When faced with the sight of millions of men, women, and children from war-torn lands seeking to escape tyranny to have better life, most Christians will voice their approval for open door policies of inclusion, hospitality, diversity and welcome. Some Christians have even argued that failure to have such open-hearted attitudes towards these immigrants is sinfully, selfishly, letting “the gods of fear and security dictate how we respond” (Mark Galli, Christianity Today). Does the Biblical call to care for the sojourner and resident alien, imply that those with true Christ-like love for non-Americans requires us to throw open our boarders to all who want to enter? Jesus, did teach that true believers will hear from Jesus, “I was a STRANGER and you WELCOMED me.” Doesn’t this settle the issue—All Christians must be welcoming to immigrants who want to come into our country? Your children and grandchildren are hearing that argument. This episode seeks to help us all think biblically about the hot topic today of illegal, undocumented, immigrants coming across our southern border.
Scripture describes a subset of King David’s “Mighty Men” from the tribe of Issachar as men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do (1 Chron 12:32). That is a description of the band of brothers this podcast is seeking to build—men who understand their times because they view culture through a biblical lens—and who therefore know what their families, churches, and nation should do. As we continue our series, "Election 2024 and Biblical Worldview," we dig into what the Bible says about the Christians’ responsibility to care well for immigrants, who are called sojourners or resident aliens in Scripture.
GOD’S PEOPLE ARE TO GIVE SPECIAL CARE TO SOJOURNERS
In recent years among Bible-believing Christians there has come a welcome challenge to shun Western materialism, become much more committed to the poor and marginalized, and return to the simple vision of godliness given in Micah 6:8: What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? At the core of Christian ethics is the recognition that every human being has dignity as God’s image-bearer, which requires us to care for every human, no matter what his or her social status. Scripture particularly identifies those holding the lowest status for intentional care—widows, orphans, the poor, and immigrants.
The OT is filled with laws and narratives about immigrants. Israelites were commanded to provide for them through an agrarian welfare system, in which foreigners could glean from an Israelite’s field (Dt 24:19-22) and were required to be pay immigrants in a timely manner for their work (Dt 24:15). The Israelites were repeatedly warned not to oppress the widow, the orphan, or sojourner, in words like these in Deuteronomy 24: You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, or take a widow's garment in pledge, but you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this (Vs 17-18). The prophets frequently called down fire on anyone who claimed to be a follower of Yahweh and mistreated a foreigner. Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. (Jer 22:3). Indeed, Malachi puts mistreatment of immigrants on a level with sorcery and adultery: Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers…against those who oppress widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner (Mal 3:5).
The NT concern for immigrants is perhaps even more clear. Jesus was a refugee, fleeing with his family from Herod. He confronted his hometown elders over their racist attitudes towards gentile outsiders. He attacked the bigoted Jewish hatred for the Samaritans. Peter tells Christians that we, ourselves are sojourners in a foreign land. Such status as foreigners should give us a new heart for others who find themselves in similar situations. Moreover, Jesus taught that on judgement day, he will look at true Christians and say, “I was a stranger and you WELCOMED me” and look at those damned to hell and say, “I was a stranger and you did NOT WELCOME me” (Matt 25:35-43).
Taken at face value, there is an undeniable case that Christians must open their hearts to the plight of poor immigrants seeking a better life in America. But this non-negotiable heart attitude does NOT for one second support the policy of open, uncontrolled borders any more than opening our hearts to the poor in our neighborhood means leaving the doors of our homes wide open when we go to bed at night! Godly compassion for the poor immigrant wanting to come into our land cannot mean supporting open borders for these reasons:
FOUR REASONS OPENING OUR HEARTS TO IMMIGRANTS DOES NOT MEAN SUPPORTING OPEN BORDERS
A. American borders are NOT immoral, selfish attempts to keep others out and hoard our wealth any more than the doors to our homes are selfish. This accusation comes from cultural Marxism’s radical attempt to force “equality” on all and demonize wealthy nations. Scripture says it is God who has established national boundaries. When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples (Dt 32:8). In Acts 17:26, we see the same truth: God himself established boundaries, making distinctions between different groups of people. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place.
Although authors, like Dan Carroll, in his book, Christians at the Boarder, and Preston Sprinkle in his blog, “A Christian Response to Undocumented Immigrants” attempt to justify the un-enforcement of immigration laws protecting our boarder as civil disobedience, they have no Biblical case for doing so, since there is zero biblical teaching that makes open boarders a moral imperative. Scripture permits civil disobedience only when a believer is compelled by the government to violate the clear command of Scripture. There is no verse of Scripture that gives a person the moral right to live in whatever land he or she chooses. It is an unbiblical stretch to turn the calling of all Christians to love their immigrant neighbors into a moral principle that gives every human a right to live in any country he wants to. That idea comes from cultural Marxism not Christianity.
