids, and clean our homes.  They mow our lawns, fix our drywall, and renovate our homes.  They cook our food at American, Chinese, Japanese, and Italian restaurants, and when we’re done they wash our dishes as well.  They work in our factories, coffee shops, and every fast food establishment you could imagine.  They clean our workplaces and office buildings long after everyone has gone home to have dinner with the kids.

It is a sin to be ungrateful.  I think that it is especially a sin to benefit from all of the hard work and economic contributions of undocumented immigrants  and at the same time to scapegoat them for our nation’s, or our state’s, economic woes.   This is biblical mistreatment and oppression.  

It is also immoral to deny a university education to the children of undocumented immigrants.   Although this may be a popular position in Alabama, such denial of educational opportunity is utterly unbiblical and unjust.  A fundamental biblical principle is that no one should be punished for an action for which they had no control  (Deuteronomy 24:16).   To use a biblical analogy, if the parents eat sour grapes the children’s teeth should not be set on edge (Jeremiah 31:39).

In the same way, undocumented college students should not be punished for  crossing a border when they had no decision in the matter.   Most undocumented college students were brought to the United States when they were just small children or infants.  In fact, 60,000 such undocumented students graduate from high school each year in the United States.   Many of them are valedictorians and at the top of their class.  Tragically, thousands of these students are denied a college education because of state laws which bar them from the university.

As in Dr. Martin Luther King’s Day, I ask, where is the Southern Church?  “What kind of people worship here? Who is their God? Where were their voices when the lips of [Governor Deal] dripped with words of interposition and nullification” in May? “Where were they when [Governor Bentley] “gave a clarion call for defiance and hatred” less than two weeks ago?

Like Dr. King, I weep for the Southern Church.  I am a pastor and the grandson of a pastor.  I love the Church. My heart breaks, however, when I see the name of Jesus misrepresented by Christians who support or fail to challenge unbiblical laws such as those recently passed in Alabama and Georgia.

On a positive note, I am encouraged by the Southern Baptist Convention, which recently passed a resolution in support of  "a just and compassionate path to legal status, with appropriate restitutionary measures, for those undocumented immigrants already living in our country."  The resolution falls short of explicitly condemning the racist laws of Georgia and Alabama, but it is a step in the right direction.   As the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, and a prominent religious institution in the South, the Convention’s statement will hopefully prompt many Southern Christians to reconsider their perspectives on immigration in light of the biblical admonition to love immigrants and speak out on their behalf.

Robert Chao Romero is an Assistant Professor in the UCLA César E. Chávez Department of Chicana/o Studies.  He received his J.D. from U.C. Berkeley and his Ph.D. in Latin American History from UCLA.  He is the author of The Chinese in Mexico, 1882-1940 and various articles related to race in Latin America and the United States.   He is Founder and President of Christian Students of Conscience, a ministry devoted to training and mobilizing university students around issues of race and justice from a biblical perspective (cscrevolution.org).  

Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.

Dr. Daniel Carroll R. - Immigration and the Bible

A sixty minute video teaching on immigration and the bible can be purchase from Urban Entry Video.



Dr. M. Daniel Carroll Rodas, who celebrates his heritage from both Guatemala and the United States, is Distinguished Professor of Old Testament at Denver Seminary.

Dr. Carroll blogs about immigration and other matters here.

An Easter Meditation

…from M. Daniel Carrol R., on his Easter and the Immigration Question at Immigration and Other Matters Blog:

How might looking at immigration through the eyes of the cross and resurrection, and therefore the Lord’s Supper, affect our attitudes and perspectives… especially when millions of those who have come—both documented and undocumented—claim the Christian faith? What of the acceptance of the “other” and hospitality to the outsider? What of the sharing with brothers and sisters and of the testimony of unconditional love toward those who do not know Jesus, whether native-born or immigrant?

Read the whole article here.

Matthew Soerens on Christian Radio

Family Life put our friend Matt Soerens on the radio this week. You can listen to his great interview at this link. Once you listen to it, leave a message below.

"How can Christians balance law and grace in the debate over undocumented immigration? Join Martha as she talks with Matthew Soerens, the US Training Specialist for World Relief and co-author of Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion & Truth in the Immigration Debate." 

