This past Sunday, my Dad informed me that his brother, my uncle, has an interview coming up with the U.S. Consulate General in Mumbai, India. My uncle lives outside of Hyderabad, India, which is where your calls go when you dial Dell Customer Support, I believe. He is hoping to move with his wife and three daughters to Chicago to live in my dad’s house and begin a new life by the end of this summer.
“Really? What’re they gonna ask him?” I wondered aloud.
“Oh, just like…is there someone here to support you while you look for work, why you are coming, like that” my Mom responded.
*******
I get emails from River City Community Church in Chicago, where I have attended one Sunday service and one church-sponsored meeting. They are a self-proclaimed “Multi-Ethnic Community of Faith”. I respect their pastor, Daniel Hill, but on their website, I found that he was leading this congregation into a liberal abyss. Hill promotes illegal immigration with a woeful exegesis of this Scripture:
Leviticus 19.34 "The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God."
I am guessing this is the standard line of thinking for Christians that support illegals. What a shame.
If you study the Old Testament, the giant theme of protecting a holy culture just punches you in the mouth. Look in Nehemiah and view how this brilliant man lead the Israelites to safeguard their language and traditions. Peer into the mind of God that destroyed whole cultures that were offensive to Him. A pillar of the biblical worldview is establishing a society of laws. There’s a legal way to immigrate, and then there are criminal ways to invade. The State’s role is to enforce the laws.
Both parties have revealed their impotence this week regarding the immigration issue. The amazing thing is that in God’s providence, there are some benefits to illegal immigration. Principally, most established Westernized nations, drunk in decadence from material wealth, stop producing children. Western Europe is the prime example of a dying world, where soon the birth rate will dip below the death rate, meaning more people are dying that being born, so the population begins to shrink. The U.S., while not as far along this road, is on its way thanks to feminism and secular humanism. But, this is where illegal immigrants have provided a blessing, by replenishing our population with large families who’s Catholicism includes some elements of a biblical worldview. On the other hand, France, by virtue of this same process, will probably become a Muslim nation in 50 years.
But, things have reached a head, with illegal aliens forming violent gangs and stealing resources from working families. The Christian view of immigration is to demand our government to enforce our laws. If the immigration process must be reformed, then let the legislators reform it after the illegals are deported.
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14 comments:
Wow, tough issue! While I do think that legal immigration should be the preferred option, it's a tough situation.
But, things have reached a head, with illegal aliens forming violent gangs and stealing resources from working families. The Christian view of immigration is to demand our government to enforce our laws. If the immigration process must be reformed, then let the legislators reform it after the illegals are deported.
This seems like a little bit of a pessimistic view. While gangs are certainly a problem, I've personally never met an illegal immigrant who is not an upstanding citizen. Granted, my circle is small.
I think the solution has to lie somewhere in the middle. We must remember that we are residents of the 'Kingdom of Heaven' before we are residents of the USA. Our care for fellow human beings must transcend borders many times. I just am not convinced there is anything terribly negative about opening up our borders further. We have such a plethora of room and wealth in this country that could support many more (albeit not at the level of wealth we've come to expect) who would likewise increase our economic potential.
I do not think closing the doors is the way to maintain a "holy culture" (which I'm not convinced we or any other on earth is), but rather courageous and strong leadership, which would convert those who took advantage of the open door to the culture.
Bottom-line, I think we should drastically increase the opportunity for legal immigrants from all over the world, thus softening the need for illegal immigration.
>>I've personally never met an illegal immigrant who is not an upstanding citizen.<<
Read this again. The word "citizen" has lost all meaning.
>>We have such a plethora of room and wealth in this country that could support many more... <<
Forcing families to subsidize other peoples' lives is immoral. It is easy to be generous with other people's money.
>>increase the opportunity for legal immigrants from all over the world, thus softening the need for illegal immigration.<<
This is similar to the progressive mantra of "increasing wages and lowering prices so people won't steal". A society that won't punish criminal behavior will collapse.
>>I just am not convinced there is anything terribly negative about opening up our borders further.<<
Many immigrants come here to assimilate into the American culture. The problem with the Mexican illegals is that they have assimilated the liberal entitlement culture. Most of them do not pay taxes because they are paid under the table, but they suck up healthcare and other public resources anyway. Many of them do not bother to learn English.
Look at the demonstrations put on where the Mexican flag flew high. If you don't see the danger posed to our national identity it may be that you don't value it.
>>"holy culture" (which I'm not convinced we or any other on earth is)<<
The Church maintains the holy culture, and the Church enjoys the most freedom in America. This will change as long as the Church remains ignorant.
Forcing families to subsidize other peoples' lives is immoral.
Why? Because in this case, it's not a direct subsidization, just an indirect redistribution. Nobody would be giving their own money. New money would just be spread more widely.
Many of them do not bother to learn English.
