HOT TOPIC: Immigration Reform: What Christians Need to Know

With media sound bites, misinformed conversations, and sometimes inappropriate preached rhetoric, it is imperative that Christians educate themselves on the immigration reform debate.

And I charged your judges at that time: Hear the disputes between your brothers and judge fairly, whether the case is between brother Israelites or between one of them and an alien. Do not show partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Deut 1:16-17a NIV

In July, President Obama has asked Congress for $3.7 billion to confront the issue of unaccompanied children crossing the border into Texas from Central America. World Relief predicts that 60,000 unaccompanied children are expected to cross the border this year alone. That is just the latest news concerning “illegal” immigration in our country.

Over the past few decades, immigration and immigration reform have been one of the most challenging political issues. With the media sound bites, our misinformed table conversations, and sometimes inappropriate rhetoric that we hear from the pulpit, it is imperative that all professing Christians become more educated on this critical humanitarian issue. Together, we must determine how the Bible might call us to respond to this issue not only as citizens of America, but rather as citizens of God’s kingdom.

At first glance, it may appear that immigration reform is simply a question of border crossings and national security. However, a closer look reveals that it is also a conversation about extreme poverty, greed (including exploitation and economic injustice), violence, a broken judicial system (at least concerning this issue), and human trafficking. In spite of this reality, immigration reform has stalled in this Congress, and therefore, will be a highly contested issue of the next political elections.

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