© 2014 The Wired Word
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There's a growing humanitarian crisis along the United States' border with
Mexico as an unprecedented number of unaccompanied, undocumented/alien children
and teens, mostly from Central America, are crossing illegally into this
country. Most are apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol and are being held in
overcrowded detention centers while awaiting immigration hearings and probable
deportation back to their home countries. En route to the centers after
apprehension, some of these young people and other undocumented immigrants have
been confronted by angry protestors waving "Return to Sender" and similar
signs. In addition, pastors and churches have been prohibited from
visiting or donating supplies (e.g., food or toys) to the camps.As with many issues of national importance these days, this has become the subject of partisan bickering and blaming in Washington. Though both sides have valid points, the White House and Congress will likely have to work together to staunch the inflow of unaccompanied minors, ensure humane treatment of those who make it across the borders and provide timely processing of the detainees through the immigration courts.
Here is a summary of some of the main facts of this story:
1. The number of unaccompanied minors crossing illegally into the United States has been increasing since at least 2012 (some reports say since 2011), with the biggest surge this year. Although the entries are through Mexico, the majority are from Central America. According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection service, an estimated 70,500 children and teens are expected to be apprehended at the border -- including 52,000 from Central America -- in fiscal year 2014. By law, the administration can't deport those minors until they have an immigration hearing, which can take years. (The same law, however, permits Mexican and Canadian minors to be immediately turned back at the border.)
Some of this increase is likely the unintended consequence of a 2008 law, passed without controversy with bipartisan support and signed by President George W. Bush, to curb sex trafficking. The bill gave substantial new protections to children entering the country alone who were not from Mexico or Canada by prohibiting them from being quickly sent back to their country of origin.
Other factors pushing the surge include faltering economies in Central America, rising crime and gang violence and changes in how smuggling networks function, the belief that laws are being changed in the U.S. (or will fail to be enforced) to allow minors to obtain permanent residency, the increase in and increasing knowledge of government-provided benefits, the use by drug smuggling cartels of under-18 members as workers in their operations, and the rosy pictures painted by those who can earn money by smuggling them into the U.S.
2. Government agencies are overloaded in their efforts to deal with the huge number of unaccompanied young people. The 2008 law assigns Border Patrol agents the responsibility for screening immigrant minors and holding them for up to 72 hours before transferring them to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). But with so many kids now arriving, the 72-hour period is regularly exceeded, and they are housed in Border Patrol processing centers or in makeshift facilities at military bases.
When the detainees do finally get to HHS, they find a system that was designed to handle 6,000-8,000 kids a year, but which is now responsible for six times that many.
3. According to a recent report from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, about 60 percent of children coming in from Central America might be eligible for some kind of humanitarian protection, based on international standards.
4. The U.S. government is attempting to react to this crisis on three fronts, though it is not yet clear how effective or helpful these measures will be:
First, the administration is aiming a public service campaign at parents in Central America to spell out the dangers of sending children to cross the border and to emphasize that they will likely be deported if they do make it in.
Second, because the process for dealing with child migrants is set down by law, the White House cannot implement a faster deportation process without changing the law, so it's asking Congress to make that change. Representatives Matt Salmon (R-AZ) and Paul Labrador (R-ID) are working to introduce a bill to do that this week. It is not certain that the bill will pass.
Third, the administration is asking Congress for $2 billion to address the immediate humanitarian crisis. The money would be used to employ more immigration judges and court staff to deal with migrant minors and to house them in the meantime. It's not certain that Congress will agree to this request, but it's too early to tell.
More on this story can be found at these links:
14 Facts That Help Explain America's Child-Migrant Crisis. Vox
Immigrant Surge Rooted in Law to Curb Child Trafficking. New York Times
Obama to Ask Congress for $2B to Ease Immigration Crisis. NPR
Murrieta Immigrant Protests: Mayor Defends His Town's Actions. Los Angeles Times
Guatemalan Boy Left for Better Life, Died Alone. Yahoo! News
The Big Questions
1. Regardless of where we stand on immigration in general, as Christians, what ought to be our first response to this huge influx of unaccompanied minors? Why?
2. In what ways should churches get involved, if at all, in this crisis? Why? Is this a church problem, a problem and opportunity for Christians as individuals or corporately, or a political problem? To what extent -- and how -- can these be separated (or can they)?
