Illegals and Aliens
I've been thinking about the illegal immigrant situation in our country, and my closest personal interest in it comes from two situations. First of all, the Mexican woman who cleans my house is an illegal immigrant. I'm not sure how long she's been here, at least 4 years, maybe longer. We've never talked with her about her legal/illegal status until just recently when the whole issue came to the forefront of the media.
The second situation involves the pastor of the Spanish-speaking church that we helped to start. Our English-speaking church hired a Guatemalan pastor and his wife and paid for they and their three children to move to the US about 3 1/2 years ago, so that they could pastor our new church. They determined to do everything "by the book" as far as what they could legally do or not do in this country. Therefore, they didn't seek out jobs for several years, because that's how long it took for them to get their work visas. Our English-speaking church supported them during this time, and they lived with our own pastor in his house. It was a frustrating, lengthy period of time for them and they were so wanting to earn some money of their own, but couldn't until those visas were granted. I admired them and felt sorry for them at the same time.
Last week I called a friend who uses the same cleaning lady that I do, to see what she thought about this illegal status. Neither one of us wanted to be in violation of the law ourselves, so she called an immigration attorney about the issue. He said that he didn't think that it was a problem to have someone like that work for you and to pay them in cash, since it wasn't a full-time job, I guess. That eased my mind, because I was trying to figure out a way to tell my cleaning lady who had also become my friend, that I couldn't use her anymore.
I also spoke with our Spanish pastor's wife to get her take on the whole issue in our country. She works at a middle school now and she told me that many of the hispanic kids that attend her school were trying to get her to join the boycott slated for May 1, and they told her that if she didn't, she wasn't supporting the cause. She said that she just couldn't, that she felt an obligation to her employer, and was grateful for her job. She also told me that as far as the illegal immigrant issue is concerned, she feels that if you are living in a certain country, that you should abide by its laws. Period. Work only if you can do so legally, pay taxes, etc. I kind of thought that she'd say that, given that she and her family certainly paid a price for their convictions. She also said that they don't preach this from the pulpit (though she thinks that they have a number of illegals in their congregation), but if anyone asks them, this is their stand on the issue. And I had to agree with her.
So then, May 1st came and went, and Denver had the third largest rally of any city in the country. Very peaceful march, but it still stirred up feelings on both sides.
The next day I was working and had the radio on in the background when I heard these words: "What now after yesterday’s boycott by Hispanics do we surrender to their demands like some occupying force that has invaded and defeated us, or do we tell them this is America and we get to make the rules here?” Listening to the indignation in this man's voice, I remember thinking that this must be a joke. It sounded so inflammatory. The commentator continued with several points. 1) Close the border and keep it closed. 2) Require everyone here illegally to get a biometric identifier that can’t be forged or copied. 3) No more Spanish without learning English. 4) Employers that knowingly employ illegals should be slapped with a huge fine (maybe that would include me).
That was it. This was definitely not a joke. I made a mental note of it and continued on with my work.
About an hour or so later, another voice on the radio caught my attention. This voice sounded calm and thoughtful. The man was addressing the same issue, that of the illegal immigrants in the US. He said that we should consider the heart and mind of God if we claim to follow after him and that it might help to shed light on the whole issue if we try to find out what God has to say. Then he quoted this verse in the Bible, “When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.” (Lev. 19:33-34)
I was surprised that the Bible addressed such a similar issue so directly. It wasn't identical, but it was similar. And apparently mistreatment of the alien was a big temptation. I'm sure that I've read that verse before, but it didn't mean anything to me then. The speaker went on to say that we should always remember that by nature, we're alienated from God, and that he desires to reconcile us to himself, through his Son, Jesus. To make us part of his family, to make us legal, so to speak, by trusting in his Son.
