Once again, I heard disturbing news today. Immigrant Dreamers (those brought here illegally as children who have previously had certain protections under the DACA program) are going to lose their protections in the near future and become susceptible to deportation. But, even more than that, I’ve heard directly from the offices of Republican Senators and Congressmen who are asking Evangelical pastors and churches to speak up on behalf of Dreamers and help give them the moral backing to pass legislation to protect these young people. They want to do what is right, but they need support from the church. Unfortunately, they are telling me that, in their experience, most pastors and churches are remaining silent on this, even though polls say that up to 75% of Trump voters want legal status for Dreamers and less than 20% want them deported.
One pastor who will not keep silent is South Carolina pastor Brandon Sandifer. He recently wrote an OpEd for the Columbia, SC paper where he skillfully spoke out on behalf of Dreamers saying,
As a Southern Baptist pastor, I am called to both respect the laws of the land and show compassion for vulnerable people, including immigrant youth. Jesus commands believers to love their neighbors. These young people are some of our most vulnerable neighbors. I can no more forget them than I can forget the commands of the Bible.
I’m thankful for pastors like Brandon Sandifer. But, more voices are needed. So, here is the deal – and I’m saying this as clearly as I can. There are 1.8 million Immigrant Dreamers, who are victims of a broken system over the past 30 years. They are victims who were brought here as children, grew up here, were raised here, and most of the time have nowhere to go. They have lived their lives here and many have U.S. citizen children of their own. As Evangelicals, we pray for influence in our culture. Here is the opportunity. We have the authority and influence to speak on behalf of these young people from a Biblical perspective and help pass legislation that would protect them. If we speak up and intervene on their behalf as advocates, they will likely be able to stay. The Church can make the difference. If we say nothing, they will lose their temporary protection and most likely be deported.
The reality is that all undocumented immigrants are currently being deported piecemeal, not just the criminal aliens, as I reported here. That is the policy of our government now.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Thomas Homan said recently,
“There is no population off the table. We are not going to selectively say, ‘OK, we are going to take this population and we are not going to enforce the law against you.’ Once you start carving out populations and saying we are not going to pay attention when we find you, then the whole system erodes.”
So, when Dreamers lose DACA, then they will reenter the larger population being deported. Detentions of Dreamers are already happening. The story of a 22 year old mother of two children, Riccy Enriquez Perdomo, hit the news this week. She was brought here at age 9, has DACA, and is working. But, she was picked up and detained for deportation. After an outcry, ICE has released her, but only because they found out that she did, in fact, have DACA. This is a preview of what is to come when DACA is revoked in the Fall. As a matter of fact, we’re now hearing reports that President Trump will revoke DACA as early as next week. This means that Congress must solve this problem, but they won’t solve it if Evangelicals, and particularly Southern Baptists because of where we’re largely located in the Republican South, don’t speak on behalf of Dreamers.
Many in Congress want to act and are putting forward legislation like the Dream Act 2017 and the Recognizing America’s Children Act. Rep. Jeff Denham, a Republican from California, joined with other Congressmen in sending a letter to President Trump asking him not to revoke the protections these young people have. He said,
“These young adults were brought to America as children through no fault of their own and know no other country to call home, and we must continue pressing for immigration reform that will provide them with a pathway to citizenship. We have violent criminals preying on our communities, and our resources should be going toward their deportation instead of being directed toward the young men and women protected through DACA, who are working toward a better future.”
The church can and should speak on behalf of the vulnerable with moral clarity, compassion, and courage. In this case, Biblical Justice demands it. Theologian Paul Louis Metzger says about Biblical Justice:
Biblical justice involves making individuals, communities, and the cosmos whole, by upholding both goodness and impartiality. It stands at the center of true religion, according to James, who says that the kind of “religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27). Earlier Scripture says, “The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern” (Prov. 29:7).
