Sermon on immigration

Today Hugo and I gave a guest sermon on the issue of immigration. This was my portion of our remarks.

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In 2008, there were an estimated 11 million people living in the United States without authorization—illegally. The majority of these, probably over three-fourths, are from Mexico and other parts of Latin America. About three million children living in the U.S. are citizens by virtue of having been born here but live in families where one or both parents is an unauthorized immigrant and therefore liable to deportation. Unauthorized immigrants are believed to make up 5 percent of the country's labor force, working mostly in farming, cleaning, construction, and food preparation. The economic impact of unauthorized immigrants—whether their contributions outweigh the social services they receive—is disputed.

Opposition to illegal immigration has become a more prominent element of American political discourse over the past several years. Concerns have been voiced about drug trafficking and violent crime, identity theft, citizens being crowded out of jobs, and potential threats to national security in a post-9/11 world. Efforts to reduce illegal immigration include constructing a high-tech barrier along much of the U.S.-Mexico border; enlisting police and the National Guard to assist with enforcement; more strictly penalizing employers; firing or deporting undocumented workers; and requiring proof of citizenship for access to social services such as obtaining a driver's license. Recent polls show that a majority of respondents support these efforts.

How should Christians respond to this reality?

Hugo and I aren't here to promote specific policy proposals that we think the people of the Advocate, or the Episcopal diocese of North Carolina, should rally behind. That needs to be the subject of conversation, not a sermon. But we do want to identify the principles that it seems to us ought to guide that conversation for Christians: Compassion. Generosity to people in need. Respect for the dignity of every human being. Loving our neighbor as ourselves.

When someone asks Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?", he replies with a parable about a Samaritan who goes out of his way to help a stranger—and not just a stranger, a foreigner, a Jew, which in that context means someone who probably despises Samaritans. This parable shows us that when Jesus talks about loving "our neighbor," he means what philosophers would call loving "the Other": the stranger, the foreigner, the enemy. Jesus' teaching is not primarily concerned with our relationships with those who are close to us; he's focused on raising the bar. Where is the virtue, he asks at one point, in loving people who love you? If you open your arms to your kin, how are you doing anything more than what anyone does? But I want you to do more, he tells his followers. I want you to love even your enemies. I want you to be like God, who showers the gifts of sun and rain on everyone, without distinctions (Matt. 5:43-47).

In the ongoing immigration debate, it's easy for Americans to advocate for the interests of American citizens—and certainly those interests are part of the moral and political algorithm we have to apply to this issue. But Jesus calls us to do more: to advocate for the Other, the unpopular or feared foreigner; the "illegals." Again, what that advocacy should look like in terms of specific policy proposals is another conversation to be had. But I think I'm on safe ground in asserting that the crucial task of Christians in the immigration debate is to pull the conversation in the direction of compassion and generosity and safeguarding the human dignity of unauthorized immigrants.