3. What broadly accepted American values ought to have a bearing on the handling of this situation?
4. How might our nation's response to this situation enable other nations to shirk responsibility to their own citizens? Does that matter in terms of how we treat the young people at our borders? When does "helping" actually hurt those we perceive to be in need? What long-term consequences likely depend on how we as a nation deal with this situation?
5. Are political agendas helping or hurting in addressing this crisis? How much is this issue informed by racism? Maneuvering for political gain? Nationalism? A desire to preserve the rule of law? The polarization of everything in our country?
Confronting the News With Scripture and Hope
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:
Exodus 2:2-3
The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him three months. When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. (For context, read 2:1-10.)
The woman in these verses is Jochebed (Numbers 26:59), and the baby is Moses. Jochebed and her husband lived in Egypt, where the descendants of Israel were being oppressed. The pharaoh had decreed that all their newborn boys were to be thrown into the Nile because he feared that the Hebrews might become too powerful. When Moses was born, Jochebed hid him for three months until that was no longer feasible. Desperate to save her son's life, she made a watertight basket of bulrushes and put Moses in it. She then let the basket float in the Nile while Miriam, her daughter, kept watch over it from a distance. Pharaoh's daughter, who had come to bathe in the river, found the basket. When she discovered the child, she was moved with compassion and decided to adopt him. The child, Moses, grew up to become the leader of the Exodus, his people's escape from the land of Egypt.
TWW team member Liz Antonson comments, "I am not suggesting that we might be missing an opportunity to experience another Moses-like event. But the narrative of Moses surely gives a glimpse at the desperation of the parents in Central America. How are the parents of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador different from Moses' parents? In desperation they are placing their children in 'baskets or boxes of bulrushes,' but they are not watertight, they are not safe. Their children are not destined for Pharaoh's palace."
Questions: In what ways are the parents of these unaccompanied minors similar to and different from Moses' mother? To what extent might you be projecting your own viewpoints onto the situation in the absence of general or specific knowledge? Should we have a "Pharaoh's daughter" type of response to the children arriving at our borders? Why or why not?
Exodus 22:21 (CEB)
Don’t mistreat or oppress an immigrant, because you were once immigrants in the land of Egypt. (For context, read 22:21-24.)
Exodus 12:49 (ESV)
There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you. (For context, read 12:43-49.)
To be fair, we should acknowledge that in ancient Canaan, there was no such thing as "documented" or "undocumented" immigrants. People moved about to flee drought, find grazing lands for their flocks, avoid invaders, follow opportunities, etc., and they set up their tents wherever they were welcomed, felt safe and could meet their needs. There was no nation-state, so all unclaimed land was available. Thus this command from God quoted above has nothing to do with one's "legal" status as an immigrant. It includes a recognition for the Israelites that there were people living among them who were not Israelites and who had migrated there from other places.
Regardless of how or why these non-Israelites got there, the Israelites were not to "mistreat or oppress" them. What's more, God calls the Israelites to identify with the immigrants, reminding them that their ancestors first went to Egypt as immigrants (to escape the famine in Canaan).
In addition, since the declaration that non-Israelites are to follow the same law as Israelites applied to celebrating the Passover (if they were willing to be circumcised), there was at least a certain effort at assimilation that accompanied their presence.
Questions: When did your ancestors migrate to America? Did they do so legally? What was done at the time to those who tried to immigrate illegally? On what level, if any, can you identify with the unaccompanied children and youth at our borders? What makes it hard to identify with them? What makes it easy? What does it mean today to not mistreat or oppress them?
Genesis 37:28, 36
When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt. ... the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard. (For context, read 37:12-36.)
Joseph was an immigrant to Egypt, albeit not by his own choice. He was trafficked there, but that nation eventually greatly benefited from his presence. But what if the Egyptians had blamed Joseph for his presence in Egypt when he had, in fact, been a victim of his brothers' and the Midianites' criminal behavior? Was he a "criminal" for entering Egypt "illegally"?
At various times, immigrants -- some of them our ancestors -- have arrived in America under less than ideal circumstances. Some came as slaves or as political, economic or religious refugees; some seeking opportunity and some adventure; some as invited guests and so on.
Questions: How has our nation benefited from the skills and passion immigrants have brought to the table? How has the nation been harmed by some or ended up harming others (e.g., illegal immigration of Nazi prison camp guards)? What attitude(s) we should adopt toward immigrants to our nation today? Why? We sometimes think of immigrants in terms of what resources they will use, thus creating shortages for people already here. Would we be better to think in terms of how our country might benefit from their presence? Or is it wrong to categorize immigrants as all the same in terms of benefit or lack of benefit to us, rather than treating them as individuals? Explain your answer.
