Don’t you love those reunion videos, where soldiers return home from war and are reunited with their families – everyone hugging and crying?
This is not one of those videos. It is a man being torn away from his wife and two children and sent to his parent’s homeland, one that is foreign to him. It is a mark of shame against the justice system of the USA.
It is heart-breaking and disgusting – that this would happen in America?
Too old for DACA, man who spent 30 years of his life in US is deported.
Jorge Garcia was 10 years old when his parents brought him to the US. He is now 39. He’s lived here nearly all of his life. He has a wife and two children. Other than the fact that his parents moved him here without documentation, he has been a model non-citizen. He pays his taxes and has never had so much as a speeding ticket.
Let us remember that Jorge has committed NO crime. He was a ten-year-old boy when his parents brought him to this country. He has been a productive member of his community. I have no idea why he was singled out for deportation, but this is nothing for us to be proud of as a nation.
Random thoughts:
- Do we now punish a 39-year-old man for a crime his parents committed 30 years ago? Think that one through!
- Didn’t Republicans once SUPPORT families? This is not who we are. We do not tear apart families.
- Please do not appeal to “Render unto Caesar” or Romans 13. First, Jorge Garcia didn’t break the law. His parents did. And “Render unto Caesar” is not an absolute. Jesus also said to render to God what belongs to him! Peter stared the powers-that-be in the eye and said, “I must obey God rather than man.” We do more than just follow orders.
- Remember, folks, the US began with a rebellion against the established government authority! Fundamental to our system is the idea that justice is sometimes of a higher value that conformity to an unjust law. There are values like justice, like keeping a father with his wife and children, like common-sense decency, that trump legal absolutes.
We will never solve the immigration issue with Democrats refusing common sense border security and Republicans refusing to show basic human compassion and decency. Not to oversimplify, but Democrats have to grow a brain and Republicans a heart.
The Solution
It doesn’t seem that hard to me. I know, it is complex beyond words, but the basis of the solution seems to involve a few simple concepts.
1. Border security is a must. Forget the wall for now, but we have every right to secure our borders. Every nation in the world does it and there is nothing racist or indecent in the effort.
Democrats and liberals, for reasons I don’t completely understand, tend to oppose border security. Is it political opportunism, believing that if illegals become voters they will be liberal? Feels a little tinfoil hat, but I have suspicions. Still, they need to grow a brain on this issue. Securing a nation’s border is fundamental not immoral.
I understand that the rate of illegal immigration has slowed dramatically, but people are still coming in.
2. We can’t deport all illegals. Estimates are that there are around 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States. That is four times the population of my state – just less than the population of Los Angeles and its suburbs. We are going to round that many people up and send them back where they came from?
Really?
Imagine the police force that will arrest, incarcerate and deport 12 million people. How many families do you rend? How many businesses would be hurt by losing employees? How much evil would be done by such a thing? Remember the Elian Gonzalez raid in Miami? Now imagine that kind of raid happening daily for years.
You think there wouldn’t be shootings?
That is not who we are. It sneaks right up to the border of racism and xenophobia, and it is just inhumane. Cruel. Securing our borders is one thing, but busting down doors of people’s homes to drag them away is another. Would we have internment camps? I’m trying to avoid invoking imagery from a certain mid-20th Century political horror, but it gets hard when you imagine arresting and deporting 12 million people.
3. Illegals who commit crimes (beyond their immigration status) must go. Drug dealers and violent criminals should get exactly the type of treatment I mentioned above. Arrest them and deport them. But illegal status alone shouldn’t be a hanging offense.
4. There must be a path to legal residency. Amnesty is a dirty word that is thrown out as soon as we start talking about something like this. I have two things to say.
We don’t have to give these people “amnesty.” There may be some form of probation, perhaps even an agreement never to seek citizenship, some form of fine – whatever.
Why not give these people amnesty? They are tax-paying, community building, productive members of society. Give them green cards! Who is hurt by that…if the border is secure.
Clearly, any kind of path to legal residency must be subsequent to border security. That’s been one of the problems – we seek to grant amnesty without securing borders.
