Immigration reform is an important legal issue for the people of the United States. Passionate arguments, private interests and political posturing, unfortunately, have tended to generate more heat than light, thus impeding the resolve of legislators and law enforcement officials to find suitable, practical and just solutions to the presence of millions of undocumented immigrants living in our nation. Numerous social pundits, political analysts, alarmed bureaucrats, qualified ethicists and theologians and concerned Christians have addressed the issue from personal, social, economic, political, theological, moral and legal perspectives. My task at this point in the conversation is rather modest — to propose a simple biblical framework from which Christians can hold a theologically and morally informed conversation on the issue of immigration. In other words, how might the Bible help us to set the stage from which we can hear what God has to say about this particular issue at this particular time and be equipped to respond in ways that reflect God’s righteousness and character?
What follows is a series of propositions derived from Scripture that I believe are consistent with the story of God and the world rendered to us in the Bible and that summarize the kinds of claims that God has on His people and on the nations. I encourage readers to study the representative passages and test the principles offered below as they consider the issue of immigration. The goal is to take our politics captive to the Word of God. My prayer is that these propositions will help to orient us to God’s will regarding the issue of immigration.
God is the Creator of heaven and earth; God is the just Judge of the laws and actions of nations; God’s plans and purposes outweigh the plans and purposes of any and all peoples. Christians can’t address the issue of immigration without reference to God (Gen. 17:4, 6; Job 12:23; Ps. 24:1; 47:8; 2 Chron. 20:6; Isa. 40:15, 17; Dan. 2:21; Rom. 13:1).
Nations, national boundaries and governments are assumed in Scripture. Boundaries, whether familial, tribal or national, are acknowledged and protected to the degree that God’s plans and purposes allow (Gen. 23; Num. 20:16–21; Josh. 13:1–22:9; Deut. 19:14, 27:17; Prov. 22:28).
Immigration, the movement of people out of homelands and into and through foreign lands, was widely practiced in Bible times (for examples of this, see Gen. 23:4 and Ex. 1; 2:22; 18:3; 22:21; 23:9). Consequently the relationship of God’s people to resident immigrants and foreigners is both described and prescribed in Scripture. The ways that governments and citizens of a particular nation treat any group of people, including immigrants, are judged by God.
People of peace who sought to identify culturally with Israel, though they could not have a property stake in the land, were invited to share life in Israel and to receive benefits available to Israelites, such as equal justice under the law, fair wages, social benefits and religious inclusion (Lev. 19:33–37; 20:2; 25:35–37; Num. 15:14–16, 29; Deut. 15:1–4; 24:14–15, 19–22; Josh. 20:9).
The primary citizenship of Christians is in the kingdom of God (Phil. 3:20; Titus 2:14; 1 Pet. 2:9–17). Being a Christian denies neither nationality nor citizenship, nor should it routinely turn a person against the laws that govern a land; rather, God’s laws and commands take precedence over human laws and cultural mores. We must obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29).
According to Romans 13:1–7, a government has an obligation and the authority to protect its citizens. One can reasonably infer that this protection includes border security and immigration regulations.
Submission to laws and governing authorities is the will of God for His people (Matt. 22:21; 1 Pet. 2:15). This is as true for the immigrant as for the citizen.
O.T. laws regulated how Israelites should treat immigrants as well as how immigrants should live in the land. Both citizens and immigrants were bound by civil, moral and ceremonial law (Amos 5:24; Jer. 22:1–5; Hab. 1:3–4; Jer. 7:5–7; Ezek. 22:7, 29; Ex. 12:19, 49; Lev. 18:26; 24:22).
God loves the immigrant; therefore, God’s people ought to love the immigrant (Lev. 19:18, 33–34; Deut. 10:17–18; Matt. 5:43–44; 22:36–40; Luke 10:25–37; John 3:16; Gal. 5:14; 1 John 4:7–14).
Every person, regardless of immigration status, bears the image of God and should be treated with dignity, respect and justice (Gen. 1:27–28; 1 Tim. 2:1–6). Immigrants who break the law should be punished justly according to the law of the land, whether breaking criminal law through illegal entry or civil codes through illegal presence. Even so, all persons should be treated fairly and compassionately as fellow human beings (Matt. 7:12 — The Golden Rule).
Justice demands that laws be enforced without partiality (Deut. 1:15–17; 27:19). A legal state of affairs that ignores a cultural and economic situation that invites and supports illegal entry and illegal presence is unjust.
The Great Commission (Matt. 28:19–20) and the Great Commandment (Matt. 22:36–40) will not allow Christians to make enemies of those to whom they are obligated to go and make disciples.
Editor’s Note — Jeffrey B. Riley is professor of ethics and chairman of the division of theological and historical studies at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He grew up attending Lakeview Baptist Church, Auburn.
Share with others: