Immigration Policy Is Complex—Loving Immigrants Shouldn’t Be

Immigration is a complicated issue, and the common refrain “just get in line and wait your turn” reveals a misunderstanding of how complex and inaccessible our immigration system has become. If only it were that simple!

There isn’t a neat, orderly “line.” There’s a labyrinth. And it’s only grown more convoluted as legal pathways have been reduced or shut down, and the ones left open are bogged down by massive backlogs and restrictive quotas.

Due to country caps and systemic delays, some waits can stretch 20 years. The system is so broken. When it comes to those fleeing crises (or not wanting to return to it)–whether it’s persecution, war, gang violence, or economic crises like hyperinflation–waits like this aren’t feasible. And in some cases, they’re deadly.

I’m no policy expert, so I’m not going to offer legislative solutions (for that, I suggest you follow Matthew Soerens–a Christian and a human encyclopedia when it comes to immigration history and policy). But I’ve spent the last decade thinking and learning about immigration—and I have some personal experience navigating the system because my daughter is an adopted immigrant. 

It’s possible to disagree in good faith about government policy and the best path forward. And given the multitude–and at times competing–factors to consider, thoughtful disagreement can actually help lead to better and sustainable solutions!

It is complicated and messy. At the same time, the foundations underlying how Christians should think about immigrants–and the policies which impact them–is simple.

Love for Neighbor isn’t Optional

Jesus says that the second greatest commandment is to love our neighbors as ourselves. And in the parable of the good Samaritan, he shows us that his definition of “neighbor” breaks outside the boundaries we tend to create. In the context of immigration, we’re called to love both our American neighbors and our immigrant neighbors.

Loving our fellow Americans means taking seriously concerns about overcrowded schools, stressed hospitals, and the capacity of our communities to absorb newcomers. These are valid concerns. Even those who want to welcome immigrants have genuine limitations. Resources are limited. Some communities are already stretched thin.

As the sponsor coordinator of an Afghan refugee family, I’ve seen firsthand how much work it takes to support a newly arrived family. I deeply sympathize with the feeling of being stretched too thin. So the important question is: How can we care for and welcome immigrants in a sustainable way? 

At the same time, loving our immigrant neighbors means treating them with dignity and justice, regardless of their legal status. At minimum, this includes due process, humane treatment at the border, truth in rhetoric, and ethical policies. And Christians are called to something much higher than that—we’re called to treat immigrants with compassion, kindness, and hospitality.

Love for our American and immigrant neighbors is why secure borders matter (I don’t know many people advocating against this.) It’s vital to know and vet who is coming in and out of the country. Secure borders help curb evils like human and drug trafficking (going both ways…American citizens are part of the trafficking problem, too!) But as we talk about real problems like crime, Christians must be committed to truth and disavow inflaming rhetoric.

We’re not being “invaded.” The vast majority of undocumented immigrants aren’t criminals. They’re just hard-working people trying to protect and provide for their families. 

And though justice demands that criminals (citizens and otherwise) should be punished in proportion to their crime, crossing a border without documentation is a misdemeanor, not a felony. That’s a crucial legal distinction to recognize.

Speeding is also a misdemeanor—but we don’t treat people like criminals for doing that. Even penalties for the same misdemeanor take contributing factors into account. There’s a big difference between recklessly speeding in a street race and speeding to get to a hospital in an emergency, and any reasonable police officer or judge will recognize that. Likewise, there are a variety of reasons people cross the border illegally or overstay their visas, and only a minority of those reasons are nefarious. To respond with true justice, it’s important to distinguish between them.

What Justice and Love Require

Christians can disagree on certain details—reasonable quotas, pathways to citizenship, and border policies. But if we actually care about imitating Christ and submitting to Scripture–God’s inerrant, infallible, and authoritative Word–we can’t “agree to disagree” about whether or not we treat immigrants with an ethic of love.