B. Welcoming sojourners Is already happening through LEGAL immigration. Here are some facts taken from the State Department website. To move to the United States, a foreigner must obtain an immigrant visa and then get a Green Card (residence permit). U. S. immigration law is based on these principles: 1) the reunification of families, 2) admitting immigrants with skills that are valuable to the U.S. economy, 3) humanitarian protections, and 4) promoting diversity.
The law governing U.S. immigration policy is called the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The INA allows the United States to grant up to 675,000 permanent immigrant visas each year across various visa categories granting them the right to be lprs—lawful permanent residents. On top of those 675,000 visas, the INA sets no limit on the annual admission of U.S. citizens’ spouses, parents, and children under the age of 21. In addition, each year the president is required to consult with Congress and set an annual number of refugees to be admitted to the United States through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. Finally, humanitarian protections such as asylum, Temporary Protected Status, and other programs, which may permit someone to reside in the United States legally do not have numerical caps but do have other restrictions.
Once a person is granted an immigrant visa or receives certain other eligible protections, such as asylum or refugee status, they can apply to become a lawful permanent resident. Individuals arriving on immigrant visas become LPRs when they arrive in the United States.
Compare and contrast the following:
- Legal immigration of children protects them by requiring the legal parent (US citizen or lpr) to sponsor them. Illegal immigration incentivizes parents to send their kids to the border, but on the way, most are captured my Mexican drug cartels, raped, and turned into drug mules or sex slaves.
- Legal immigration requires a background check enabling hardened criminals to be denied admission. Illegal immigration allows nations like Venezuela to empty its prisons and mental institutions sending these folks into US society. Progressives try to downplay the crime caused by illegal immigrants, saying that non-immigrants commit crimes too. But this misses the point. Legal immigration strains out hardened criminals. Illegal immigration DOES NOT.
- Legal immigration requires an immediate US citizen, legal permanent resident, or employer to sponsor the immigrant and thus care for his or her material and health care needs. Illegal immigration results in numerous immigrants arriving at America’s doorstep with no one to care for them, which causes an enormous, unjust burden on those who live near borders.
- Legal immigration requires a background check so that very few terrorists come into the nation. Illegal immigration welcomes terrorists.
The argument that many deserving people can’t get into our country legally because they don’t have the money to bribe officials has no merit. Bribery is common throughout the world. This problem of human sin is not solved by an irresponsible U.S. border policy that has no control over who enters our country. The argument that it is unfair to prevent anyone from coming to América, who wants to, is rooted in cultural Marxism. It’s not fair for Americans to be so rich—so we must force equality on Americans by making them share their wealth.
C. The Bible requires governments to enforce a secure border. As we’ve seen the past two weeks, in Paul’s command to submit to government authorities he gives us great insight about God’s purpose that lies behind giving the power of the sword to the state. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. Notice the principle behind the civil magistrate, for he is God's servant FOR YOUR GOOD. The purpose of civil government is your good. God has instituted government to protect citizens from harm. The word good is closely linked to the word beneficial in biblical thought just as Paul’s negative words, wrong and bad are linked to causing harm. Government is instituted by God to prevent harm to citizens. Classically, the right to self-defense and to defend your nation against a military invasion is rooted in Paul’s teaching here. So, God’s ordained purpose for government is to protect from harm. For this reason, border security is indisputably required by God because it is a necessary part of protecting citizens.
D. Unenforced borders cause enormous harm. A biblical worldview begins by discovering the facts. Proverbs 13:6 says, Every prudent man acts with knowledge. Proverbs 14:15 gives good advice to those whose only news source is social media. The simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps. If you do not know about the present human suffering caused by the refusal of the Biden administration and Democrat-controlled Senate to enforce immigration law at the borders, you need to find a news source that will tell you the truth. Less than a week after taking office, the Biden administration reversed 94 executive policies that the previous administration had implemented to enforce immigration law. For nearly four years Democrats have refused to enforce immigration law, which has led to immeasurable suffering. Let’s take statistics from just one day. March 21, 2024, from just one location, El Passo—its migrant dashboard showed, 743 immigrants who had tried to cross the border illegally were released from custody INTO THE UNITED STATES, instead of returned to their home country as immigration law stipulates. Let’s consider this policy’s cost.
- Unenforced immigration law PROMOTES human trafficking. “In the U.S., immigrants, especially immigrant women, make up the largest portion of trafficking victims. The Department of State estimates than in 2016, 57,700 victims had been trafficked into the U.S. annually. Studies done by the Latin American branch of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women estimates that 60% of Latin American children who set out to cross the border alone or with smugglers have been caught by the cartels and are being abused in child pornography or drug trafficking.” (Congress.Gov, “How Porous Borders Fuel Human Trafficking in the United States”). This horrific depravity alone is cause enough for all Americans, especially Christians, to recognize the evil of refusing to enforce immigration laws at the southern border, a refusal endorsed by 100% of Democrats.