Dreamers were brought here illegally at young ages and are victims of a broken system that had two contradictory signs at the border: a welcome sign and a keep out sign. By not enforcing our immigration laws for 30 years, we saw millions either come here or be brought here illegally. This system enriched many American employers and consumers who benefitted from them over the past 3 decades. How is it now just to deport the Dreamers when they did not choose to come here, but were brought here, grew up here, and now have no country to return to? Deporting them all now is not justice. It does not affirm the rule of law. It would be a travesty. It would only add human misery to a broken system and perpetuate further injustice upon innocent victims. It would be a modern day “Trail of Tears” in many respects.
The Church can and should speak to stop this and ask for a better way to be agreed upon. A large number of these young people are Christians and are members of our own churches and attended our Vacation Bible Schools as kids. Will we turn our backs on them now? We can call upon Congress to develop policies that take into account the realities and consequences of the failed, broken system of the past, secure the border for the future, and deal with the victims of the broken system with wisdom, justice, and compassion. Evangelicals were instrumental in electing a Republican President as well as Republican House and Senate majorities that have the power to fix this. After giving them power, will we now be silent while decisions are made that could devastate the lives of up to 1.8 million people?
Southern Baptists can speak on behalf of the vulnerable right now by giving support to Senators and Congressmen who are waiting to hear from the the church on behalf of these young people. Pastors and churches can speak. Our Republican politicians that WE elected are waiting for us to counsel them with the moral clarity and courage to do what many of them know to be right. How can we stay silent?
Deuteronomy 10:17-19 “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. 18 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. 19 And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.”
Thank you, Alan. I’ll be calling our Indiana representatives in Congress. I pray that many other evangelicals will join you in calling for Congress to act on behalf of dreamers.
Thanks, Alan, for this reminder and encouragement to take tangible steps here. I also plan to contact legislators on this issue.
I respectfully disagree.
I disagree too. In fact the title of this article could have been written by a well known SBC agency head who said you can’t be a Christian and vote for the President.
What does the title have to do with the President? My post isn’t about the President. It is about a policy proposal that will harm the lives of many, many people who are victims of a broken system. The post would be the same no matter who the President or Congress or other elected officials or pastors were. And, the Bible does demand and command certain things. That really isn’t controversial.
You know, if we keep going further down this road, we’ll have our government defining what Christianity is instead of Scripture. I’m not going down that road. Our government can put forward policy ideas and actions, but it is the role of Scripture to speak to that and the church to be a prophetic instead of a partisan political voice. While we live in a Democratic Republic, we still have the right and responsibility to speak and be a part of the decision making system and to assert justice from a biblical perspective.
So, if Russell Moore is for it, you disagree? That’s not an argument.
Ron and Steve,
You disagree…
Why?
On what points?
On what grounds?
Thanks for your answers.
I am wondering how those who oppose the Dreamers deal with the Deuteronomy quotes above?
Scott – The Deut passage does not deal with making them something different than foreigners. It also does not deal with dropping the borders and just let any and all come in. God has shown many times in scripture that nations have borders and a recognized people in those borders.
If the problem were only those who did not come here on their own, it might be an easier solution to find.
Living and having lived in countries outside the USA, I know many families who travel to the USA just to birth their kids. Citizenship. I deal with it here in the Middle East.
There is not a simple pill to take to solve this. If we support the DACA group, will we support those who brought them over (parents / grandparents) or deport them since they chose to come on their own volition? What do we tell the next generation of foreigners trying to get here illegally… Here is how to make it permanent without being legal about it?
We can support the return of illegals (in a manner which is not sinister) and minister to them also. While they are here and we can do the Matt 28 thing and go there too.
One thing here in the UAE is all people are documented… Foreigners and Emirates. Let’s document everyone (citizenship / purpose for being in country [if not of that country] / sponsorship [employer or head of household]) and those who are not documented… well
There are ways.
Jon,
Who said anything about dropping all borders and letting anyone come? Let’s not bring up arguments that I’m not making, other countries, or things that are unrelated to the actual post. I’d simply invite you to engage the subject at hand in the American context considering what has happened here for the past 30 years in relation to those brought here illegally as children and who have grown up here. THAT is what the post is about and I am simply saying that deporting them back to countries that many of them do not know is not a just solution to the problem that was not of their creation. I’m thinking about the actual people and what happens to them.