Because while Scripture doesn’t address specific policies, it has a lot to say about love, compassion, mercy, generosity, and justice–specifically towards the vulnerable. And it takes quite a bit of mental gymnastics to dismiss what God has said.

Even though the U.S. is not a theocracy as Israel was in the Old Testament, Mosaic law certainly showed God’s concern for the “sojourner,” “stranger,” and “resident alien,” a concern that should be echoed in the heart of every true follower of Christ.

Some Christian voices have been shockingly callous, perpetuating propaganda and claiming “common sense,” while blatantly cherry-picking facts and ignoring clear commands and principles in Scripture. One prominent evangelical figure scoffed that before we grieve over a mother being separated from her children, we should remember that she shouldn’t have crossed the border illegally. Her posture isn’t only ignorant and cold—it’s sinful. It reflects a hard-heartedness that contradicts the compassion of Christ and denies the harrowing realities behind these difficult choices. I sincerely hope she never finds herself in a situation so desperate that she’s forced to flee to another country. And if she does, I hope she and her children aren’t treated with the same callousness she has shown. 

If we profess to follow Christ, we must confess our callousness and repent of any ways we have lacked love, fueled fear, or used selective facts to slander and dehumanize entire people groups. 

Godly justice and love compel us to ask the question: How do we create a system that secures our borders while making room for those who need protection, want to contribute, work hard, and build a better life? 

Deeper than Pragmatics

Even from a purely self-interested perspective, deportations of non-criminals and cutting pathways of legal immigration is shortsighted. Immigrants contribute to essential industries in the U.S.—they build homes, grow food, clean hotels, care for our loved ones, and more. Study after study has shown that immigrants (including undocumented immigrants) contribute more to our economy than they take in the long run.

Turning them away doesn’t just hurt “them”… it hurts “us.” Instead of ranting about undocumented workers who “steal American jobs,” we should address the problem of predatory employers who take advantage of their precarious position and underpay and mistreat undocumented workers, knowing that they have no recourse… that’s the real injustice!

Listen, I believe in accountability and responsibility (it’s a way of affirming human dignity). I believe God created people to work in the capacities we are able, and that neglecting to do so dishonors him. Work is crucial to human flourishing. Laziness shouldn’t be rewarded.

But the generalizing rhetoric that immigrants come here to mooch off our social system is an outright lie. The vast majority work hard, pay taxes, and aren’t even eligible for social services (it takes a lot of documentation to prove your eligibility!)

As Christians, our reasoning must go deeper than pragmatics though. And I can’t overemphasize this. Human value does not rest on utility. So even in cases when some people “take” more than they “give,” we need to watch how we think about them.

If we begin viewing people groups–human beings made in the image of God–as leeches and drains on society, we’ve entered dangerous territory. That’s quite literally how Nazis viewed and justified atrocities against the elderly, the infirm, and the disabled. This kind of thinking should deeply disturb us. And if we apply it to immigrants, we’ve embraced a logic that could just as easily be used to devalue babies, children, the sick, and the elderly. That’s fundamentally evil. We must resolve never to go there.

Everything about how we view and treat others should be an overflow of how Christ has treated us. We welcome the stranger, because Christ welcomed us. We lay down our lives to serve our neighbors–fellow Americans and immigrants–because Christ laid down his life for us.

My best friend recently said: “Immigrants aren’t our enemies. But even if you think they are—Jesus told us how to treat our enemies, too.” Basically, regardless of how we view them, we’re not off the hook when it comes to loving them.

How we treat immigrants matters. How we speak about them matters. How we advocate for them matters. 

Yes, immigration reform is complicated. There are real tensions and legitimate concerns. And honestly, I don’t think we should expect to fully fix a broken system in a fallen world. But we can seek to improve it. And we can certainly commit to loving our immigrant neighbors despite it. In a secular culture, Christians should stand apart—leading the way in our language, our hospitality, our love, and our prayers.