The Problem with Polemics in the Immigration Debate, Part I

If you’re going to start a blog, why not start with the most controversial thing that everybody is talking about?! Actually I was asked a question about this and ever since then it’s been on my heart and mind to write about the topic of immigration. It breaks my heart to see the situation that is going on and also to see how it has led to tearing others apart. It’s a difficult topic and I don’t expect to answer every question or to allay every concern. I don’t desire to stir the pot, but rather help defuse the tension.

Since it’s a complicated issue, it’s going to take more than one post.

Part I is going to be just a basic Introduction to the issue of immigration.

Part II will be about my own very limited lived experiences of immigration.

Part III will be about what role the Church plays in adding confusion or clarity

Part IV will be about the importance of distinctions in dialogue.

I am not an expert on these topics, but if I can help one person think about these issues even just a little bit deeper, I will have succeeded. Let’s get started…

A lot of us have recently seen, have been told or have used these phrases in the past week,

 You’re not pro-life, you’re pro-birth because you don’t care about the poor, the needy, the immigrants, and the refugees. 

A Christian builds bridges not walls. If you build walls you are not a Christian.

 You’re not Catholic if you do not welcome refugees. Jesus said to welcome the stranger

 It’s hypocrisy to call yourself a Christian and chase away a refugee or someone seeking help, someone who is hungry or thirsty, toss out someone who is in need of my help  ~Pope Francis. 

I don’t understand how someone can call themselves a Christian if they are against refugees coming into the United States.

 Maybe you think that you have a right to refuse a person in need. And that you have the right to protect yourself. Well, we do have the right of self-protection. But refusing the one in need because you want to protect yourself, especially when the other is in desperate need and obvious danger, is not what Christianity is about. ~Fr. James Martin, SJ

If people have said these phrases to you, let me begin with: I don’t judge you. And let me also say if you have used any of these phrases to explain your position to someone else: I don’t judge you either.

When it comes to the policies, procedures, politics, and implications of decisions about immigration, illegal immigrants, refugees, national security, naturalization, or the effect that these things have on the well-being of one’s own country and other countries, let me be the first to admit: I do not know how any of it works. I am probably the least knowledgable person on what actually happens with policies and implementation concerning immigration. I am completely ignorant as to how the process works and what it means for citizens of the welcoming country and for immigrants.

Yet as this crazy past week progressed, I have continually seen the phrases above said and re-said and something just did not sit right with me, but I was not sure what. But I’ve thought about it and I think I understand what it is.

I know amazing Christ-centered, poor-serving, stranger-welcoming, generous, and loving Catholics on both sides of the debate and those stuck somewhere in between. And I know if refugees, immigrants, or the poor knocked on their door asking for help or some kind of assistance, the majority of them would do something to help them. Invite them in for a meal. Offer them a place to stay. Help them find housing or an organization that would be able to assist them. These people are not only pro-birth, they are emphatically pro-life. None of these people are against immigrants, against refugees, or the poor. The problem is when one’s involvement with immigration is not direct and it becomes a process two-or-twenty-or-thirty steps removed from the person’s daily life. If I am honest, and I say this to no discredit to the majority of families, but I don’t think most families have any idea of how immigration actually works or should work. If it came down to themselves as individuals being asked to take care of a refugee family, the majority of Catholics I know would do something. They would see the faces, they would know their names, they would be directly responsible for what happens. They would feed the hungry. Give drink to the thirsty. Shelter the homeless. Welcome the stranger. They would do what the Gospel asks them to do.

Now imagine if a homeless man with no known background asked to stay the night at your house. Many people I know would be willing to put their own lives at risk in order to serve them, and they should be commended for doing that. But some would not feel comfortable doing that, not necessarily because of their own safety, but because of the safety of their children or spouse. The question then becomes, should they feel the need to the put the ones they love and are responsible for at risk? And I think that’s where a lot of the difficulty comes. I do not think there is an easy answer to that question. And the answer may be different for different people and different families. This is a tension that pastors in different countries may face for confronting drug cartels, for accepting Muslim converts, or for preaching on controversial topics. Many pastors in those situations would be willing to live the Gospel radically and die for their faith, but some are much more apprehensive about putting the lives of their own flock at risk. There does not seem to be an easy answer. (See the movie Silence to understand that angst). And this is the difficulty with allowing refugees into the country. Are most probably harmless? My guess is yes. But what about the possibility that there is one who is not? Are you willing to risk your own life to find out? What about the lives of your siblings, parents, children, nieces, nephews? I am not trying to scare anyone out of thinking they should help immigrants or refugees, I simply want others to know about the real tension that exists in the lives of people who are concerned and are really working through these issues as we all are working through them.

And when it comes to policies, procedures, governments, and agencies it becomes more complicated and it enters the complex world of politics, a thing most people aren’t familiar with and aren’t comfortable with. And I think it’s important to remember that. It’s important to remember that these matters are complicated. They are complex. The future is unknown. And I think it’s important to remember if the future is unknown, we must be honest, we do not really know the implications of welcoming refugees or immigrants, if it will be helpful or hurtful for our country simply because one does not know the future. We know we should help them, but do really know the absolute best way how? One could definitely say it would be a good deed to welcome refugees and immigrants, but one does not know what the welcoming of refugees and immigrants will actually effect – the economy? job security? public safety? family life? a loss of culture? the lives of the ones we love? And people fear the unknown, and that’s okay. Fear is natural. It’s human.  This fear does not mean people then should not welcome the refugee or immigrant. But it also does not mean that people who are afraid of or concerned about the consequences of a more open policy on immigration are anti-immigrant, xenophobic, racist, Islamaphobes, anti-Mexican, only pro-birth, or not Chistian.

It simply means it is a scary thing when a person has no control over others making decisions for them and their family, not knowing what consequences will result from those decisions.
 

This is the fear of refugees. This is the fear of welcoming countries. This is the fear of a father who loses his job and doesn’t know how to support his family. This is the fear of a newly wed mother realizing she’s pregnant when she doesn’t feel ready. This is the fear that some people felt when Obama was elected. This is the fear some people feel now knowing that Trump is president. This is the fear of a person who discovers they have cancer and entrusts themselves to their doctors. It is a fear I face in my vocation with obedience knowing that I will one day be sent somewhere and I have seemingly no control over how that decision will go. Sometimes legitimate fear can help one make more prudential decisions, but fear can also stop one from doing the good that they should do. We must take other peoples’ fears into consideration when we talk with them, when we walk with them.

Wherever one falls on the spectrum on this topic, if a person has a good reason for what policies they think are most consistent with the Christian faith, explain them tenderly, back up your opinion with evidence, acknowledge the complexity of the situation, relate with peoples’ fears and concerns, don’t accuse, don’t assume, listen to others’ perspective. “A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.” (Proverbs 18:2) 

If we cannot in charity lump all refugees and immigrants into one category and write them off, neither can we in charity lump all people who are cautious about refugees and immigrants into one category and write them off.

We must listen. We must be calm. We can be passionate, but we must listen. 

Serving the poor, living in Belize, working in Mexico, serving Mexican immigrants in Detroit, meeting Chaldean Christians with Iraqi heritage, driving through Dearborn, Michigan and traveling to Israel and Palestine have given me a new perspective on this… Stay tuned to Part II to hear about it…