That is what the post is about, not the entire scope of the immigration problems in America and around the world. I only say that because I’d like to stay focused on the actual situation instead of bringing in other things.
I am for borders and secure borders.
I am against illegal immigration.
I am for the rule of law.
I don’t think that just anyone should come whenever they want.
This post is about none of that.
This post is about the victims of a 30 year old problem that our government allowed to grow. In addressing the problem, we must recognize that we are dealing with people who were caught in the middle of a mess. Dealing with those people justly and compassionately, especially with those who did not willfully break the law and who came forward and participated in DACA, is a biblically appropriate position to take, I firmly believe. I think we can do that without trying to solve the entire thing.
As for the Deuteronomy passage and many others in Scripture that deal with sojourners, they show us the heart of God and how God’s people should treat those who sojourn among them from far off lands. I’ve never said that these passages are to dictate American policy directly. However, they are to influence the church regarding God’s heart and character. Then, we are to display that character in how we treat sojourners. And, in a Democratic Republic with freedom of religion like America, we are free to reflect God’s character into how we ask our government to treat people, especially the vulnerable among us. So, the passage is for the church and it should influence how we see biblical justice and how we develop our public witness.
Alan,
I understand your post and where you stop and start your point. Not having the gift of writing, all I am trying to say is that this subject is much bigger and has too many things attached to it that cannot be left out of the discussion.
It is like we want to talk about the nuts that hold the wheels on a bicycle, so we grab them up and think the bike is going to be safe and work correctly without the parts of the whole.
We cannot make decisions on the dreamers without dealing with the nondreamers who are connected to them and those connected to them and those connected to them…
Every dreamer is here as a result of someone, by their own volition, coming here illegally.
So, let the 10 year old stay but what about his mom and dad? Let the young married couple who know nothing but here… stay but what about the parents and others who live with them and are helping the young family make it?
It is not as neat and tidy as your call for compassion makes it.
That’s why I broadened the language. It is so much bigger than most want to address.
Jon, I understand the complexity of it all. I work in this arena every day and research it constantly. I am hit by arguments, counter-arguments, legitimate questions, and outright lies constantly. I go from poor neighborhoods in small Southern towns where I hear the stories of immigrant families who fled hardship, grinding poverty, and violence from drug cartels in Guatemala to Baptist pastors trying to figure out how to navigate their changing communities and the fears and anger of church members to business leaders and law enforcement officers trying to keep their towns prosperous and safe all the way to the halls of Congress in Washington, DC. I talk with people on the Far Left and the Far Right and everywhere in between and have heard every argument. I’m not saying that to assert authority, but I’m simply saying that because from every position and person and group, there is a different perspective. Border security. Economics. Safety. Tax policy. The Rule of Law. It goes on and on. I know.
I am all for comprehensive immigration reform because I agree that it is all connected. I think we should have a process by which people can apply to stay and work legally if they meet certain requirements and fulfill obligations. That wouldn’t be amnesty.
However, the political realities don’t allow for broad solutions that would be compassionate and still fair. Our politics are affected by the extremes. I think a lot of people are going to be deported over the next few years. Border security will tighten dramatically. A lot is going to happen that will be very difficult for immigrant communities. With all that, I’m simply saying that there is a human element involved and there are legitimate victims. If we can’t help everyone, then let’s help who we can and who really do qualify as victims in need of justice and relief from a biblical perspective. I’m keeping the scope narrow because that is all that is before us right now. And, we can either protect these vulnerable people or we can see them deported too along with everyone else. We’re past the time when we can just sidestep the situation and take a pass on it.
Let’s try a simpler passage.
Prov. 3:27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.
Americans have the ability and power to good through political engagement. To not do that good when you have the power to do it is sin.
Further, the bible gives commands to nations to act justly. In a nation that is governed by the people, for the Christian people in that government to sit by and say and do nothing while its government acts unjustly is sin on our part.