Have you ever met someone our age who didn't want to learn English?? Sure, older people, especially the elderly do not always learn English. But how is that different than our ancestors? I only have to go back to my great-grandfather to find an ancestor who hardly knew English. One of my good friends' grandmothers (a legal immigrant) doesn't know English. If anything, illegal immigrants are more apt to want to learn English to gain employment.
Most of them do not pay taxes because they are paid under the table, but they suck up healthcare and other public resources anyway.
Exactly. And that's what a bill like this would do. All of a sudden, we'd have a huge new class of tax-paying residents, helping foot their own costs.
This will change as long as the Church remains ignorant.
I agree, but how is this related to illegal immigration?
Mexico has the fifth richest economy in the world, and has more resources per square mile than the U.S. (and plenty of money to take care of its own people). Why should the taxpayers of this country subsidize Mexico's corruption? (Obviously there are illegal aliens from other countries as well, but most of them are from Mexico)
Illegal aliens take a major toll on our system. When you take into account the costs of health care, public aid, education, and the fact that 1/3 of all prison inmates are illegal aliens, they are hurting our country much more than they're helping it. Somewhere between 36% & 42% of illegal aliens are on welfare. And the Center for Immigration Studies estimates that the average Mexican illegal alien costs U.S. taxpayers a whopping $55,000 each.
I totally do not buy the argument that illegals do the the work that Americans won't. Most Americans still clean their own houses, do their own landscaping, clean hotel rooms, work in restaurants, paint houses, do construction, etc. My home town has yet to be "infiltrated" by illegal aliens, and all the above jobs are still done by plain ol' Americans. To be quite frank, there are plenty of lazy Americans on welfare, and they could be doing the jobs that illegals are doing now.
I'm very grateful to have been born an American, and I truly thank God for it, but I'm here because my ancestors followed the law. Immigration is a wonderful thing, as long as it is done legally.
Teresa
I just wanted to clarify a few things. Teresa, your points seem to only be a repeat of those raised by the American Resistance, which by no means is a neutral source of information.
First of all, Mexico's economy is not ranked 5th in the world. Its GDP world ranking is 14th and on a per capita basis, it ranks 85th. Also, let's remember that many of the immigrants we're discussing come from countries south of Mexico, who are all poorer than Mexico. I'm also hard pressed to imagine what resources Mexico has which are greater than the US has per square mile. I think very few people would be immigrating if they did not see an opportunity for a better future.
Secondly, illegal aliens are only on welfare if they have children who are citizens. These children, just like children of poverty everywhere in the country, receive federal assistance.
Finally, as to the last point, saying that we know American citizens who still do certain types of jobs does not mean there are not jobs that many employers cannot fill without illegal immigrants. I can think of a couple job situations that I know personally the only applicants were illegal immigrants (meatpacking plant, sugar beet migrant worker).
I think it is very important that we use statistics and understand the economic situation, but these must be accurate and fair data pertinent to the facts. The correct information will help us reach a good solution.
I am personally a proponent of more LEGAL immigration. I do not care how "white" our culture is, but I care very strongly about our values. I feel very strongly that all immigrants need to be assimilated into the culture. Why? For some of you the word assimilation may have bad connotations (think "The Borg"), but it is absolutely essential. Why? The countries South of the border are terribly corrupt. It is essential that this corruption not be brought into the U.S., and lest we also forget, we are currently at war with an ideology that denies the rights of women and seeks death for all Jews and Christians. It is essential that THIS ideology ALSO be stopped at the border. The first step towards assimilation is learning the language. Many immigrants do, but it is important that we not lose sight of it's importance. If you can't communicate with the culture, you're not going to be able to adapt to it. If you believe
I'm not sure what to do with all of the illegal immigrants that are already here. But it is ESSENTIAL that we strictly monitor those that are coming in. For their own sake as well as ours. Illegal immigrants are at greater risk of: being paid below minimum wage, being cheated out of income, being abused, being sexually assaulted, being sold as sex slaves. They are at risk because they can't call the cops. Granting blanket amnesty is not the answer. In my opinion, granting blanket amnesty is comparable to making prostitution legal in order to stem drug use and the spread of AIDS, and making abortion legal to keep women from having abortions in alleys.
We do not need illegal immigrants for anything. One MIGHT argue that we need immigrants for jobs that "regular" Americans won't do. The only thing we "need" illegals for is exploited labor. We "need" illegals so my grocery bill doesn't go up $20 a month. If our economy "tanks" because of a lack of unskilled labor, we can always increase the number of immigrants we process legally. We already do this all the time. When we are running low on nurses, we process more work visas for nurses. If we are lacking unskilled labor, we will process more visas for such labor.