The contrast between the two commentators was striking to me, and made me see the issue in a whole new light. I actually felt differently about it. I think that it was the Spirit of God softening my spirit, reminding me about the loving heart of God. I'd been pondering this issue, muddling through the pros and cons of ways to deal with it, listening to politicians and pundits on the right and on the left. Obviously, there are no easy solutions out there, but it seems to me that to address any issue with an underlying spirit of love for people is more likely God's way of dealing with it than if we try to solve the problem from a position of our own righteousness, pride and entitlement. How can we presume to take that position anyway? After all, it was our "unrighteousness" that got us into trouble in the first place and our continued "unrighteousness" with regard to our own laws that's responsible for the mess we find ourselves in today.
The second situation involves the pastor of the Spanish-speaking church that we helped to start. Our English-speaking church hired a Guatemalan pastor and his wife and paid for they and their three children to move to the US about 3 1/2 years ago, so that they could pastor our new church. They determined to do everything "by the book" as far as what they could legally do or not do in this country. Therefore, they didn't seek out jobs for several years, because that's how long it took for them to get their work visas. Our English-speaking church supported them during this time, and they lived with our own pastor in his house. It was a frustrating, lengthy period of time for them and they were so wanting to earn some money of their own, but couldn't until those visas were granted. I admired them and felt sorry for them at the same time.
Last week I called a friend who uses the same cleaning lady that I do, to see what she thought about this illegal status. Neither one of us wanted to be in violation of the law ourselves, so she called an immigration attorney about the issue. He said that he didn't think that it was a problem to have someone like that work for you and to pay them in cash, since it wasn't a full-time job, I guess. That eased my mind, because I was trying to figure out a way to tell my cleaning lady who had also become my friend, that I couldn't use her anymore.
I also spoke with our Spanish pastor's wife to get her take on the whole issue in our country. She works at a middle school now and she told me that many of the hispanic kids that attend her school were trying to get her to join the boycott slated for May 1, and they told her that if she didn't, she wasn't supporting the cause. She said that she just couldn't, that she felt an obligation to her employer, and was grateful for her job. She also told me that as far as the illegal immigrant issue is concerned, she feels that if you are living in a certain country, that you should abide by its laws. Period. Work only if you can do so legally, pay taxes, etc. I kind of thought that she'd say that, given that she and her family certainly paid a price for their convictions. She also said that they don't preach this from the pulpit (though she thinks that they have a number of illegals in their congregation), but if anyone asks them, this is their stand on the issue. And I had to agree with her.
So then, May 1st came and went, and Denver had the third largest rally of any city in the country. Very peaceful march, but it still stirred up feelings on both sides.
The next day I was working and had the radio on in the background when I heard these words: "What now after yesterday’s boycott by Hispanics do we surrender to their demands like some occupying force that has invaded and defeated us, or do we tell them this is America and we get to make the rules here?” Listening to the indignation in this man's voice, I remember thinking that this must be a joke. It sounded so inflammatory. The commentator continued with several points. 1) Close the border and keep it closed. 2) Require everyone here illegally to get a biometric identifier that can’t be forged or copied. 3) No more Spanish without learning English. 4) Employers that knowingly employ illegals should be slapped with a huge fine (maybe that would include me).
That was it. This was definitely not a joke. I made a mental note of it and continued on with my work.
About an hour or so later, another voice on the radio caught my attention. This voice sounded calm and thoughtful. The man was addressing the same issue, that of the illegal immigrants in the US. He said that we should consider the heart and mind of God if we claim to follow after him and that it might help to shed light on the whole issue if we try to find out what God has to say. Then he quoted this verse in the Bible, “When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.” (Lev. 19:33-34)
I was surprised that the Bible addressed such a similar issue so directly. It wasn't identical, but it was similar. And apparently mistreatment of the alien was a big temptation. I'm sure that I've read that verse before, but it didn't mean anything to me then. The speaker went on to say that we should always remember that by nature, we're alienated from God, and that he desires to reconcile us to himself, through his Son, Jesus. To make us part of his family, to make us legal, so to speak, by trusting in his Son.