- Unenforced immigration laws EMPOWER drug cartels to kill Americans. The 2000-mile southern side of the American/Mexico border is now 100% controlled by Mexican drug cartels, who own 25,000 drones used to spot border patrols and drop illegal drugs over the border. Not only has unenforced immigration law caused inconceivable quantities of illegal drugs to spread all through American cities, now we are seeing prescription drugs laced with fentanyl, killing our college students. This is not a political statemen, but a personal one. Last year I wept with a father whose heart was crushed by the death of his 21-year-old son, a student at MIT because he took a prescription drug laced with fentanyl. According to the DEA, for Americans ages 18-45, the leading cause of death is an overdose of fentanyl, nearly all of which the refusal to enforce immigration laws allows into our country.
- Unenforced immigration laws ENABLE known terrorists to cross the border. On October 31, 2023, a member of the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, reported that 169 individuals had been apprehended at the southern border in 2023 who were on the U.S. terror watch list. And those were the ones caught; she did not speculate on the “got aways.” She said the number of individuals on the U.S. terror watchlist who tried to cross the border so far in 2023 constituted a “tenfold increase” from the fiscal year 2021 numbers. (capito.senate.gov). Six months ago, a member of the terrorist group, Hezbollah, Basel Bassel Ebbadi, 22, was caught by the US Border Patrol near El Paso, Texas. While in custody, he was asked what he was doing in the US, to which he replied, “I’m going to try to make a bomb.” Ebbadi told Border Patrol he had seven years of training with Hezbollah. Again, a reminder. God assigns civil government the responsibility of protecting its citizens from harm.
- Unenforced immigration laws WELCOME hardened murderers and rapists. On February 22, 2024, Laken Riley, a 22-year-old American nursing student at Augusta University, was abducted and killed while she was jogging at the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens, Georgia by José Antonio Ibarra, a 26-year-old Venezuelan who had entered the United States illegally. ICE confirmed that the suspect was caught crossing the border but was released into the United States because of the Democrat catch and release policy. ICE also confirmed that the New York City Police Department arrested Ibarra back in September and charged him with acting in a manner to injure a child under 17. But since NYC is a Democrat-governed sanctuary city, he was released. Open border advocates argue that many people are murdered; Laken’s death is just being used politically. But it remains a stubborn fact that will not go away. Laken Riley lost her life because the Biden administration and the NY City Democrat-controlled government did NOT do what God says governments are ordained by him to do: protect its citizens from harm.
I don’t doubt that the vast majority of displaced persons are simply looking for peace and a new chance at life. If you want to help more such immigrants then tell your Congressman and work politically to increase legal immigration. But there is zero biblical case for open US borders. Zero.
HOW SHOULD WE TREAT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ALREADY HERE?
A. Expel known terrorists and hardened criminals. Those caught by law enforcement who are known to be on the terror watch list or are convicted felons from other countries would never have been allowed to enter the US under legal immigration. Sending them back is part of the government’s biblical responsibility to protect its own citizens.
B. Provide care for immigrant whose only crime was crossing the border illegally.
- As many churches do, Christians must reach out to poor immigrant communities in Jesus’ name with love, compassion, and material assistance.
- In my opinion, mercy for the sojourner means supporting an earned legalization process. Many undocumented immigrants have chosen to come to the U.S. illegally under very difficult circumstances, fleeing serious economic hardship or persecution. But amnesty for them communicates that the law doesn’t matter. An earned legalization process would include the payment of a monetary fine as restitution for adults who willfully violated U.S. immigration laws. One prominent group of Evangelicals points out:
“Most of the undocumented immigrants in U.S. churches are actually very eager to make things right, and they would be happy to pay a fine and meet other qualifications to eventually have the chance to be lawful permanent residents of the United States, a country most have come to love and see as their home. For many who have lived under both the fear and shame associated with their unlawful status for many years, the opportunity to earn legal status would feel akin to the biblical Year of Jubilee, when debts were canceled" (see Lev 25:8-17). (Taken from World Relief website.)
A welcoming heart towards poor immigrants who want to come to America for a better life is non-negotiable for all who would be Christ-like.
- That might mean seeking larger legal immigration quotas.
- It does mean caring well for our immigrant neighbors.
- It does NOT mean subverting the government's God-given responsibility to protect its citizens through enforcing border, immigration laws.
For Further Prayerful Thought:
- Why do you think so many Americans are unaware of what is happening at the southern boarder? Of the categories of harm that un-enforcement of immigration policies brings—human trafficking, spread of drugs including fentanyl, terrorism, and attacks from hardened criminals, which concern you the most?
- How would you respond, biblically to the fallacy that for Christians to properly care for immigrants we must we welcoming to all who want to come to our nation, including those crossing the border illegally?
- What biblical principles do you think apply to our treatment of illegal immigrants who are already in our country?
