How NOT to Deal With an Invasion of Immigrants and Refugees

Let me tell you a story.  It’s about an invasion.  An overwhelmingly large group of people came into the country seeking resources and a better life because they were starving back home.  

At first, one man came alone.  Then, his siblings and other relatives came.  It was a huge chain migration.  

The country became overrun with immigrants and refugees.  They didn’t assimilate much, they had strange names, and they kept their own language. 

They lived off of the country’s wealth.  Sure, they worked for a living.  But what about the native-born folks who could have been doing those jobs?  It didn’t seem fair.

These people even began to infiltrate the highest levels of government.  Why should THEY be able to make the decisions?  What about the country’s culture and traditions?  Don’t culture and traditions count for anything?

Finally, a new ruler came to power.  He had guts. He spoke out about what was really going on.  And he promised to do something about it.

He said, “Our country is full.  We’re at the breaking point.  We have too many immigrants and refugees.  It’s an invasion!  I’m tired of them taking advantage of us and all that our country has to offer.  I am not going to be fooled any longer.  What if we have a war and an enemy invades?  Are these immigrants and refugees going to stand up and fight on our side?  Or will they join the enemy?  If they’re going to be here, let’s make them do the hardest jobs imaginable.  The worst jobs.  The jobs no one else wants.  That will teach them what we think of them.  If we make their lives hard enough, one day they’ll decide, ‘Enough is enough.’  They’ll pack up and go back to where they came from.  They’ll self-deport.”

The ruler made sure they got the absolute worst jobs.  Their work was back-breaking.  

But no matter how hard he made the lives of the immigrants and refugees, the demographic changes continued.  Their population grew.  They did not self-deport.  Their spirits were not crushed.  

The ruler’s next focus was spreading fear about the immigrants and refugees.  He wanted everyone to be afraid of their appearance, their unusual names, their language, their religion, and their customs.  

He said that without a hard-core crackdown, the immigrants and refugees would take the best jobs, all the wealth, the houses in the best neighborhoods, and all the spots in the best schools.

He made every effort to drive these people underground in society.  He kept wondering how miserable he had to make them before they would finally self-deport.

One day, he threw up his hands and declared, “Take the babies away from their parents.  Maybe that will teach them a lesson.  They’ll be so demoralized that they’ll go away for good.”

He began to snatch immigrant and refugee babies away from their parents.  Not all the babies, but many of them.  

The people still didn’t leave.  They adjusted to the horrors of their new lives.  They tried to make the best of it.

Despite their extremely difficult circumstances, God caused these people to multiply.  They grew very strong.  

Because of the ruler’s maniacal fixation on persecuting the immigrants and refugees, God caused the country to come to ruin.   

The ruler’s greatest fear had been the plunder of his country’s wealth.  In the end, that’s exactly what happened.  

_____________________________ 

What’s going on here? Have I written some kind of progressive, socialist, bleeding-heart liberal parable about the immigrant and refugee situation in the United States?  Is this a story about Donald Trump’s policies?  Is it about the immigration crackdown that so many American Christians support?  

This is not, in fact, a parable.  It’s the story of Exodus chapter one, with the names of the Israelites, the Egyptians, and Pharaoh taken out.  I hope you noticed some parallels to our current situation. I hope that some of the details struck a chord.

You might be saying, “But you changed it too much.  That’s not really Exodus chapter one.”

Isn’t it?  Go ahead and read it for yourself.  You’ll find all of the key elements.  The chain migration that started with Joseph.  His rise to the highest level of government.  The new pharaoh who came to power after Joseph died.  The fear that he spread regarding the Israelites.  The distrust.  The grueling work he made them do as a punishment, which he hoped would prevent them from multiplying further.  Taking away their babies.  The Israelites’ perseverance and ultimate victory.  Egypt’s ruin.  It’s all in the Scripture.

Let me be clear. Just because I told a story about an immigration crackdown, it doesn’t mean I’m saying “open borders.”  I’m not saying “no rules.”  

What I’m saying is that God frowns on persecuting immigrants and refugees. It is wrong.

In the U.S., we have resources.  We have more resources than any country in history.  Why, then, are we drastically cutting the number of immigrants and refugees who are allowed in each year?  Why are we doing this when we have aid organizations like World Relief that are here to help resettle marginalized people from around the world? These organizations have been doing their work successfully for years.

Our leader, Donald Trump, says that it’s too risky.  He says the country is “full.” He wants to keep out the immigrants and refugees.  

But it’s not just him.  In the 2012 presidential debates, Mitt Romney championed the idea of “self-deportation.”  He said that if only we made the lives of immigrants difficult enough, they would pack up and leave.  Trump took that idea and ran with it. 

I don’t believe in proof-texting with the Bible.  In other words, I don’t believe in searching out a piece of Scripture that I think proves my point, tossing it into the conversation, and then saying, “See?  I won the argument.  It’s in the Bible.”

I believe that you have to look at the whole arc of Scripture to figure out which ideas are consistent.  Which ones are supported throughout?  And then you have the gold standard: is it found in the teachings of Jesus?

It’s not a perfect process.  But I can tell you what ISN’T supported in Scripture.  I can tell you what ISN’T found in the teachings of Jesus:

·     Fear-mongering about people who we don’t like, who have less than us, and who are different from us.

·     Attempting to crush those people and make their lives miserable.

·     Tearing babies away from their parents in some kind of sick game.

·     Shutting the door to people who lack resources because we’re afraid of losing what’s ours.

None of that is supported by looking at the whole of Scripture or the teachings of Jesus.

I’ll end with a couple of questions.  

1.    Are you going to contact your Congress member to voice concern about our current immigration enforcement and about the new limit on refugees that was announced yesterday?  

2.    Are you going to find a way to get involved locally with helping immigrants and refugees?

We’ve seen how NOT to deal with an “invasion” of immigrants and refugees.  It’s right there in Exodus chapter one. The challenge now is to leave behind the mistakes of our past and do the right things going forward.