Christians and the Immigration Crisis

Christians and the Immigration Crisis

The problems resulting from the twenty-plus million illegal immigrants and from the many non-English speaking legal immigrants residing in the USA are currently the subject of much debate within the Christian community. Questions about how the Church should respond to immigration reform proposals and to the spiritual and material needs of these people are among the issues that burden and often perplex the Christian community. Here are a few observations to ponder about what might be the appropriate biblical response to these problems.

I. The Law – Part A

Romans 13:1-7 “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth, the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For this cause , pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.”

Some of the arguments Christians are making about illegal immigration are that our families are all descended from immigrants, the immigrants are poor and destitute, they are only looking for a better life like any of us desire, and therefore they should be left alone to pursue this better life. The major problem is that this line of argument is antinomian and is contrary to Romans 13 and to other biblical precepts that require us to obey the law unless it is contrary to God’s Law. God does not require a nation to open its borders to everyone and anyone who desires to enter, and thus disregard the national security, public safety, public health, cultural division, labor, and exponentiating fiscal problems that exist and continue to expand as a result of the situation.

II. The Law – Part B

A few years ago, I worked full time a few months at $8/hour for a tax return preparation service where I interviewed people, entered their tax return data into a computer, then prepared the data for electronic filing with the appropriate tax authorities. A significant number of the customers I served were recent immigrants of whom very few spoke fluent English. They, like many fluent English speakers, had no hope of deciphering the complex tax forms, and so chose to pay to have it done for them.

Most of these folks worked for local poultry processors. Their yearly incomes were almost without exception $12,000 or less, most of them having incomes of under $10,000. Most qualified for the federal earned income credit, which based on income level provides a tax credit that is not limited by the amount of taxes being paid. Additionally, many qualified for the federal child tax credit that is also a tax credit not limited by the taxes paid and is based on total income and the number of one’s children.

The tax “refunds” due these folks often amounted to thousands of dollars, in some cases amounting to 50% of the income they had earned from their employer that year. Those who were single parents with several children received the largest “refunds.” In almost every case, they chose to purchase from the tax service a “refund anticipation loan” that sped receipt of their “refund” by several weeks. The loan fees and interest were significant and were paid for by reducing the amount of the “refund”. The main goal seemed to be to receive a financial windfall as quickly as possible without regard to the overall cost.

These tax credits of course are not limited to recent non-fluent English speaking immigrants, nor are these folks the only ones getting expensive loans in order to get their tax refunds a few weeks earlier. That is not the point. The point is that the government is effectively subsidizing through tax law businesses that pay poverty-level wages to those desperate enough to work for those wages. The point is that the government is calling black - white by characterizing these giveaways as tax credits. The point is that the government is financially enabling single-parent families and encouraging poor stewardship. The point is that the government has found yet another way to buy votes and influence from those who benefit most from dependent constituencies and government interference in the marketplace.

So, borrowing McLean (VA) Bible Church Senior Pastor Lon Solomon’s trademark question, “So What?” What does this have to do with the Church’s response to these immigration issues?

I don’t have any profound solutions for the specific problems described above, but I do know that ignoring immigration law, ignoring the not-so-hidden power and money agendas of those most responsible for creating this mess, and ignoring the significant destruction to our nation being wrought because of these problems is NOT going to make anyone’s life better - recent immigrant or not - illegal or not. I DO know that the Church is responsible for obeying the law and in providing Godly influence for our culture.

III. The Church

So then, what is the Church’s responsibility in these matters? I strongly suggest that Christ’s command to us before his ascension is most instructive:

Matthew 28:19-20 “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

A while back, I had the opportunity to speak to an influential leader involved in church planting about how Christ’s Church should go about ministering to the growing immigrant population. I described the hundreds of thousands of recent immigrants living and working in western Virginia, and how I had gained some insight into their lives by assisting some of them with their tax returns those several months. I told of discovering that the vast majority of these folks were gentle and personable people. I told of how most of those I had met were living in very modest means. I told too of the spiritual poverty of these folks, citing the lack of ministry to their communities and how the problems of single parenthood and immorality affected their communities so profoundly as they do the rest of the culture. I asked what might be done to increase Christian ministry to these fields ripe for the harvest.

I was saddened to hear from this leader that these immigrant communities were not good prospects for planting churches because the folks do not give much money to the church and because it takes several hundred thousand dollars to successfully plant a church and support a minister. In other words, the only appropriate place to plant a church is in an affluent and otherwise demographically appropriate community where a minister is assured of getting a good compensation package and where there is the prospect that a decent church building can be constructed. Somehow, I do not think this is what Christ had in mind when he spoke about the least of our brethren and when he gave his Matthew 28 marching orders…


So, again, what is the responsibility of Christ’s Church toward the many recent immigrants in our communities? At the very least, we are to:

1) Obey the laws and encourage obedience to the law to the extent commanded by Scripture.

2) Reach out to the least of our brethren in those ways commanded by Scripture including but not limited to proclaiming the Gospel, making disciples, and meeting temporal needs – even if imaginative and laborious means are necessary.