Immigration

Lorenza Andrade-Smith, a seminarian at St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Mo., takes part in a rally for immigrants' rights during the 2008 United Methodist General Conference in Fort Worth, Texas. UMNS photo by Paul Jeffrey

Massive human migration of immigrants and refugees is a worldwide reality. But there is perhaps no more controversial national issue in the United States today than immigration reform and what to do about vast numbers of undocumented immigrants who enter and remain in this country illegally.

For some, immigration reform means tougher enforcement of laws through arrests, deportations and strengthening U.S. borders—primarily the border with Mexico—to impose further limits on who enters and who stays. Conversely, for others, it means creating a more humane path to earned naturalization and citizenship for undocumented immigrants and ending the cruelty of federal raids and mass arrests, separation of families, economic exploitation, and denial of human rights and access to needed social services.

Those who insist on stricter enforcement ignore biblical precepts that urge people of faith, especially followers of Jesus Christ, to welcome, embrace and advocate for sojourners from other lands, however they come and whatever their status, race or national origin. We are called to empathize with and extend hospitality to those who cross our borders, while aiding them in their search for new and better lives. In so doing, we might well discover through them new paths to a deeper faith and a selfless appreciation of God’s grace in our own lives.

The General Commission on Religion and Race is actively engaged in ministries to bring about humane immigration reform, primarily through its collaboration with other church agencies and the Council of Bishops. We participate in the United Methodist Interagency Task Force on Immigration and in public advocacy statements and actions, workshops, panel discussions, and development of resources. We also aid racial/ethnic caucus and community efforts, through the Minority Group Self-Determination Fund, to change immigration policies and procedures and to provide employment and legal assistance to undocumented persons in need of help.

We work alongside other agencies—including the general boards of Church and Society, Global Ministries and Discipleship, and the Women’s Division and Council of Bishops—to persuade the U.S. Congress to pass meaningful, comprehensive, humane immigration reform legislation that includes:

• A pathway to citizenship for millions of immigrants already in the United States, with minimal steps so that all undocumented immigrants might have the opportunity to become citizens.
• Reunification of families separated by migration, detainment or deportation.
• Protection of the rights of migrant workers through safe, orderly and legal avenues to enter this country.
• Restored discretion to immigration courts so that mandatory detention might be used only in cases when a migrant presents a threat to national security or a danger to the immediate community.
• Effective and humanitarian border protection.

GCORR shares the church’s concern for the overall plight of undocumented immigrants. But we are even more keenly focused on the disturbing and undeniable evidence of racism that underlies the arguments and actions of many people who oppose the burgeoning presence of immigrants, especially those coming from Mexico and Latin America.

As part of our work on racism, we have identified how the current immigration reform debate and the history of nativism and racism in American legislative history are clearly present. Our position paper, “Racism and Immigration,” available on this Web site, is intended to help United Methodists understand how the immigration debate is imbedded in our country’s history of racism and exclusion.

There are growing fears of the thriving racial/ethnic presence in America and the cultural, economic and political shifts that are already occurring as a result. The basis of such fear for many is nativism, prejudice and ethnocentrism among those who cling to notions of Euro-American cultural superiority and to a status quo that ensures white privilege.

Misusing political power to deny rights, privleges and hospitality to undocumented immigrants, as an expression of one’s fear and prejudice, amounts to racism, which is acknowledged by the church as a sin. GCORR, along with its network of partners, endeavors to challenge that sin and to advocate for more humanity and hospitality for immigrants among churches and all people of faith and goodwill.

Admittedly, the spirit and structure of our immigration system is broken; and the fear, hatred and rejection too often expressed indiscriminately toward people from other places—whether they are undocumented or not—are sure signs of that brokenness. We are called to move from complicity in that system to the creation of a new order that reflects Jesus’ unconditional love and acceptance of all people.