Immigration and Segregation

This post may be a little off the current hot political topic of the day (healthcare), but oh well. It's what has come up for me. The other day I was listening to a couple of journalists talk about when one of them interviewed Dean Smith, the famous former North Carolina basketball coach. Back in the late '50s, Smith went with a black man into a segregated restaurant as a protest against the laws and practices of segregation at the time. One of the journalists asked Smith about why he was not more forthcoming about that incident. Smith's reply was something like: "you shouldn't need to get patted on the back for doing the right thing, you should just do it."

Listening to that brought to mind current debates over immigration, and responses of some evangelicals about immigration issues. One favorite tactic of conservatives (religious and otherwise) is to make a big deal about the fact that illegal immigrants have broken the laws of the United States simply by being here, as if that fact pretty much settles the debate. They have broken U.S. laws, therefore they are criminals and deserve to be locked up or deported. Evangelicals often point to verses like Romans 13:1-5 (NIV) for justification for ideas like that:

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.

It seems pretty clear: don't be a rebel. Do what the government tells you to do, because it has been established by God. Most evangelicals are smart enough to make some notable exceptions to this, but not when it comes to immigration.

Looking back on segregation, however, I'm sure many evangelicals would also recognize the injustice in those laws. Perhaps many would also recognize the courageous actions of people like Dean Smith, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King Jr. as well. Through their nonviolent protests and breaking of unjust laws, they played a crucial role in ending segregation and bringing greater justice for African Americans. Sometimes I wish I could have been born in that era. Looking back, it all seems so clear, and I could have been a part of protesting to bring change to clearly unjust practices. But I'm also pretty sure that's just my own ignorance talking. Back then it wasn't so clear, and I'm sure a lot of people pointed to verses like those in Romans 13 as reasons for why they would not break laws which seemed reasonable at they time, but now are clearly seen as unjust.

Immigration is like segregation in that it is a crime of geography, like sitting in the wrong place on the bus - or going into a restaurant reserved for those who are white. In essence, they are both trespassing, whether it is in a business, bus, or country. So what are some biblical resources for dealing with trespassers on someone's property? What should be done with lawbreakers like that?

Even though it can't be applied normatively to state practices, I think that Leviticus 23:22 (NIV) provides some resources for Christians on how they should act towards trespassers on their own property, and how they should advocate that the State treat its own trespassers:

" 'When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.' "

There's really no other context to this verse, it kind of stands on its own, along with another couple that say essentially the same thing in Leviticus. In our culture, it seems pretty obvious what a person should do if they find poor people and immigrants on their field: put up a sign that says "no trespassing," and then do what you have to do to defend your property against the trespassers. Or, if you are the U.S. government, you could put up a gigantic wall for hundreds of miles.

But, we are given a different vision in the Hebrew scriptures for how to treat people who are in need and wander onto your field. It seems to me that there is a common theme in the Hebrew scriptures that advocates for generosity and openness to trespassers, especially those of the immigrant and impoverished varieties. So, what should be done with all of our immigrant trespassers in this country? Lock them up? Deport them? There are not easy answers to that question. But, I think Christians have a unique opportunity now to advocate for hospitality and generosity to these strangers just as Christians had an opportunity 40 or 50 years ago to advocate for ending segregation. Let's not miss the opportunity now and just pay attention to some scriptures while ignoring others.