Mark 7:24-30: The Syro-Phoenician Woman, Social Boundaries, Evangelicals, and Latin American Immigration

The account in Mark 7:24-30 begins with Jesus arriving in Tyre and entering a house with the desire to have his presence remain unknown. Without specifying the amount of time that had passed since Jesus arrived, the story teller writes, “as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit came and fell at his feet.” We discover that this woman, who began to beg Jesus to heal her daughter by driving out the demon that was possessing her, was a Greek born Syro-Phoenician.

The social and theological import of this encounter is grasped only when the multiple social boundaries in place during this socio-historical location that get crossed during this meeting are illuminated. Commenting on the marginalized space this woman inhabited during this time period, Jim Perkinson notes, “She is, perhaps more than almost any other character in Mark, Jesus' "other"—not only geographically, but sexually, racially and religiously, "on the outside." By approaching Jesus in the manner she did, the Syro-Phoenician woman was crossing these socially constructed boundaries that were intended to divide, subverting them, and challenging the socio-political status quo that they maintained.

After the Syro-Phoenician woman “begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter[,]” Jesus responded--in a manner that appears to be informed by the socially constructed boundaries this woman is challenging by her action--by saying, “First let the children eat all they want...for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.” Regardless of the exact reason why Jesus used this term, the importance of this statement is how it reveals Jesus’ inability to see this woman as a part of his ministry and mission.

It is at this point in the story that the woman’s relentlessness and quick wit move the story forward and deeper. The Syro-Phoenician woman’s profound response to Jesus was, “Yes, Lord...but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” And Jesus responded astonishingly by claiming that as a result of her reply, he casted the demon out of her daughter! By crossing the socially constructed boundaries that were a part of the established order, and by verbally challenging Jesus’ understanding of his ministry, the Syro-Phoenician woman became the catalyst for Jesus to see another dimension of his divine mission.

How are we to understand and appropriate this story in light of the socially constructed boundaries that are being crossed by Latin Americans migrating into the United States today, namely the national, racial, and socioeconomic boundaries? First, this story must provoke majority culture Christians to examine their own socially constructed boundaries that prevent them from seeing Latin American migrants as a part of their ministry. Like Jesus when he first encountered the Syro-Phoenician woman, it is these social boundaries that cause majority culture Christians to view Latin American migrants as outsiders, and thus, unable to see their presence as making a claim on their life and participation in God’s mission. These boundaries must first be exposed in order to subsequently be transcended.

Second, and the most critical aspect of this reading in order to understand and appropriate this story today, is the way in which the life of the Syro-Phenician woman was able to help Jesus transcend these social boundaries, lead Jesus to see a deeper dimension of God’s mission, and thus, to enact a deeper dimension of his own ministry. The lives of Latin American migrants in the U.S. today are crossing the socially constructed and ideological boundaries of majority culture evangelicals, and as a result, are confronting them as outsiders. Dalit Feminist, Surekha Nelavala, suggests that “the role of Jesus in this story breaks through the boundaries of insider-outsider and challenges Christians who operate rigidly within these boundaries.”

Like the Syro-Phoenician woman in her encounter with Jesus, Latin American migrants in the United States today, carry the potential to awaken majority culture Christians to a deeper dimension of God’s mission, and their participation in it. By seeing Jesus’ willingness to re-think his relationship to the Syro-Phoenician woman as a reference point, majority culture Christians must be willing to re-think the way they relate to Latin American migrants in their own lives. Are majority culture Christians going to relate to Latin American migrants through the grid constructed by their social boundaries, and thus, continue to treat them as “dogs?” Or, are they going to allow the presence and lives of Latin American migrants to challenge these socially constructed boundaries, expose them as the ideological commitments they are, and to lead them a deeper participation in God’s mission by standing in solidarity with, and extending hospitality to them? In order for majority culture Christians to be faithful to the witness of Christ within this contemporary social situation, they must be willing to transcend these social boundaries in order to extend love and hospitality to their Latin American migrant neighbors.

The Law, Love, and Immigration from a Biblical Perspective

Friend of the Loving the Stranger blog, Matthew Soerens and author of Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion & Truth in the Immigration Debate begins a blog series on Romans 13 today at Undocumented.tv. Check out the first in the series: Further Thoughts on Romans 13--Part 1.

