GA Immigration: WWJD? Back immigrants
Literature and simple empathy argue for fines, not deportation, for those who cross illegally.
Published on: 06/25/07
Much has been written about the immigration bill in recent weeks, and much of it has been negative. I believe, however, that we might shed some new light on the debate if we look at the issue from the point of view of scripture, the individual immigrant and great literature.
What would Jesus do?
The Republican Party is home to both some very religious people and some who are strongly opposed to immigration. Some Republicans possess both of these traits. To me, this is problematic, for scripture speaks very clearly about this issue. Over and over in the Old Testament we are admonished to be kind to "the widow, the orphan, and alien." In the New Testament Christ admonishes us to welcome the stranger: "when I was a stranger you took me in ... whatever you do for the least of these brothers of mine, so also you do for me." What would Jesus do? I think scripture is clear. I'm not sure how one can consistently be devoutly Christian and rabidly anti-immigrant.
At this point opponents of a path to citizenship for the undocumented argue that the issue is not immigration but lawbreaking. However, the relationship between Christianity and the law has always been an uneasy one. Don't those of us who are Christian worship God for not punishing his followers in spite of our inability to always follow his law? Don't we rejoice at his offer of pardon, or amnesty, for our sins? Was Christ, who healed on Sunday and offended the powers that be, not a law-breaker? Other great law-breakers include Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Harriet Tubman and American's founding fathers.
What would you do?
Put yourself in the shoes of an illegal immigrant. Your kids are hungry, your parents are sick, and you can't help them on your meager income in Mexico, no matter how hard you work. But just across the border there's work for quadruple your current pay. You can save your family, but you have to break the law in order to do so. What would you do? What's it gonna be: the law or your kids? A line from an old Bruce Springsteen song goes "man turns his back on his family, well he just ain't no good." I think that Springsteen, that most American of rock and roll singers and the descendant of Irish and Italian immigrants, is right.
What do Victor Hugo and John Steinbeck say?
Let's use literature to further consider whether doing the legal thing is always the right thing. In "Les Miserables," the convict Jean Valjean is pursued mercilessly by Inspector Javert. Valjean has stolen bread for his family. He did it. He's guilty, and Javert is determined that he pay. Valjean lives an exemplary life after escaping from jail, helping anyone he can generally and one helpless orphan girl in particular. All this doesn't matter to Javert: All that matters is that Valjean broke the law. In a bizarre turn of events, Valjean has the opportunity to kill his tormenter, but shows him mercy. When we watch the play, all of us root for the merciful criminal over the merciless agent of justice. Sometimes, not always but sometimes, mercy is more important than justice.
In "The Grapes of Wrath," the Joad family is driven off their land by the Dust Bowl and desperately move to California in search of a better life. The hero of the novel and movie, Tom Joad, has just gotten out of prison when the action begins. When he leaves Oklahoma to help his family, he breaks his parole. Thus he is an illegal migrant.
I've shown this movie to high schoolers for a decade, and I've never had a student fault Tom for breaking parole. They all believe it's a no-brainer. Of course, we have to choose our family over the law. One very important reason for having laws is to help us do the right thing, not prevent it.
Scripture commands us to be merciful. Most of us would break the law to save our family. The very quality that defines many of our great heroes of history and literature is the willingness to defy the law in the name of a higher duty. It is fair to monetarily penalize those who have broken our immigration laws for a noble purpose, as the proposed immigration bill does, but it is wrong to deport them.
• Sean McKenzie teaches high school in Dalton.
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Sincerely,
Erik Voss
404-457-5901 Direct
erik@icatlanta.org
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." -- Mahatma Gandhi
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