Compassion or safe communities?

The Rev. Dr. Tracy Keenan of New Castle Presbytery offers a faithful response to the immigration debate

by the Rev. Dr. Tracy Keenan, Missional Presbyter for New Castle Presbytery | Special to Presbyterian News Service

Photo used by permission of Abara from Laurie Smith Photo, lauriesmithphoto.com)

Editor’s note: This article first appeared here in Presbytery Pause, the newsletter of New Castle Presbytery.

Imagine if …

Imagine you and your family are living a quiet life as best you can in a city in Central America and a local gang leader decides he wants your 14-year-old daughter as his “girlfriend,” and won’t accept no for an answer.

Imagine working hard to earn $20 paycheck in Venezuela where a carton of milk costs $8.

Imagine your acre of garden, on which your family depends for food, has washed away in a landslide.

Imagine your child’s survival depends on medical care that is not available in your homeland.

Imagine militias from neighboring countries or communities have overrun your community and you have to run for your life.

There’s a lot of heated rhetoric right now about immigrants. And it’s clear that our immigration system needs a lot of work. It is underfunded, understaffed, and many of the attempts to fix it have hobbled through partisan rancor and landed in half-baked solutions. At the same time, migration numbers are up all over the world, and not just at our southern border, due to conflict, natural disasters, persecution, or the desire to earn a better living.

During any election season, there is always significant fearmongering, trying to scare people into voting a certain way. Right now, because the influx of immigrants had been high (in 2022 especially), and our system is ill-equipped to make a smooth path for people seeking asylum or work, the rhetoric has reached new levels of vehemence. We have places in the U.S. where immigrants are being placed — some in large cities, some in small towns, and there is lots of confusion, distortion, and concern.

We want to be compassionate. We also want to protect our communities. Are we really supposed to choose between those two things? Or is that a false dichotomy?

Let’s look at three things when confronting the immigration question: our biblical mandate as Christians, our responsibility to seek the truth and our call to act faithfully.

Our biblical mandate
As followers of Jesus, we are called to the biblical law to love our neighbor and to treat the foreigner as our own.

⁹ Don’t oppress an immigrant. You know what it’s like to be an immigrant, because you were immigrants in the land of Egypt. (Exodus 23:9, Common English Bible)

³³ When immigrants live in your land with you, you must not cheat them. ³⁴ Any immigrant who lives with you must be treated as if they were one of your citizens. You must love them as yourself, because you were immigrants in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 19:33-34, CEB)

¹⁶ So circumcise your hearts and stop being so stubborn,¹⁷ because the Lord your God is the God of all gods and Lord of all lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God who doesn’t play favorites and doesn’t take bribes. ¹⁸ He enacts justice for orphans and widows, and he loves immigrants, giving them food and clothing. ¹⁹ That means you must also love immigrants because you were immigrants in Egypt.  (Deuteronomy 10:16-19, CEB)

^35 “I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” (Jesus in Matthew 25:35, CEB)

There are at least a dozen more verses along these lines.

What is true?
We are called to love these neighbors of ours. At the same time, we are called to be as wise as serpents and innocent as doves. (Mt. 10:16) That means separating fact from fiction.
The Immigrant Justice Committee (IJC) of New Castle Presbytery recently traveled to the Texas/Mexico border to see for ourselves how people are seeking both compassionate welcome and security.

The Rev. Dr. Tracy Keenan (Contributed photo)

We spoke with Border Patrol and Homeland Security officers, both current and retired; legal representatives who help immigrants navigate the complex system of courts, status classifications, and detention centers; a Presbyterian pastor who is also an EMT tasked with tending to the injured or the dead in the borderlands; shelter workers in Mexico where migrants await their appointment with U.S. Customs; and the Abara organization, which seeks to educate and work for holistic solutions to the snarls of immigration processes.

IJC understands the call to see the human face of the sojourner who is vulnerable and far from home and to advocate for human rights. We also understand the need for border security and the need for a well-ordered and well-supported system of immigration.

Some of the things the IJC heard refute the vitriolic rhetoric being thrown about these days: They include:

• The border is not “open.” Not only that, but there is also a second “border” 50 miles in from the actual Mexican border where every road goes through another checkpoint with Customs and Border Protection.
• Many of those we call “undocumented” or “illegal” have no legal status, but were properly vetted (interviewed, fingerprinted, photographed, internationally background-checked) when they first entered. Even many of those who slipped across between ports of entry were likely encountered by the Border Patrol, who vetted them or referred them to Customs Officials to do that. If they were permitted to enter while waiting for their court date, they might not have an official legal status. Hence, they can be undocumented and still have been vetted. Still others may have overstayed their visas or other permissions for being here.
• We know that illegal drugs are being smuggled in and that fentanyl is among the deadliest of them. Last year, 93% of fentanyl seizures occurred at ports of entry and were mostly being smuggled by U.S. citizens. People who slip across the border know that they will definitely be searched when they are encountered, so are less likely to smuggle in drugs.
• Statistically speaking, immigrants are less likely than U.S. citizens to engage in criminal activity. Undocumented immigrants are actually less likely statistically to commit violent crimes because to do so would mean automatic deportation. That includes trying to illegally vote in a federal election. They would be putting the evidence of their crime directly in the hands of the government.
• They are not putting U.S.-born citizens out of work or taking their jobs. In 2023, the year after the highest influx of immigrant population, the unemployment rate for U.S.- born workers averaged 3.6%.
• Immigrants make up 18.6% of the U.S. labor force. In fact, they are often the ones being unfairly treated. Some employers underpay and exploit immigrant workers. Who are the vulnerable ones?
• If we are concerned with improving security, we need to see who is truly the most vulnerable. Immigrants are more in danger from the hatred of U.S.-born citizens than citizens are from immigrant violence or crime. The violent and fear-mongering rhetoric common around election time is currently reaching new levels of vehemence and creates a danger for anyone thought to be an immigrant, especially Black and brown people.

How we can act faithfully

The immigration system in the U.S. is badly in need of revision, and it has been for many years and under many administrations. This is nonpartisan. We don’t have to choose between loving our neighbor and protecting our communities. Healthy policy can mean compassionate welcome, secure borders, and even an enhanced economy.
Let’s be the church that is faithful in our response:

• Advocate for better policies.
• Help our new neighbors get on their feet and learn their way around this new country, so they can become a robust part of our society, economy, and culture.
• Allow law enforcement, Border Patrol, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to do their work of identifying and rooting out the criminal element without painting the whole of immigrant groups as malevolent.
• Advocate to support immigrant workers, and in so doing, work for the general well-being of our economy as well as human rights. We don’t have to choose between loving our neighbors and protecting our communities.
• Draw a line against hateful rhetoric that demonizes those who are seeking help from us.
• Stand up for your vulnerable neighbor and help make our communities secure for everyone.

Our visit to El Paso and Ciudad Juarez was made possible by some funding from New Castle Presbytery’s Ignite and from each participant, and was hosted by Abara, an organization with connections to Tres Rios Presbytery dedicated to building peace and pursuing a holistic border response.  We’d be happy to share more about our experience with your churches or mission teams. Email us here. New Castle Presbytery highly recommends Abara if you are interested in a trip to the border to learn more.