I just finished teaching a class on hermeneutics for Seminario Bíblico de las Américas. Hermeneutics is the art and science of interpretation. In our class we were able to clarify the meaning of many passages of scripture by looking a the context of the passage--the historical and cultural context from which the text was written, the intent of the author, the immediate context of specific passage, the context of the book, the testament and the meta-narrative of the whole Bible. We asked questions about how this passage fits with the redemptive purpose of the entirety of scripture. To understand Romans 13:1-5 we also need to understand Romans 12. We need to understand the church's relationship to the Roman government at the time of the crucifixion of Jesus, and Acts 5, and in AD 90 when the Apostle John wrote of his Revelation of Jesus Christ. We also need to consider the narrative of Shiphrah and Puah, Hebrew midwives named in Exodus chapter one. Always check the context to avoid a misinformed pretext.

Check out Matt's series this week at Undocumented.tv.

Upside Down

Since today marks the date in which the controversial SB 1070 law is set to go into effect, I thought I would share some thoughts about this heated debate.

When this law was first brought to the public's attention a couple months back, I decided I better read the whole thing to see what it really said. I also read a lot of commentary on the law, from both sides of the debate. I was, and still am opposed to this law. As I read the law, I felt like I was reading something from World War 2 or even something similar to the Jim Crow Laws. I don't mean to over dramatize it, and I realize the injustice that most immigrants deal with in our country is not comparable to the Holocaust or slavery, but what is comparable is the blatant hatred for another people group. The language used in the law and also by the Arizona Governor and other officials supporting the law is plain dehumanizing. If you look or talk like an immigrant and don't have your proof of citizenship on you at all times, you are breaking the law. If you are undocumented and simply look for a job in order to feed your family, you are breaking the law. If you give a ride to an undocumented friend, you are breaking the law (If this law applied to California, I would technically be breaking this portion of the law just about every week!) I just don't think this is how God would have us handle the issue. Thankfully, most of the harsher parts of this law were blocked by a federal judge, but it still leads me to think deeply about what is happening.

As an activist for God's Kingdom, my constant thought is, "What is the Church's role in all of this?" When I look at scripture and how Christ interacted with people, I can't help but think that we can do better than this. I also find myself asking the question, "If God's Kingdom is upside down...what does this mean for us, right here, right now?"

I get it. Terrorism is scary. Unemployment is scary. Change is scary. People that don't look or talk like us can be scary. Poor neighborhoods are scary. But what if we threw out our rights as Americans and embraced the rights Christ has given to all of us: the right to live free, the right to love and be loved, the right to lay our lives down for a friend. What if we put other people before ourselves? What if we put, dare I say it, Illegal Immigrants before ourselves? I think this issue is difficult for so many people because if you look at it from a purely American perspective your conclusion will be something along the lines of, "They are breaking our laws. They are taking our jobs. They are taking our healthcare. They are taking our tax money." Very self centered, to say the least. But even if this was all true (which there are countless studies to show that these statements are not completely accurate), what would happen if we took our American glasses off and looked through a Scriptural lens. If we took serious the scripture that asks us to humble ourselves, share all we have with those in need, lose our lives in order to gain it, welcome the stranger, love ALL people as Christ loved us...then how would this change our perspective? How would we look at our tax money, our jobs, our health care? God's Kingdom is upside down. So why do we think we are entitled to more rights, opportunities and benefits than those who were born somewhere else, just because the kingdom of the world tells us we are? Some of you might be thinking, "But what about the scripture that tells us to follow the laws of the land." Yes, I think it is important to be law abiding people, when appropriate and when possible. But friends, Jesus broke the "law of the land"...so did Paul, Timothy, and most of the people from the New Testament. When it comes to people's survival vs. laws that do not align with God's justice, I think there is plenty of grace for those who chose to survive. I think God is calling us to extend that grace to our undocumented brothers and sisters. If you were in their place, wouldn't you want the same?

I think about a guy from the shelter I work at who was forced to smuggle drugs across the border and on his eighteenth birthday, ICE came to his foster home and arrested him. I think about my friend from my neighborhood who was brought here as a young child because his parents were desperate to make a better life for their family, and now he is an adult with virtually no rights. I think about the family who was just torn apart because of an unlawful raid that took place at a factory in Fullerton. I think about a friend who was abandoned in his home country by his parents, brought here legally to live with an adopted family, and is now out of status because his school did not file the correct form. I think about every single person who lives in the tension of should I do what is "lawful" or should I do what I have to do to survive.

Then I think about how we have responded to these people.

Church, we can do better. We can love these people better.