Immigration: Who is Your Neighbor?
As a nation built on the foundation of immigration, the United States continues to grapple with the complex and evolving issue of who can cross its borders and why. As we have read or watched in the news, this is a complex situation in the midst of a broken world. I am not here to help us “fix things” or to convince you of certain political agendas. My hope is that we can learn to approach immigration as Christians with our head and our heart in line with principles that God and the Church has given us.
Once again, this topic can sometimes become driven by emotions, but I want us to focus on principles. So, what are the principles that guide us? Are these principles Republican or Democrat? Are they American or International? No, these principles are Catholic. A quick caveat, I will be using principles the Catholic Church gives to Her people to help form their conscience towards the Truth; all Christian denominations might not abide by these principles. The Catholic Church has a Catechism which summarizes all of Catholic doctrine in regards to faith and morals. This along with the hierarchy leadership gives us principles that come from the divine law, from Scripture and the Holy Spirit guiding the moral law that helps us to navigate through situations; especially those situations that are sometimes not black and white. The Church is supposed to be a light and a vessel of Truth in regards to faith and morals. This is true in regards to speaking out on abortion, traditional marriage, immigration and other topics that are human concerns in our world today. And immigration is a moral concern dealing with real human beings, their children, and fundamental human rights for everyone involved; including the rights of sovereign countries and the rights of immigrants. These principles allow for a universal unity and remove biases of individual opinions. And so may these principles guide us as we skim the tip of the iceberg of immigration in the United States.
Principle 1: All Humans have inherent dignity.
All humans are made in God’s image and likeness and must be treated with such dignity. Last week, I asked our school kids, “what is dignity?” They helped me define dignity as “worth or value.” Now with this topic of immigration we can apply this principle of inherent human dignity by reminding ourselves that we are talking about people, God’s children, when we venture into this topic of immigration. Does that mean we are supposed to have open borders and let everyone into our country? No. We are supposed to break up families or vilify non-violent criminal people who are undocumented in our country who might live a street over from us or have kids in our schools or are helping to build our homes or fix our roads-people who go to our churches? No. So our first principle to keep in mind is ALL humans have unique dignity, because we are made in God’s image and likeness and must be treated with such dignity always. So one practical from this principle would be, how do I speak of undocumented people? Does it respect their dignity?
Principle 2: A nation’s right to secure its borders.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church clearly states that a country has the right and responsibility to monitor and secure its borders. It is the job of our government to protect the common good in our country. Citizens have the right to know they are safe and secure. A dad has a right to lock the doors of the home to protect the family and a country has that right as well. Securing a border also helps to prevent chaos and mistreatment of people who are trying to immigrate. We want to keep immigration safe.
Principle 3: The right for security and well-being.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, “prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and means of livelihood which he cannot find in his country of origin.”
The US, as the most prosperous nation, has a lot to give, and let’s not be mistaken, she has given a lot. But can we continue to welcome people who are fleeing their countries from poverty, dictatorships, and horrendous crime in order to find a better life for their families? What if we were born into such situations? Would we do the same?
In Scripture, Jesus said “If you have two coats and your neighbor has zero coats, your second coat belongs to your neighbor.” This is a Christian principle given to us by Jesus. If you are a follower of Christ, the second coat belongs to the one with none. Now in the eyes of the world this seems unfair, and it is true, this is not necessarily just, but it is love. It is the love that Christ preaches that is not of this world. This doesn’t mean ask the government to give the person a coat, it means Christians are called to give the poor, the immigrant, and the lowly a coat.
Archbishop Gomez of LA said “People are born with the natural right to immigrate in search of a better life, and prosperous nations are called to be generous in welcoming them. But we cannot let everyone in who wants to live here, so there need to be rules and an orderly process for deciding who we welcome, how many we welcome, and under what conditions. These are basic principles of Catholic teaching and international law.”
We all agree that we do not want undocumented immigrants who are known terrorists or violent criminals in our communities. Of course, they should be removed from our country. On the other hand, it seems that many of our leaders seriously believe the issue of undocumented, non-criminal people can best be ‘solved’ by rounding up and removing everyone caught living in our midst without proper legal documents. This seems like a human rights nightmare and contrary to the principle stated above.
Principle 4: Who is our neighbor?
The two greatest commandments as Jesus tells us in Scripture, is to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself. Besides this commandment helping us to understand who is our neighbor, Jesus gives us the parable of the Good Samaritan to help reinforce His teaching. Who are we supposed to help when our neighbor is lying in a ditch, beat up from a criminal like the man from the parable?
Vice President JD Vance referred to a principle from St. Augustine called ordo amoris or the order of love. This principle states that the ordering of love is based on the closeness of the connection or closeness of relationship between ourselves and the potential recipient of our love. So firstly we love God, then ourselves, then our families, then extended families, our neighbors, our community, our nation, and the world. The message of the Good Samaritan is not that a person should or even be held liable for all victims of the world wherever they may be, but that we have a care and responsibility for the persons within our proximity – always remembering that we are a part of a greater world family. As we live and work in Fayette County, who is our neighbor? It is a good question for all of us to ponder as we look at immigration in the states.
As I conclude today, I have said a lot. And if you leave reading this article thinking, “These new policies of mass deportations are supported by the Church, and all undocumented people are violent criminals,” you have read incorrectly; may the Lord help you have ears to hear the Truth. And maybe you want to focus more on the formation of the heart in compassion and love.
After reading this article, if you are thinking, “All people who want secure borders are bigots, and there is nothing wrong with illegal immigration and the church supports illegal immigration,” you have read incorrectly; may the Lord help you to have ears that hear the truth. Maybe you could focus more on the formation of the mind and research the fullness of the Church teaching on immigration.
If after reading this article, you feel a bit helpless, understand a bit more about the balance of the rights of sovereign nations and the rights of people to immigrate, and maybe feel an ache in your heart for the broken situation that some of our brothers and sisters are going through in our community, then I think you are on the right path.
Yes, we need immigration policy reform on a political level in this country, but in the meantime we see the broken world, we see the brokenness of the immigration situation, we see the brokenness in our own families and in our own hearts due to sin. Maybe Christ wants to remind all of us of the beatitudes, that in a sense all of us in the human race are poor or broken, all of us are foreigners or strangers in this world, all of us have an ache in our heart for renewal, for freedom, and ultimately for love, because we are all humans together on a journey, pilgrims heading towards Heaven. And Jesus wants to remind us that He is here with us in the brokenness, giving us light, giving us guidance, giving us strength, giving us hope, and calling each one of us to love: to love God, to love yourself, and to love your neighbor. Who is your neighbor?