The spirit of peace and goodwill of the recent Christmas season seems to have quickly dissipated as immigration advocates prepared for this week’s meetings at the Capitol with White House officials and leaders from both political parties to discuss the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program rescinded by Trump.
Mired in the heated budget fight, the future of about 800,000 young DACA recipients called Dreamers lies in the hands of our country’s elected officials. Looming large is the Jan. 19 deadline to avert a federal government shutdown.
In a country where over 70 percent of the population are Christians, it begs the question as to why the values from our recent Christmas season of Christlike love, compassion, and justice do not seem to be the guiding moral force of the Republican Party leadership, whose “moral majority” are white Christians. In fact, the majority of Democrats are also people of faith, so they, too, must be held to account.
The Bible is filled with scriptures on how to treat immigrants, refugees, and those in need of help:
When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. (Leviticus 19:33-34)
Passages in the Torah and the Qur’an also call upon us to welcome the stranger and the foreigner.
Nonetheless, despite two-thirds of all Republicans opposing the deportation of undocumented immigrant Dreamers, almost all Republicans and a few Democrats lacked compassion to help innocent undocumented youth by failing to protect Dreamers in a December vote.
“Our national immigration laws have created a moral, economic and political crisis in America,” urged the Evangelical Immigration Table in calling for a bipartisan immigration reform solution.
During Christmas Eve Mass, Pope Francis compared the Christmas Story to the plight of migrants today who are forced to leave their homelands for a better life or “survival.”
President Trump also heard the similar migrant story of Jesus of Nazareth’s lowly birth recited during his attendance of Christmas Eve worship services at an Episcopal Church in Palm Beach, Florida. He previously defended ‘Judeo-Christian values’ at the Values Voter Summit and was “proud” to fire off a Christmas Eve tweet defending the phrase “Merry Christmas!!!!!”
As a strong person of faith, it’s baffling how leaders who profess Christian faith, fail to live its teachings and values. It is disappointing to witness “pro life” Christian leadership who fail to exercise their faith, especially when half of Latino Christians worry about deportation under Trump.
“We have a moral obligation to welcome the immigrant, uphold the dignity of all people and affirm our nation’s value of building a brighter future together. Immigrant youth are no different than our biblical ancestors who were once strangers and who found welcome,” said Rev. Gabriel Salguero, associate senior pastor at Calvario City Church in Orlando and founder of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition.
Currently, there are about six million Latino evangelicals – 16 percent of the U.S. Hispanic population – who are also the fastest-growing group of U.S. evangelicals.
Rev. Salguero stated in The New York Times that “complicit silence during these times is incompatible with the gospel. We can not sacrifice integrity for partisanship. Political expediency is not the test of authentic Christianity for evangelicals of any stripe.”
As a follower of Christ’s admonition to “do justice to the afflicted and needy” (Psalm 82:3), I agree that we cannot, in good conscience, remain silent.
I speak up and remind those with anti-immigrant views that one of the first U.S. servicemen killed in the war on Iraq – defending America’s freedom with his life – was Marine Lance Cpl. José Gutiérrez, a Latino immigrant from Guatemala. More than 65,000 immigrants (non citizens and U.S. naturalized citizens) serve in active duty in the U.S. military. Some who have served have been deported.
I speak up for persecuted Iraqi Christians Trump promised to protect, but instead deported.
I speak up for innocent children withheld from school because their parents fear deportation.
I speak up for immigrants who are sick and afraid, foregoing screenings, medications, and avoid hospitals and clinics. Some children are not being vaccinated, adversely impacting our country’s public health.
As a Hurricane Harvey survivor from Houston, I speak up for Josue Zurita, an undocumented Mexican carpenter, who died while assisting with Harvey recovery repairs. Immigrant labor is vital to hurricane rebuilding efforts in Texas, yet they continue to be victims of rampant wage theft.
I speak up for vulnerable undocumented immigrants who were paralyzed from workplace injuries, and almost drowned in their wheelchairs during Hurricane Harvey because they were too afraid to call for help. The brutal reality is that after being injured on the job, many undocumented immigrants are reported by their employers and later deported.
I speak up for Alonso Guillén, a Dreamer, and his friend, Tomás Carreon, both undocumented Latinx immigrants who died as valiant heroes serving on a Hurricane Harvey rescue team.
I speak up for Jesús Contreras, a Dreamer and paramedic, who worked tirelessly as a first responder for six days and nights in a row without returning home during the Harvey storm. Once his DACA status ends, Contreras faces deportation.
More importantly, I speak up to protect Dreamers and call for the Dream Act. During this critical moment of challenge and controversy, I call upon our leadership – especially those who purport to espouse Christian values – to strongly take a moral stance to protect innocent Dreamers. As a guiding force, I urge consideration of this Dreamer’s example:
While currently serving as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, one Dreamer I know feared deportation as her DACA status expired. In her renewal application, she penned the following statement:
Having DACA allows me to be a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am able to provide community service every day, including teaching free English classes. After my mission, having DACA will allow me to return to study business at Brigham Young University. I plan to become a citizen of the United States of America and use my acquired skills to be a productive member of society.
“We can and must do better. Now is not the time to turn these children away but rather to remove the fear of deportation and family separation,” Rev. Salguero urged.
As we continue waging the biggest civil rights battle of our time defending Dreamers’ positive contributions, we can draw strength by following Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s moral guidance:
Cowardice asks the question, is it safe?
Expediency ask the question, is it politic?
Vanity asks the question, is it popular?
But, conscience ask the question, is it right? And there comes a time when we must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because it is right.
The time is now to do what is right, exercise the values of our collective faith, and maintain the moral high ground of this immigration battle. To do anything less is unconscionable and full of hypocrisy.
