It’s
time to talk politics. As a pastor, and as one who fully
respects the separation of church and state, I will not
endorse a particular political candidate. I will say,
however, that one’s convictions must enter the political
arena and guide decisions. The idea that we should leave
religion for the private sphere only and ignore religious
convictions in public discussions is simply ridiculous.
That is like saying that our personal circumstances should
be ignored in when making political decisions. If we were
to do so, most of our debates would simply disappear,
for most involve personal circumstances in some way or
another.
In
the particular issue I seek to address here, I find myself
informed both by my religious faith and my personal circumstances.
The issue? The status of those, especially from Mexico,
seeking to immigrate to the United States in order to
create better lives for themselves.
How
does the Christian faith inform this? By a simple reading
of the Bible. Over and over again, God’s people
are urged to show hospitality to the sojourner, to the
foreigner, to the one who is not part of the accepted
in-group or those in power. This message is central to
the Christian Gospel: God in Christ offers welcome and
salvation to everyone, not just a chosen few. And how
will all hear about the hospitality of God if they don’t
see the hospitality of God’s people? Just can’t
happen.
For
me, the issue is also personal because of the huge issues
my daughter-in-law faced as she has sought legal status
in the United States. Their complex situation came to
mind strongly again when I read this note on the editorial
page of the January 19 edition of the Dallas Morning
News on January 19: “Let’s play immigration
trivia. Ready? How many low-skilled Mexican workers were
granted U.S. work visas last year? The answer: 418. (No,
that’s not a typo.) That may help explain why more
people don’t wait in line.”
I
wonder if many of us who enjoy US citizenship have any
idea how complex it is to “wait in line” and
wade through the immigration maze to gain legal status.
Jonathan, my son, and his wife, Adriana, who is from Bogotá,
Colombia, have been working their way through the system
since 2003. They’ve hired an attorney. Twice, appeals
have been made to members of the US Congress for help.
As each deadline approached, Jonathan and Adriana would
make sure that all their required documents were sent
way, way in advance of due dates. In response, their paperwork
has been lost, misfiled, and mis-numbered. She was assigned
multiple case numbers, greatly complicating the matter.
Forms that were supposed to be attached to letters sent
by the US governments were not actually sent. Letters
and phone calls have gone unanswered, or with responses
to questions not actually asked and therefore unhelpful.
I
was with them this past summer when they were finally
granted their interview with the Department of Homeland
Security after a very scary period when it looked like
Adriana, pregnant again, would have to leave the US and
not be able to return legally.
Since
they didn’t know how long the interviews would take,
I flew to New York to take care of their child so they
didn’t have to deal with a tired and hungry toddler
during the day. Just an FYI: for these all important interviews,
no set times are given to those who will be interviewed.
Those scheduled for appointments each day are all told
to show up first thing in the morning and just wait until
their names are called.
They
spent several days preparing for this interview. Adriana
compiled multiple photo albums, showing each of them with
the families of their in-laws, along with wedding photos,
honeymoon photos and baby photos. Jonathan printed off
hundreds of pages of documentation, including all their
travels, all phone calls, all correspondence concerning
the situation. I grilled them with the kinds of questions
interviewers used to trap those who had made a marriage
of convenience but had no intention of actually honoring
the marriage covenant. Each could recite the extensive
family histories of the families they married into, name
the brand of toothpaste the other used, and speak of multiple
intimate details that married couples just know about
each other.
On
the morning of the interview, they groomed themselves
into what I call their “magazine cover” look.
They are both spectacularly beautiful—Jonathan the
traditional tall, dark and handsome, and Adriana with
her golden olive skin, slim, elegantly pregnant with son
number two and lovely with her exotic Castilian Spanish
heritage.
I
send them off with my prayers, not expecting to see them
for at least six hours, and got ready for a good day with
my grandson.
Two
hours later, they are back, faces joyful and relieved.
When they were ushered into their interview, the official
took one look at them and began to stamp their application
“approved” before even asking a single question.
The only documentation actually requested was their apartment
lease. And so, Adriana, Green Card approval in hand, could
finally begin working on achieving US Citizenship.
I
tell this story knowing that these are two people of privilege.
They are educated, sophisticated, fully bi-lingual, and
motivated. Neither is willing in any way to do anything
illegal. They had funds to hire an attorney. They had
access to cameras, computers, printers, good records.
They had huge family support and those in the extended
family who knew some members of Congress personally. And
they barely made it.
So
I asked: what do our immigration policies say about us
as a nation? Let’s face it, almost all of us come
from immigrant stock unless we are full-blood native Americans.
Many of our ancestors came over here desperately looking
for a better life. Others were forced to this land by
the practice of slavery. Most came in poverty, worked
hard and lived frugally in pretty awful conditions, sent
money back home, and in time brought other family members
here. They came, holding onto their native languages as
long as possible, while their children discarded those
languages quickly while becoming fully Americanized.
This
is our history. This is part of our greatness as a nation.
A knee-jerk reaction to current immigration problems will
only hurt us in the long run. Let us be both Christian
in our hospitality and faithful to our national heritage
in offering open borders and reasonable ways for legal
status. That is how we stay a great nation. I implore
you to keep these things in mind as we face this politically-charged
and crucial election year.