5. Citizenship is a different issue. It might be a condition of legal residency that these illegals may live here, work here, and enjoy the protections and freedoms of America, but may never become citizens. Or, perhaps a path toward citizenship can be set forth.
But the solution involves Democrats abandoning their ridiculous opposition to border security and Republicans abandoning the glee they sometimes express at the idea of shipping Mexicans and Middle Easterners home. Brain and heart working together can be powerful.
Unfortunately…
Democrats and Republicans often use this as a wedge issue and play it for votes more than they seek real solutions. I have little hope that the parties will ever find a solution. Let us hope that as Christians we will come to meld our faith with our politics and find a better plan than either party has offered.
For the love of God, we must do better than what was shown in the video above.
Let’s pray for the Garcias…and that this kind of injustice will not happen again.
It’s been going on for awhile, but especially in the last two years we see a movement from people who are absolutely terrified about the browning of America, and they see anything that slows that down as something to be applauded. And the Republican party is the engine of that movement, unfortunately.
For the life of me, I don’t understand why Republicans don’t flip the script. Modify the immigration stance to a realistic model moving vetted, verified, processed (all those investigative words) undocumented to permanent alien status and you get that community’s vote. They tend to be more conservative in social issues, so just a little tweaking on fiscal issues can get them into your column.
My suspicion is that that community’s conservative lean toward social issues is not considered all that valuable. Since completely unfettered free markets (with predatory tendencies) is the shibboleth of this crop of Republicans, I don’t see any real broad outreach to Latinos in the pipeline.
From what I’m told, most of the Central and South American immigrants have a conservative view on social issues. If the GOP led on immigration issues and devised a compassionate path toward legal residence and even citizenship, they could possibly build quite a voter base.,
From what I have read Democrats are willing to have some additional border security (I may be wrong), but some Republicans are fixated on the Wall. We already have a wall on border and it does not seem to be working. In fact if history tells us that walls don’t work, because they don’t address the underlying issue. Hadrian’s Wall, The Great Wall of China, The Berlin Wall, and the wall around my house robbers climbed three times to steal all proved futile.
I was hopeful when Graham (R) and Durbin (D) came up with a compromise. Evidently, some hardliner Republicans killed the idea. Somehow we are going to have to find a way to work together or we are going to continue to be at an impasse.
I agree with you Dave. Can I chip in to send you to Congress so you can speak some sense into those in Washington.
Thomas Law,
Walls actually do work. Our poor efforts at border control has most definitely contributed to this specific problem. We definitely do need to protect our borders.
Nonetheless, whether we have a wall or we do not have a wall, what has happened to Jorge Garcia and many others like him is wrong and cannot be defended from the within the framework of a biblical worldview.
Democrat and Republican administrations both have been deporting illegals in the past. The press is only trying to make the present administration look bad because this administration has not come out publicly attacking Christians. Most of the mainstream media are against Christians, not for religious liberty as they would have us to believe.
Dave,
Since 1972, there is a much larger group that came to America – brought by their parents and at no fault of their own. They represent no potential voting block since all 50-million plus – have been brutally killed.
Many of those who point to DACA and declare, “As American’s … we are better than this.” Are the very one’s who look at unborn Americans and declare them anything but human. Yes, it makes me question their true humanity – for we were “once” better than this.
I agree about abortion.
Ron Hale,
You stated, “Many of those who point to DACA and declare, “As American’s … we are better than this.” Are the very one’s who look at unborn Americans and declare them anything but human. Yes, it makes me question their true humanity – for we were “once” better than this.”
I do agree. However, and at the same time, the fact that your comment is true does not lessen the fact that what has happened to Jorge Garcia and his wife and children is wrong and cannot be defended within the framework of a biblical worldview.
One statement you make is probably not correct — “Jorge Garcia didn’t break the law.” As an adult illegally staying in the United States, I suppose he is breaking immigration law. I am not saying this because I think he needed to be deported, but if the above assumption is correct we need to be accurate. I am in favor of a DACA law, a path to legal residency. I also believe we do not need to focus on/worry about illegal immigrants who are already here if they are law-abiding other than just being in the country without documentation. As far as churches and Christians, our focus should be on sharing the gospel and other Christian duties.
Should be: I am in favor of a DACA law, [and] a path to legal residency.