It boggles my mind how often in these conversations, people get angry when you ask them to do good.
Todd,
You are correct.
It is not unbiblical to see to do good for others, and in fact it is commanded of us.
So we should.
Thus this post by Alan is a good reminder and enlightener of a need that we can, as citizens, and motivated by our love of God and neighbor, seek to aid those in need.
The Law is summed up: Love God with all and neighbor as self. Thus Dreamers, being our neighbors, can use our help, thus we should seek to aid them.
I will be writing my senators and congresspeople today.
Alan, you are right that this should not be a partisan issue, but for many it is.
Were you to write the same article on abortion, gay marriage, the right not to bake a cake for a gay wedding, or the defunding of planned parenthood, you would be cheered. There would be no one commenting on how Christians should not engage in political activism. Yet, here is an issue that has the potential to harm multiple thousands of individuals and families in a grossly unfair and inhumane way and suddenly the issue is either too complex or somehow out of bounds biblically. It is neither.
As you noted, there is widespread support on both sides of the aisle to pass humane legislation to fix this specific problem. Let’s do it. For Christians to be the ones that keep it from passing and arguing that we shouldn’t get involved … I don’t know what to say. Praying and acting with you.
Thanks, Todd. The separation ethically that some make on this issue really is mind boggling. It isn’t
“politics” to ask that young people who are innocent not be
exiled to places they don’t know when our own governmental system established by the people and for the people
invites us to do so. We ARE being subject to the authorities when we respectfully participate and engage. The authorities are ASKING us to participate and express biblical concern and compassion toward these people and to attempt to persuade others.
Edward, your view would mean we don’t vote. Or express any opinion.
MacArthur says the American Revolution should not have happened. I’m not advocating revolution or even civil disobedience. I’m asking us to express concern and compassion legally and respectfully to our Representatives, as our system invites us to do, on behalf of those who have no voice.
Proverbs 31:8-9 says “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”
Speak up. Judge fairly. Our government actively invites Christians to do that on behalf of others. We don’t try to exercise control. We simply stand in place and explain God’s Heart for people.
These were kids brought here often out of terrible situations to save their lives. It was illegal for them to have been brought here. But, in what other area of law do we peeperually punish someone for something done TO them as a child?
Are we to never say anything about abortion? Was it wrong to oppose slavery? Should segregation have been maintained? Should Christians not vote at all? Calling a Congressman and expressing a biblically informed opinion on behalf of child victims of a system set to send them into exile from the only country they’ve known is far less political and partisan an act than voting for political candidates who would exercise control on behalf of their party.
??
Funny Ed that so many did not think that during the Presidential election. Using religion as a shield to turn things politically the way they actually want is an old device. I could be wrong, but I more suspect you don’t want the dreamers to stay and therefore are using the methods you have been using. Same with other issues, but I think you are very wrong.
My other question is if you are so right, why do you feel the need to go from website to website writing the same thing as above over and over? That is a lot of effort and work. Why not just give us the Gospel without all the telling us what we should or should not do if giving the Gospel will do the trick without instructions attached?
Did you vote in any elections Ed? That would be my question. If you did why did you vote if you believe what you have written above?
I am sorry Ed, but your view of Christianity and God himself is warped with scripture being used out of context. Jesus is our best example of how wrong you are. Read about his ministry. That is the Gospel too.
God is not going to zap us for doing good and he is not going to zap those such as yourself for doing nothing. I can’t sit and do nothing as Christian.
Luckily you can’t tell me what to do so I will be doing what I can to help Alan as I can’t imagine what it would be like, having known nothing but life in this country to be torn away to a land that I know nothing about and have my way of life changed. Sent to a country where there is not a church on every corner or a Bible that I can purchase easily by going into a store and paying my money or sending away for online.
Just thinking about it, it would be a living nightmare and worse.
I have just finished respectfully emailing both my Senator and my Representatives on this issue. I sincerely hope that others will do this also. I live in a state that appears to be for anything that President Trump proposes toward deportation, but in the case of Dreamers I pray they reconsider.