The contrast between the two commentators was striking to me, and made me see the issue in a whole new light. I actually felt differently about it. I think that it was the Spirit of God softening my spirit, reminding me about the loving heart of God. I'd been pondering this issue, muddling through the pros and cons of ways to deal with it, listening to politicians and pundits on the right and on the left. Obviously, there are no easy solutions out there, but it seems to me that to address any issue with an underlying spirit of love for people is more likely God's way of dealing with it than if we try to solve the problem from a position of our own righteousness, pride and entitlement. How can we presume to take that position anyway? After all, it was our "unrighteousness" that got us into trouble in the first place and our continued "unrighteousness" with regard to our own laws that's responsible for the mess we find ourselves in today.
posted by Elizabeth @ 5:35 PM
4 Comments:
At 10:10 PM,
Darren K. said…
Beth,
I really appreciate your thoughts and experiences. I, too, have been thinking about this. In fact, I wrote about it in our last Church newsletter--I copied and pasted it below:
As we crossed back into the U.S. after our mission trip, it was striking to see the nicely manicured USA after being in a place that is very financially poor. We had been pretty isolated from news and current events for that week, so when we stopped for gas I picked up a newspaper. I was surprised to see that seemingly overnight immigration became a huge issue. President Bush happened to be in Mexico meeting with President Fox and there were protests in many U.S. cities for and against the issue. There are 11 million undocumented people-aka “illegal aliens”- here in this country. How should we, as followers of Christ, approach this issue?
We hear some politicians talking about wanting to deport these people or to even make their being here a felony. We hear some people (perhaps at work or on the street) talk in derogatory terms about Hispanics and make jokes about them. There are some proposals out there that would allow a path for undocumented workers in the country to change their status to where they would have the proper documents to be here legally. Others say that this “amnesty” sends the wrong message to those “who have broken the law.”
In the Old Testament, the exiles are wondering what they should do to return to God. Should they fast? Would that show true devotion? God rejects their fasts as simple self-righteousness. Listen to the words of Zechariah: “Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.” (Zechariah 7:9b-10) True justice is showing mercy and compassion to, among others, the alien. When Ezekiel tells the Babylonian exiles why they are in captivity, one of the reasons is that they ignored the alien (along with widows and orphans (Ezekiel 22)). In Leviticus, God institutes tithes and offerings by the people for the purpose of providing for aliens among them (as well as the Levites).
God has a heart for aliens—he cares for them and he does not look kindly on those who take advantage of them or those who do not show mercy and compassion on them. We can hardly support ministry to aliens in Greece and shun them in our own country. Perhaps we need a better border so that men and women are not risking their lives crossing treacherous desert to enter our country and we need to crack down on the emerging industry of people smuggling across the border (that many times results in harm or death to the immigrant). But we cannot let this become about mere dollars and cents—there are people at the heart of this issue. We must watch our own attitudes and speech and make sure we are not portraying or harboring racist or hateful attitudes. We must reflect what God has—a heart for the aliens.
Grace and Peace, Darren
At 5:02 PM,
Elizabeth said…
That was beautifully and thoughtfully written, Darren. Very reflective, I believe, of God's mind and heart.
At 10:45 AM,
Deb said…
Hi Beth!
I am so glad your daughter has encouraged you to join the rest of us Bloggettes.
I wanted to thank you for this provoking post -- both you and Darren gave me more pause for thought in this painful topic. I expunged more than my usual grief on my post today. These are things I have been thinking about ever since learning how things on the American homefront have been stewing with regards to the immigration dilemma.
Sometimes, it is really difficult to keep my feet in both countries, and I guess in today's post, I vomited more than usual.
Anyway, thanks again. I look forward to reading more of your thoughts and words of wisdom. I will check in regularly -- I grew up in Colorado (Grand Junction, Estes Park and Longmont) before we left the US, and later my family lived in Eagle River, AK. It seems I may be kindred spirits with Ruthie and Darren, but also you!
Blessings...
At 7:31 PM,
Elizabeth said…
Thank you for visiting my blog and for your comments. I'm sorry that I've taken forever to reply. I wanted you to know that I immediately read your blog and found much food for thought there. You've had so much (painful) personal experience with these issues and it continues to shed light for me. You challenged me to go a step further with my friend and see if there's something that I can do to help her achieve legal status. She mentioned to me this week that she was thinking about doing that. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks again and I look forward to reading more of your thoughts in the future.
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