I'm not sure what to do with those that are already here but I am convinced of these things: 1) Incoming immigration needs to be strictly monitored to prevent freeloaders, contagious disease (it's harsh but it's true) and those that wish us harm, 2) Legal immigrants need to be adopted and assimilated into American culture, 3) Granting amnesty undermines our laws and promotes more people to come here illegally.
Lastly, I am very concerned about legislation that would inhibit the humanitarian efforts of the church. Christians are not police officers or social workers, and we should not be required to tell our big brother government our business (that's the libertarian in me).
General,
I just wanted to note that I basically agree with you. I thought that was a very good post. It seems there is a solution to be had and I am encouraged that signs from Washington seem to indicate a compromise along these lines could come to fruition.
Thanks, the_dude! I'm flattered and will remember your kind words when the periodic temptation to quit blogging sounds its siren. Hopefully together we are serving up a balanced meal. I like the photo motif.
teresa,
Thanks for some additional statistics. I'm not sure about the average cost of 55 G's, but taking into account law enforcement costs, along with the cost of aid and education, is vital.
westy,
Thanks for contributing some clarity, man.
the general,
You win. I've never had a comment to one of my posts that could've actually BEEN the post.
The issue of the illegals that are currently here is complex. I've changed my mind on deporting them all, as long as a reasonable immigration policy is ENFORCED starting at present. Let's call a spade a spade; they broke the law, we didn't care to do anything about it. Give em amnesty, but back it up as a one-and-done deal.
The reality is that our laws have been undermined by the illegals, our government, and businesses. That can't be changed, but the situation can be reformed.
That can't be changed, but the situation can be reformed.
I definitely agree. Let's put some strong wise tender policy in place that can help us go forward.
Give em amnesty, but back it up as a one-and-done deal.
And I would add, make it a tough amnesty. Maybe not even an really an amnesty. There's no free ticket here. End of the line for green cards. Eventual citizenship, but hoops to leap through along the way. Those who have come to love the USA and are here to stay and make a difference will commit to doing what it takes to become true fellow citizens.
>>>I can think of a couple job situations that I know personally the only applicants were illegal immigrants (meatpacking plant, sugar beet migrant worker).
Hmm, this is interesting, since I work in the meat industry and know this to not be the case. Twenty years ago there were lots of illegals working in the meat industry, but it isn’t that way anymore. At my company, every once in awhile we’ll find out that one of our laborers is an illegal (usually having used documentation belonging to someone else to get the job), and that person is fired immediately.
Additionally, we have American citizens showing up at our plants every day looking for work (who are turned down), so the notion that Americans won't work in the meat industry is absurd.
Indisputably, Mexico's economy is ranked at the worst 10-14th (depending on the methodology used) measured in its Gross Domestic Product and Gross National Income. Mexican income per capita, according to the World Bank, is the highest in Latin America, and the country is now firmly established as a middle-income country. Most illegal aliens are from Mexico (something like 70% or more), so that is why I specifically mentioned that nation.
Teresa
Teresa,
Thanks for the insider's look into the meat industry. The popular notion "illegals do the work that Americans won't do" is truly inane from an economic standpoint. If the supply of workers who work for peanuts is cut off, then businesses will have to raise wages until workers can be hired. This process will also increase the price of the finished product, so Christians should be prepared to pay for a just immigration policy.
Furthermore, it should be remembered that immigrants are ASKING for a chance. The demands of La Raza and all of the other racist Hispanic groups are illegitimate.
Twenty years ago there were lots of illegals working in the meat industry, but it isn’t that way anymore.
That could be. The situation I heard about was not necessarily recent, maybe it's different now. Part of it is that wages have gone up in this industry over the last decade. The fact is, though, at the wages currently being offered, there are jobs grueling enough that many American citizens choose not to pursue them. For instance, oyster shucking firms (undoubtedly an extremely difficult job) in Louisiana are looking for workers:
For all of these companies, migrant workers are the only way to fill the positions, a requirement under the visa program.
"We don’t seem to have people flocking to our door," Voisin said.
Although a fish cutter can earn $8 to $12 per hour and an oyster shucker can make $12 to $20 per hour, Pearce said locals just aren’t interested in the work.
"In an ideal world, local people would do these jobs," Pearce said. "But they don’t want to do it."
"We don’t know people that want to grow up to be oyster shuckers. I can put an ad in the paper in Houma and get zero responses," Voisin said. "In Mexico, I could have 1,000 people that want to be oyster shuckers."
If the supply of workers who work for peanuts is cut off, then businesses will have to raise wages until workers can be hired. This process will also increase the price of the finished product, so Christians should be prepared to pay for a just immigration policy.
Agreed; classic supply and demand.
The key is we need to work with facts, gain input from both sides, and arrive at a tenable solution
news update:
Illegal immigrant workers at a meatpacking plant in Michigan were fired.
Ironically, this was done because they missed work to attend the immigration rights protest in Detroit.
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