I disagree as well . The Apostle Paul didn’t tell Onesimus to stay in Rome now that your a Christian, no he sent him back because he broke the law. We must fix our immigration system.
The letter was to Philemon with a request to be merciful and accept him back as a brother. Paul was advocating for Onesimus to another Christian to be merciful, even though the law required that Onesimus be punished severely and even put to death.
From the Wikipedia article on Roman slavery:
“Moses Finley remarked, “fugitive slaves are almost an obsession in the sources”. Rome forbade the harbouring of fugitive slaves, and professional slave-catchers were hired to hunt down runaways. Advertisements were posted with precise descriptions of escaped slaves, and offered rewards. If caught, fugitives could be punished by being whipped, burnt with iron, or killed. Those who lived were branded on the forehead with the letters FUG, for fugitivus. Sometimes slaves had a metal collar riveted around the neck. One such collar is preserved at Rome and states in Latin, “I have run away. Catch me. If you take me back to my master Zoninus, you’ll be rewarded.”
So, Paul obeys the law by returning Onesimus but then undermines the law by asking Philemon to receive him back with joy as a brother. You have the application entirely backward.
For the Christian in this situation to ask that Dreamers be treated mercifully and with compassion is wholly appropriate. The fact that we are arguing about this is confusing.
Immigration, legal and illegal, is a complex issue.
Christians are to treat the vulnerable, and all people, with love and respect.
How we treat people on a personal level, however, is a separate issue to how our government deals with them; especially those who are illegal. Yes, the government should also treat everyone with love and respect, but also with law and justice.
Leniency to the lawbreaker, can be cruelty to the law-abiding.
We are to treat everyone with love and respect, yet good Christians may differ on the best way for government to deal with illegal, and legal, immigration.
Parents bear most of the responsibility / guilt for illegally bringing children to America.
There is something wrong with illegal immigrants dictating what our government should and should not do.
If they could, probably 90% of the world’s population, especially in impoverished countries, would to come America, thereby overwhelming our country and making it into a completely different country.
Whatever your political view, love and respect everyone, and pray for another Great Awakening / Revival in America.
David R. Brumbelow
David,
My point here is that these young people were brought here as kids. They did not choose to come, yet they grew up here. This is the only country many of them know. How is it just to exile them? Everything is complex in application, but the morality of this situation in regard to those brought here as children and who grew up here is not confusing. If Christians can’t speak on this, then what can we speak on? What other issue meets the litmus test? The Bible speaks to this clearly. We don’t live in a monarchy where we have no voice. We live in a Democratic Republic where we have a voice and are invited to speak from our convictions, including our religious beliefs. Religious Freedom allows that. So, when we read Scripture and it tells us how to treat the sojourner and we look at these kids and see that they are victims of the broken system, no prepetrators, and we legally and Constitutionally have a voice where we are invited to speak on issues that matter to us, why would we not speak on behalf of these young people?
I cannot find a reason.
Mike asked for reasons I disagree:
1. Everyone agrees that dreamers are here illegally. The Bible tells us to obey our laws.
2. We have a foreign worker program and path to legal residency and citizenship. It may not be easy but it is there.
3. Dreamers and their parents came to a country they did not know and made a life here.
4. Letting dreamers jump ahead of those who are going through the legal process to gain residency and/or citizenship is not justice.
I understand they will face problems and issues when returned to their home country. The US spends hundreds of millions of dollars every year providing assistance to people in other countries. Churches and other charitable groups provide additional money and support. This is another way to do good to others without compromising our laws.
My comment about the title is that is implies that other opinions are not Biblical which is not right.
In this situation, I cannot see how Justice is served to send young people away from the only country they know when they did not choose to come here, especially when they will often be sent back to great danger. How is that just? They did not choose to break the law. They were brought here. The law can be changed easily to make an exception for them. How does any of this reflect any sense of fairness or goodness in Scripture? They are here because our own government allowed the situation to continue. What is our responsibility to these people? Nothing? Just send them away?
I disagree.
