Immigration
vs. Illegal Immigration:
Does it make a
difference?
By Stephen M. Golden
Copyright © March 11, 2012
Once, a Christian brother rebuked me for making a distinction
between Immigration and Illegal Immigration.
He indicated my position reflected poorly on my faith and practice of
Jesus’ love. He said these people are
not Illegal Immigrants, they’re people.
I was taken aback.
Words mean things. They stand for
concepts in the real world. How could
someone completely ignore the distinction between a legal situation and an
illegal one? I responded that what he
said was false. Yes, these “immigrants”
are people, but they also are illegal
immigrants.
He responded that they simply want a better life and
if he were in that situation, he’d do the same.
He seems to believe that doing what is illegal is justified if it is to
get a better life.
I’m reminded of the song in the Disney movie
“Aladdin” that introduces Aladdin’s situation: “Gotta eat to live, gotta steal
to eat, otherwise we’d get along.” Using
this brother’s logic, if I want to get a better life, I can break the law to do
it; therefore, robbing a bank, a jewelry store, or even his home in order to get a better life is an acceptable
solution. He might counter that these
people are not stealing; they are
just coming across the border to this country.
To this I first reply, “They are breaking the law.”
Then, second, I reply, “And they are stealing.”
They are taking advantages of services offered to
citizens of this country: Emergency room, health care, and other welfare and
social benefits. These services are not
intended for people who are not legally in this country, but through our compassion
are still offered to them. They are
taking opportunity away from citizens of this country. Some would say that the illegal immigrants’
labor keeps our grocery prices low. They
say that Americans won’t work those jobs.
I’m not convinced. That may have
been true twenty-five years ago, but it’s a smokescreen today. There are over 20 million illegal immigrants
in the
In good economic times, a hard-working college-educated
person can usually find a well-paying job in a reasonable time. However, in hard times such as we’re
experiencing today, jobs are not that readily available. Many hard-working college-educated people are willing to work those jobs. I’m one of them. However, I cannot get even a low-paying job
because they’re being worked by illegal immigrants.
How do I know this?
Being currently unemployed, I can’t get a job even at McDonald’s; I
don’t speak Spanish. It’s interesting
that you must speak fluent Spanish to work at McDonald’s in the greater Denver
area, but you don’t have to speak fluent English. Many of the people who wait on me at
McDonald’s don’t speak fluent English.
They simply don’t understand the words I’m saying when I order something
that deviates from a standard menu item.
Whenever I encounter a person at a place of business who doesn’t speak
fluent English, my suspicions are justifiably raised.
At one place I worked in the past, new customers had
to provide their Social Security number to purchase the company’s
products. It was very common for these
to be stolen numbers. One man even said,
“This is my Social Security number! I
bought it with good money!” For those
who are uninformed, you cannot legally buy a Social Security number. Only an illegal immigrant or some other
criminal would have bought a Social Security number.
Is it about
love?
This brother accused me of
not caring for these people. He said
that because I don’t know any of these people, I don’t view them as
people. I indicated that while I don’t
spend much time with illegal immigrants, I have met some.
Our church helps some through our outreach programs,
and I do have a heart for them. Their
plight hurts me. I know they just want a
better life. I know they are people like
you and me. I know that if given the
chance, we could be good friends.
But I also know that we can’t end all suffering in
this world. There are people dying every day, Children by the
thousands! Thousands more live in persecution
and oppression. Our country—our economy—cannot sustain everyone
who wants to come here to live. Our economy can’t sustain its current level
of government spending on its citizens,
let alone millions of illegal immigrants.
I understand they want a better life.
Nevertheless, they are breaking the law.
If they are believers in Jesus, they should realize they are living in
sin.
Living in sin
If you are a believer, you may have heard that
phrase applied to adulterers, fornicators, and perhaps even LGBTs. But the concept applies equally well
here.
“Living in sin” describes a state, whether
rebellious, ignorant, or remorseful, in which a person lives contrary to God’s
definition of what is right. Should we,
as Christians, overlook a person’s life choices which are contrary to
God’s?
As two people, a man and a woman, who, to put it
delicately, have an intimate relationship together but are not married, are
living in sin, and to be right in God’s eyes, need to correct the situation
either by getting married or by separating and abstaining from that intimacy
reserved for marriage, a person who is in this country illegally needs to
reconcile the sinful state by returning to his home country. The Illegal Immigrant is living in sin.
Am I saying we should hate the adulterer, the
fornicator, the homosexuals and lesbians, or the Illegal Immigrant? Absolutely not! But we are to abhor the sin and condemn the
sinful behavior. Can they be
forgiven? Yes, if they repent. Repentance means “turning around.” They must resolve the sinful situation. They can’t just say, “I crossed the border, I
prayed, and now Jesus has forgiven me.”
No, they’re still unrepentant.
They’re still living in sin.
Consequences
of breaking the law
Even though God offers forgiveness, we are still
obligated to pay the penalty for our decisions and actions. If we break the law, God’s forgiveness does
not relieve us of the criminal and civil penalties of having been caught
breaking the law.
When a person is arrested for stealing, even though
he might repent to God and get forgiveness, he is still liable for the penalty
issued to him through our legal system.
You still must face the consequences for your actions.
In the case of illegal immigration, the person has committed
a crime by coming into this country illegally.
Illegal immigration is a crime.
If we’re going to follow the rule of law, these illegal immigrants need
to be handled according to the law.
The Rule of
law
Contrary to popular belief, we don’t live in a
democracy. We live in a Constitutional Republic. Most people who claim we live in a democracy
would be shocked if they suddenly found themselves in a democracy. A true democracy is tyranny of the majority. Whatever the majority decides is what
everyone must abide.
No. Instead,
we live in a Constitutional Republic.
We elect our leaders through a democratic process. We live by the rule of law. No one is [supposedly] above the
law. Everyone is [supposed to be] treated equally under the law. If a person or group of persons is not
treated equally under the law, it strikes at the very heart of the republic and
undermines the integrity of all our laws.
For many years we have had courts incrementally
chipping away at our rule of law, issuing decrees that offer absurd
interpretations of established concepts and creating special classes of
people. They have even been successful
in distorting, even disabling, much of our Constitution.
Our
government was designed to facilitate equality of treatment under the law, not
equality of outcome. We have different
strengths and weaknesses. Even in
Heaven, we will not have equality of outcome!
(Romans 2:6; 1 Corinthians 3:12; Luke 7:28) Some people will receive greater rewards, and
others less.
Only Deport
the Criminals
Recently our government’s policy is to claim to want
to deport only the illegal immigrants who are criminals. Oh, wait… by definition, all illegal
immigrants are criminals; they have committed a crime to even be in this
country. They have committed a federal crime
by breaking our immigration laws.
You don’t like it?
You think it’s too difficult to immigrate into the
Do you think
Finally, after considerable discussion of the issue,
this brother stated he believes we should close the border—an inconsistency
that he would not acknowledge. Doesn’t
he believe anyone else should have the opportunity to make his or her life
better? How can he, in a clear
conscience, decide that those who have already crossed are into this country
should be allowed to stay, but the person who wants to cross later should not
be allowed? How absurd.
On the one hand, he wants to justify those who have
come here illegally in order to get a better life, but on the other, he wants
to prevent others from coming here illegally to get a better life. That is simply hypocrisy.