Robert Vaughn,
You stated, ” As an adult illegally staying in the United States, I suppose he is breaking immigration law.”
Yes, he is technically breaking the law. However, I must ask, What was he to do? He came here as a kid. He grew up here. His personal reference of “belonging” is here.
I think that poor governmental policy and partisan politics have put this child, now a grown man, and his family in harm’s way.
This problem is bigger than for Jorge Garcia to go Hank Williams and start singing “I Saw The Light” and leave the country, his wife and children, for the sake of going all the way with the law, a law that is more flawed than Barak Obama’s Christian testimony or Bill Clinton’s pledge to protect womanhood against the evil that men do.
You can be a Christian who believes in family values, and be on either side of the DACA issue.
There are valid arguments on both sides.
David R. Brumbelow
I agree. The same applies to gun control and climate change, and almost any of the disputed political stances, except abortion in my opinion.
I also agree with David and Bill Mac, that there are Christians — real Christians — on both sides of the issue.
David R. Brumbelow,
You stated, “You can be a Christian who believes in family values, and be on either side of the DACA issue. There are valid arguments on both sides.”
I agree with that statement.
Yet, and at the same time, what has happened to Jorge Garcia, and as a result, to his wife and children is wrong. It cannot be defended through the lens of a biblical worldview. I personally believe a strong biblical argument can be made against what has happened to Jorge Garcia.
There is nothing at all Christian about the callous, compassionless rhetoric I’ve been seeing online and in the media from immigration hardliners toward Jorge and others like him.
Christians can be against DACA as a specific tactic/strategy for dealing with this current immigration problem. But any view that is cavalier and heartless toward these immigrants and has no care for the well-being of those caught in this unjust predicament is contrary to what it means to be a follower of Christ.
“There is nothing at all Christian about the callous, compassionless rhetoric I’ve been seeing online and in the media from immigration hardliners toward Jorge and others like him.”
Todd Benkert, you are right as the rain.
To be clear, I believe we must stop illegal immigration. I believe the building of a wall is a good idea. Walls work.
At the same time, what has happened to Jorge Garcia is wrong. He and, now his wife and children, are true victims of poor governmental policy and rouge partisan politics.
Dave Miller,
You stated, “We will never solve the immigration issue with Democrats refusing common sense border security and Republicans refusing to show basic human compassion and decency. Not to oversimplify, but Democrats have to grow a brain and Republicans a heart.”
Dave, that should be, in my opinion”
“We will never solve the immigration issue with ‘some’ Democrats refusing common sense border security and ‘some’ Republicans refusing to show basic human compassion and decency. Not to oversimplify, but ‘some’ Democrats have to grow a brain and ‘some’ Republicans a heart.”
Not all Democrats are without common sense or brainless and not all Republicans are without compassion, decency, and hearts.
I think this is the “money quote” from this article:
“Remember, folks, the US began with a rebellion against the established government authority! Fundamental to our system is the idea that justice is sometimes of a higher value that conformity to an unjust law. There are values like justice, like keeping a father with his wife and children, like common-sense decency, that trump legal absolutes.”
Realizing I have a rebel heart, I would go so far as to state: Justice is “always,” not just sometimes, of a higher value to an unjust law.
I think one little reported part of the story… That is actually found in all of the articles but relegated to a minor point and ignored… Is that this man’s deportation process began in 2009… He was ordered deported back then… But stays were given yearly… After seven stays he was ordered deported back then… But stays were given yearly… After seven stays he was deported he was deported. That was under the presidency of Barack Obama…
Someone help me understand here… Was there no way that he could have gotten involved in a process by paying fines and entering a program or something while the stays of the court order were in effect over the last 7 to 8 years?
I do not mean this to be cruel …. But if we truly mean that border security is important and immigration must be legal … There is going to be a whole lot of sad stories… Decades of bad immigration policy and lack of enforcement of laws… Has brought us here… It’s just not going to be painless.
Agreed, TarHeel. No one particularly likes seeing situations like that, but they’re a necessary evil for now. And with stay after stay on Jorge’s deportation for over eight years, it’s not like it’s now a surprise that he’s actually having to leave. That said, I am not in favor of this splitting families though which is why the government should offer to pay for the relocation of the entire family due to a deportation to keep them intact (if that’s what they want).