Alan,
Sometimes God uses injustice to open the eyes of the person He is saving, stripping them of worldly aid and leaving only Himself as their strong tower.
The reality of life is that there is really no fairness or goodness since we as sinners constantly earn eternal condemnation by our sinful choices. Justice and fairness demands that we all die now. Its is only by mercy and grace that we do not get what is fair and just.
But because we have been treated mercifully by God and have not received what we deserve, and not what justice demands of us: death, that we are to seek to aid those downtrodden by the world. Because we have received mercy are we to be merciful. Because we have been blessed we should seek to bless others. Because we have not been judged for our crimes against God and man, are we to seek for others to be likes:forgiven and pardoned and blessed.
The good and just argument is earthly based on earthly standards of goodness and justice. We are rot act in mercy because we too are sinners and have received mercy.
I need to turn spell check off. lol
Steve,
Thanks for your response. Your voice is important.
Let’s look at your points.
Point 1. As children which is better for them to do: disobey their parents and refuse to go with them (even though they may be only 5 years old) or to obey their parents and go with them? Thus they are victims of the poor choice of their parent not perpetrators of illegal activity.
Point 2: under DACA the dreamers have to meet certain standards so that they are contributors to society and not leeches upon society.
Point 3: Dreamers obeyed their parents because they were children. No compassion for them?
Point 4: Don’t let them jump ahead but don’t send them away. Put them in the line where they belong and allow them to do what is necessary and proper, and if they don’t, then send then away.
Finally, your objection to the title. Whether Alan is just really passionate or he really believes it, I don’t know. But we are as Christians called to walk in the Spirit and to do right as our conscience and interaction with the Spirit dictates. If your experience with Him leads you to not be active in this matter, that is between God and you.
Blessings
Excellent points, Mike. I agree with them all. Thank you.
As to your last point, I wrote strongly because I believe Scripture is clear. I believe God puts demands on His children and we have obligations to live and act in certain ways.
Micah 6:8 “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
What does the Lord “require” of you? So, in this situation and with our government inviting our feedback, I see this as a demand of Biblical justice that is clear.
However, if people disagree for whatever reason, I do not condemn them. That is not my role. But That is between them and God.
?
Mike,
I think you were responding to my comments instead of Steve’s.
I have not had negative experience with Alan. I was only pointing out that there were other perspectives of Biblical justice.
This matter is indeed complex, as many of you have noted.
One additional aspect is legal. I am not sure that I have the facts right, but if I don’t someone can straighten me out.
DACA was not a law adopted by Congress and signed by the President. If so, it would be the law.
Our former President created the DACA program from the office of the chief executive.
Several states have sued to get the courts to say that DACA is not even legitimate to begin with.
The issue facing the current President is not whether to sign some law that has been passed by Congress, but whether to defend the DACA suits. The current President is faced with having to defend what many feel was an illegal initiative by the former President, or to not defend it.
This adds to the complexity greatly.
You are right, Louis. I would ask that POTUS not revoke it, let the courts deal with it, and then encourage Congress to do their job and pass legislation fixing this problem. That is the proper solution. I would only blame President Trump if he preemptively revoked DACA with nothing else in place protecting these young people.
I remain in favor of strong borders that prevent illegal immigration, but the situation with someone who is here illegally because they were brought here as a child is different.
Do we really need to visit the sins of their parents upon them? Anybody else have family skeletons in the closet that we should continue to suffer for?
Practically speaking, yes, they are here illegally. They committed a crime at the age of 2, 5, 10…shall we impose life sentences upon them? We’ve decided that it’s unjust to incarcerate a juvenile offender, even a murderer, past their adulthood for crimes committed in youth. Even when it was a 15-year-old who did know what he did was wrong.
But let’s impose a life sentence on someone for violating our border at the age of 5. That’s equitable. Send them back, let them suffer in a country they do not know, a language, a culture, etc…
It’s wrong. It may be legal, but it’s wrong. It’s wrong like abortion is wrong or the fugitive slave law was wrong. Both things that were “the law of the land” (one that still is)–but are morally reprehensible and destructive.