Matthew 18:5
Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. (For context, read 18:1-5.)
Jesus made this statement as the conclusion of his answer to a question from the disciples: "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" He first called a child into their midst, and told them they had to humble themselves and become like children to enter the kingdom of heaven. The child here does not denote purity and/or innocence. Children in that society were powerless, without economic resources and vulnerable. Living as "kingdom people" meant renouncing the values of greatness and taking up the humble ways of children.
But with the final statement above, Jesus seems to leave the "object lesson" aspect of the child in their midst and focus on the child himself/herself. Welcoming children is, in effect, welcoming him.
Questions: Should this statement from Jesus be applied to the current border crisis? As Christians, how do we decide which Bible verses we will apply to given situations in our society today? Explain your answer.
Matthew 25:35
... for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me ... (For context, read 25:31-46.)
This statement from Jesus remains a primary standard by which Christians measure their mercy and good works.
Questions: What are the limits, if any, that we should place on welcoming others? Why? Is it possible to be too welcoming? Can deportation -- which does send children back to their parents (assuming they are not orphaned), though still in poverty and in violent surroundings -- ever be part of welcoming? Explain your answer. Do these lines from Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) apply: "Christ has no body but yours, / No hands, no feet on earth but yours, / Yours are the eyes with which he looks / Compassion on this world ..."?
For Further Discussion
1. TWW team member Frank Ramirez tells that in 1976, he and his wife were one of eight couples sharing an apartment entrance on the campus of Bethany Theological Seminary. Only one of the couples had children, an infant daughter who was struggling with ear infections. "For some," says Ramirez, "the crying of the infant made it hard to study and sleep. Some of the students and spouses organized a deputation (thankfully without pitchforks and torches) to tell these parents to 'control' their child. I'll never forget the answer the father gave: 'The children of the world belong to the world.' It was, in part, his way of telling the others that difficulties regarding children are something we share.
"I've never forgotten that line, and I've used it several times over the years. ... On a larger scale, I've always begun funerals and weddings by reminding folks that both are worship services where God is honored, so children are allowed to make noise and no one has to leave if a baby is vocal. It's the same for Sunday worship."
Where is it helpful to remind yourself that "The children of the world belong to the world"?
2. Comment on this, from TWW team member Micah Holland: "What is our response [to this crisis]? We do our best to interpret Jesus' teachings in light of our world today, and we do our best to live out the ethics of Jesus. Are these [border crossings] illegal actions? Yes. So we have to follow our country's policies on what is illegal. Does compassion find its way into this conversation? Yes, absolutely. So what is the balance?
"I wish I had that answer. I guess I have this response: If it is really as bad in these certain countries as some say it is, then yes, we should do something. Simply opening our doors completely can be dangerous on multiple levels. If an undocumented child shows up at our door or in our church, do we help them? Absolutely. But help can look several ways.
"I look at the larger perspective and think, what can I do as a guy settled into Midwestern America? We don't see the flood of undocumented children up here too much. My wife has been to Haiti. I have been to Guatemala. We both sponsor kids through Compassion International. We feel like this is a step in the right direction, and we pray for these kids regularly."
3. Comment on this, from TWW team member Liz Antonson: "I have a friend who lives in Uruguay. He told me that parents give their children unwittingly to human traffickers in the hopes that their children will no longer be hungry, sick or in danger of violent death. These children are not given to caring homes as promised but handed over for all forms of slavery -- domestic slavery, agricultural slavery, industrial slavery and sexual slavery." Does it change the direction of our anger and outrage over the situation on our southern border to learn that the children are a commodity of a criminal element?
Responding to the News
This is an issue about which we should seek to be well informed, so that we can understand what is at stake for all concerned. It's a good time to pray for those in our national leadership who have to decide how to address this crisis, and for those in the Border Patrol and HHS who are responsible for the welfare of these minors.
Closing Prayer
Help, O Lord, those who live in the midst of
such poverty and violence that allowing their children to leave seems
preferable to keeping them at home. Be with those in our land who become responsible
for the welfare of unaccompanied minors, that they might be strengthened to
deal well and wisely with those in their care. And help our nation as its
leaders seek solutions to this situation. In Jesus' name. Amen.
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