Regardless, maybe the long-term impact of this specific situation may be the impetus needed for Congress to come to an agreement on DACA and immigration reform. The wall is a must though because it was a key point in Trump’s campaign and simply because it’s needed and would be effective.
That said – my heart truly breaks at this and other stories I’ve seen regarding these issues.
Tarheel,
Had he left the country, I think he would have had to wait 10 years before he could come back, if then. I may be wrong about that.
This is poor governmental policy for people caught in this specific situation.
I think everyone agrees laws need to be reconsidered – I still contend though that if our leaders had been serious about border security over the last couple of decades – we’d not have near the problems we do now.
True and meaningful
Border security… Is absolutely essential to fixing this problem… Otherwise we will be facing it again… And again… And again.
( when you’ve got busted pipes you got to turn the water off before you start fixing the pipe)
I’ve said all along… real Border security first… Then we can have a debate on how to deal with The illegals that are here and the various details involved in that.
Tarheel,
I completely agree about securing our borders. I also think that partisan politics caused much of the lack of security we have on our borders.
I also maintain that this problem we have regarding people caught in our failures like Jorge Garcia needs immediate attention.
I hope that is at the root of what appears to be cold and heartless responses by a lot of folks – the lack of faith that the govmint will actually secure the borders.
If we’d secure borders people would hopefully be more compassionate about the current illegals – if they knew the pipeline was shut off.
Of course, there has been progress in immigration being made.
I want to see the illegals here now (who aren’t committing other crimes) dealt with as compassionately and fairly as possible. I think I favor a pathway to legal status – after which they can seek citizenship if they do desire.
I have tried to speak compassionately – and I believe one absolutely can be compassionate and Christian while still being very desirous of real solutions like real border security, ending the “lottery” and reducing “chain migration” to immediate family only – spouse and minor children.
I think that what has happened to Jorge Garcia and others like him is wrong whether we properly secure our borders or not.
It is wrong. No matter what else happens or does not happen it is wrong. It cannot be defended within the framework/context of a biblical worldview.
Yes, we do need to secure our borders and yes, walls do work. We need to fix the policies that poor governance has brought upon us as a nation. I believe all that to be true.
However, I know that what is happening to this family whose husband/father was brought here as a kid by his parents is wrong. It is just wrong. New Testament believing Christians cannot justifiably defend this.
I certainly disagree with what they’ve done (as we know it). I think the law that required it is immoral.
I’d like to see such laws changed – but it seems politicians and activists on “both sides of the aisle” would rather hold on to the issue – than to actually solve the problem.
I’m not sure how to break that impasse.
“. . . it seems politicians and activists on “both sides of the aisle” would rather hold on to the issue – than to actually solve the problem.”
I agree. The immigration issue fuels campaign victories for both Democrats and Republicans. This problem and lack of good policy regarding immigration actually predates both Trump and Obama.
We can’t really blame it on either of them as individuals. This is truly a shared lack of integrity by both parties.
Yep…and depending which party is “in power” at the moment determines what the other party’s dutiful opposition believes and argues and votes for…..it has NOTIING whatever to do with principle.
And it’s not just immigration this is true for.
Dems used to support and vote for a wall and oppose chain migration. Now they argue for the opposite.
Reps used to oppose and vote against Obamacare – until they actually had the chance to do something about it.
Playing games in the capitol….
Several points:
First, any insinuation that President Trump did wrong is absurd. Of course a president can overturn a previous president’s executive orders. President Obama was the one that usurped the legislature to do something that strickly speaking, executive power should not have allowed him to do. If President Trump really “hated” DACA folks, he would not have given a 6 month window before the program ends. Congress not being able to get something done in 6 months is not the fault of the President.
Second, as it relates to it being unfair to send DACA people to get inline to come here legally, ok, but what does that say to the people who ARE inline to get to come here legally. Those people, who have followed the law, who are doing things right, continue to get stepped on and pushed to the back of this “line” by people (or their parents) who broke the law. What do we say to those families?
As for answers, some ideas to dovetail onto what others have said.
I think there needs to be some measure of required civil service to earn the right to stay here legally. 4-6 years of honorable military service. If they cannot physically serve, work on these many infrastructure projects, roads and bridges, that need to be accomplished. Make these people PROVE they want to be here and contribute to this great nation.
No citizenship, ever, unless they do go to their country of origin and get inline. I am sorry but this goes back to my earlier point, these DACA people should not be given place in line above people who are trying to wait and come legally.
Until DACA people complete their period of proving they want to belong to this country, the should not count in census totals for determining US house seats (and as a byproduct Electoral College numbers). It goes without saying, non-DACA illegals should not count either. The 3/5ths person history of our country and constitution is regretful, but states that welcome these illegals should not get an advantage by doing so. Unfortunately this would be the hardest to get passed as it would likely require an amendment to the 14th amendment.
We allow so few people in legally that I don’t think the one really affects the other.
And Donald Trump’s vicious statements about Mexicans and his other shameful statements about third-world nations have not exactly created a great environment.
So, yeah, I think he bears some blame.
“I think there needs to be some measure of required civil service to earn the right to stay here legally. 4-6 years of honorable military service.”
So, SVMuschany, you want to make them all unpaid mercenaries?
That would certainly put a lot of hardworking, well-trained, Black-flag, Wild-Geese warriors out of a job, now wouldn’t it?
As a matter of fact, SVMuschany,
You may be able to get a lot of guys from my nation of origins to immigrate here with that offer. It might be possible to get over half of Northern Ireland here with that offer.
Dave,
First, thank you for writing this article; it has needed saying for a long time. In the past 30+ years, we Baptists seem to have added a new ordinance to baptism and the Lord’s Supper: membership in the Republican Party. I am not a Democrat and I am fast becoming not a Republican.
Let’s get back to basics: as Christians we are compelled to love; as Christians we are to seek justice. As Christians we live in the world and this is a world of laws. What we see in this example is the enforcement of a law that results in self-evident injustice.
Adults may break the law because they have the requisite understanding and intent; their children are under their parents’ authority so cannot exercise their own independent intent even if they might be old enough to understand.
Thus, we are faced here with innocence and the enforcement of a law that mandates guilt (and a harsh punishment) for the innocent. We are faced with a political process that cannot deal forthrightly with the unintended consequences of immigration law (broadly written, intended to be binding on adults). It is a simple fix that cannot be fixed.
It is abhorrent to me what I hear in Sunday School when I hear about “illegals”, statements that mirror what political leaders are saying. What is about us that we cannot think for ourselves, for our community of faith, in order to know what Jesus would have us see and do?
That is why I find this article brave, timely, and important. We need to find a way to talk, act, and be Christian in this culture. Maybe if it starts with our Southern Baptist leadership, it will filter down to us.
Bless you, Dave.
If congress and the president decide to give the DACA people a path to legality, that’s their right. It has no bearing on the folks going through the legal process (like paying farm workers the same daily pay no matter how many hours they work). I’m under no illusion that Trump has any compassion on these folks or any inclination to do the right thing, but the folks around him may be able to steer him into it. It depends on who the last person he talks to says.
Frankly I’ve never seen illegal immigration as the crisis a lot of people seem to think it is. Sure, secure the border. Build a wall and send the bill to Mexico (snort). It’s a problem, but in terms of the problems facing this country, it’s way down on the list.
As Dave said, we’re not going to deport all (or even most) of the illegals that are already here. We just aren’t. If you think there’s suddenly going to be a boatload of farm worker and bellboy and maid jobs opening up you are fooling yourself.
I just trashed a comment that was attempting to spread a recent Fake News/lie that has been going around – that Jorge Garcia was involved in the drug business.
Surprise, there is more than one Jorge Garcia!
Attorneys for the Jorge Garcia in trouble with the law over drugs have confirmed that he is not the same one that was recently deported. Unfortunately, too many conservatives (even Baptist Bloggers) often don’t let the facts in the way of their narrative.
If conservatism is TRUE it does not have to be defended with LIES.
“Surprise, there is more than one Jorge Garcia!”
Lol! That would seem common sense…. Ya know Causing someone thinking of posting something like that to attempt to check it out before doing so.