Tuesday, November 03rd, 2009

What to Do about those Illegal Immigrants

Back in the 1990’s I was flying back from Russia sitting next to a group of new Russian immigrants.  As we flew over the Statue of Liberty, I thought 90 years ago my grandparents, also from Russia, saw the same hopeful symbol but from a ship as it steamed into the New York harbor.  Emma Lazurus’ words attached to the Statue says it all:

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
the wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

As so many others, my immigrant grandparents assimilated into and fueled the success of their new country.  In fact, no other country in history has welcomed and been built by immigrants.

Today, however, the U.S. faces a unique and troublesome problem - millions of undocumented and illegal immigrants.  Most of them came for the same reasons our forebears came - freedom and opportunity.  Under current law, the vast majority of them have no recourse to legalize.  If they leave, they are barred from returning.  How shall we deal them?  The Scriptures have a great deal to say about the alien or the stranger.  “You shall not pervert justice due an alien or an orphan, nor take a widow’s garment in pledge. But you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and that the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I am commanding you to do this thing.” (Deut. 24:17-18).  From there the text commands that the surplus of the harvest be left for the alien.  The New Testament warns that strangers could be unrecognized angels - hence, treat them well.

Nevertheless without regulated and limited immigration, the U.S. would be overrun with immigrants, taxing government programs, lowering wages, spiking unemployment and likely receiving undesirables.  There are many legal avenues for potential immigrants.  Most, however, immigrate through close family relationships or special business provisions.  Illegal immigration has always been a problem, but in the past 30 years, it’s become enormous.  The last time Congress addressed this problem was in the 1980’s.  Then illegal immigrants were given a window to legalize.  Yet, America’s growing prosperity in the 1990’s energized particularly Latinos to migrate northward across U.S. borders.  Thus, many feel that providing a legal path again for the illegal population exacerbates the problem of continued illegal immigration. 

Interestingly, the Bush Administration supported providing a means to legalize this population, but the Congress rejected it as granting amnesty to law breakers.  More emphasis was placed on enhancing border protections to stem the flow of illegal immigrants.  But that failed to address the existing millions of illegal immigrants.  One response is to round them up and deport them.  That approach increased during the latter years of the Bush Administration.  Sadly, many of these families have been in the U.S. for years, their children either born here or were very young when they arrived.  Most of them are hardworking and law abiding.  Many of them are part of religious communities, including some in ours.  Worst of all, this approach contravenes the Scriptural mandate to treat the alien well and flies in the face of the Statue of Liberty’s motto. 

A combined program of beefing up border security, including the building of fences (it worked in Israel), and providing a means to legalize seems the most humane and godly approach.  Some argue building a fence on our Southern border is an affront to Mexico.  But the only obstacle a fence creates is to illegal immigration, which everyone agrees needs to be addressed.  The last time Congress provided a means for illegal immigrants to legalize a system of fines was instituted, which actually worked well.  Fines of $1000 per immigrant were assessed, and when combined with the normal fees for legal residency, the total today would be around $2000.  If all illegal immigrants took advantage of such an offer, government revenues would increase by approximately $25 billion.  It’s a win/win situation.  It certainly would uphold the reputation of the U.S. as a nation of generosity and opportunity.