Alan,
Biblical justice would affirm that the government should enforce its own laws (regardless of the delay on this particular issue). What you’re actually advocating for is mercy to the illegals which is completely different. And in regard to illegals who are Christians, at what point do they become convicted of their status and feel compelled by the Spirit to self-deport? Otherwise, why is lawbreaking being justified regardless of whose fault it originally was? How is that Biblical?
It would be difficult for me to look an unemployed legal or citizen Hispanic in the eyes and read what you wrote about the Dreamers. How would he feel about that position? Not to mention the black community which has also been adversely affected by illegal immigration.
All that said, I do feel bad for the Dreamers who are caught in the middle of this. But I also feel bad for the taxpaying citizens who are helping financially support people who are here illegally. As someone said earlier, undoing DACA makes sense since it shouldn’t have been signed in the first place. I would like to see the SBC and other organizations step up and help with any transition efforts that may arise as a result. This would be an appropriate response of Christian love.
Dan B.,
I might be wrong but I am under the impression that in order to stay under DACA a Dreamer must be working and self supporting.
Can someone (Alan) clear this up?
Yes, that is true. They must pass criminal background checks, stay out of trouble with the law, have graduated high school, have English proficiency, pay application fees, work, pay taxes, and meet all other requirements. It is in no way “amnesty.”
Mike/Alan, thanks for clearing that up, though I’ll note that I thought that the work permits were only optional (available but not required). That doesn’t mean that those people would be here doing nothing however. The alternative would be working in only the “cash economy” which would allow one’s earnings to go unreported (and thus not taxed).
Dan B,
Dreamers protected by DACA work legally and pay taxes just like you and I. They have government issues social security numbers. They didn’t choose to come here. They were brought here. They have unlawful status, which is not a crime. They illegally crossed the border as small children. We do not hold children responsible for things they were supposed to do. No, I would ask for mercy for their parents who willfully broke the immigration law or were enticed to do so.
I would ask for Biblical Justice for these Immigrant Dreamers.
Alan,
Note that both you and Ed [commenter above] appealed to God’s Law.
God’s law covers Justice and such.
But you two came to different conclusions.
The Law was given to show us our sinfulness and our need for a savior.
Christians are not under the Law having died to it.
But we are under Love.
Love fulfills the Law in a way that strict seeking obedience can not.
Because we are loved by God we are to love Him and others, especially those that are His.
Justice under the Law demands perfect obedience.
But we have all missed that high mark and fallen short.
But those of us who have been shown love by God [the saved] are to love one another and to love those in need. s it is written: Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
Since most of us are the lowly and despised by man type, we should have empathy for those who are lowly and despised.
The OT was written for the Jews and is used as a base for understanding many things, but the rules and laws contained therein aren’t always directly transferable to the Church. Thus America isn’t Israel and our ways cannot be their ways.
If I am preaching to the choir here, my apologies.
Mike, agree that the Law does not save, but it does demonstrate and reveal God’s character. That is what I mean in appealing to it. Forgive me for any confusion.
A good question to ask: if you found out tomorrow that you really aren’t a citizen and that your parents brought you here illegally when you were a baby, would you abandon your life situation as quickly as possible and deport yourself? Could you financially afford it? And what if you were brought here from Iran or North Korea?
Alan,
Thanks for the article. These types of executive orders (DACA) are excellent examples of just how poorly federal orders can be written, and the sheer complexity of the order demands that the majority of those that have been “illegally” imported into this nation almost will never comply to the order. What a tragedy. An ill conceived idea in its inception. Purely political and demeaning to the those seeking immigration to a nation. I too agree with you, that why compound an already man-made disaster. Unwinding the catastrophic effects of DACA will take many years. Having a new order, or a well conceived law (there is probably already one on the books that is not being followed) is critical. Without it, these orders (like DACA) will continue to wreak havoc on innocent children and young adults. I urge everyone to go read DACA. Its not just about kids…it goes up to 31 years of age in its qualifications.
Just another example of extremely poor order writing!