Immigration is complex. It has political, economic, theological, and moral implications. It’s a policy issue that we often hear about in the news. Sometimes we hear inspirational stories about immigrants achieving the “American dream” after coming to this country with only a dollar in their pocket, and other times the stories we hear seem to be intended to scare us about the “other” coming to erode our ways of life. With this topic having so many dimensions, it is hard to know what to believe and think about such a wide-ranging issue. Immigration is discussed and debated at the highest levels of government as well at many of our dining room tables. Immigration is as big as government policy and as close to home as being the mechanism by which many of our families came to this country only a few generations ago.
Just the other day I was at the store and couldn’t find an item and walked halfway around the store to find an employee that could help me. Once I finally found one stocking produce, I realized that this worker was of hispanic descent and didn’t speak great English. He found me another worker who was able to answer my question, but as I walked away I wondered what this man’s story was to bring him to south-central Pennsylvania to stock produce for a multinational company. I was then on my way home from the store and noticed a house having its roof replaced. As someone who is nervous of being up too high, I marveled at the workers hooked up with harnesses and what looked like rappelling ropes confidently moving around the steep roof with relative ease. I then noticed that the entire work crew also looked of hispanic descent and looked like they might be migrant workers from Mexico.
I again wondered what macro-economic and political forces brought these people to fix a roof in small town Pennsylvania; how had the the “invisible hand”—as Adam Smith called the invisible force that drove and directed the free market system—orchestrated the necessary labor force from another country to fill a needed role in a supermarket at and roofing company. I also wondered about the micro-level, human element. Who were these people? Why did they migrate? How long did the employer look for an employee before hiring a foreign crew? Did these people take someone else’s job?
There are a lot of perspectives and layers that go into a topic as broad as immigration. As we’ve been developing Jiwa International, I’ve been doing a lot of research and reading about immigration and I’m finding it to be a polarizing issue whenever it is brought up. Even a news story like the collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore in late March 2024 seems to have an element of immigration to it. Two of those who tragically died in the bridge collapse were migrant workers who came from Mexico to the United States. They were working to fill potholes on the bridge in the middle of the night when the container ship hit one of the main supports, causing the bridge to collapse. As more news was coming out about the tragedy over the next few days, one TV opinion host made the statement that “the ship involved in the collapse of the bridge is 948 feet long, called The Dali, a Singaporean-flag container, but of course you’ve been talking a lot about the potential for wrongdoing or potential for foul play given the wide-open border.” Is the situation at the southern border to blame for the bridge collapse? Are migrant workers the victims or the perpetrators? It’s no wonder that it is hard to come to a balanced view of immigration.
Jiwa International was only established a few months ago, but we’re already finding this to be one of the hardest parts of our work. After speaking about the migrant worker experience, we often get questions about the crisis happening at the southern border, the dangers of open borders, or comments about how our ministry is “valuable over there, but here in the United States? The less migrants the better.”
When these kinds of conversations come up, there isn’t time to have a comprehensive conversation about the economic value of immigration and unpack the competing political views on immigration reform. Additionally, in a brief conversation, facts and anecdotes do not do a good job of painting a holistic picture. However, both are important in helping shape our perspectives and understanding of a topic.
Data is important and stories allow us to comprehend how policies affect people in the everyday experience. On pages 18 and 19, there are a number of resources we recommend that dive deep into the data and tell stories of typical immigrants. These resources explore the political, economic, theological, and moral complexities of this issue. The more reading and research we’ve done the more we find that there is no simple answer. Countries around the world all have different approaches depending on their economic needs and geopolitical realities. There have been eras of American history that have been incredibly open to immigration and others that were marked by strong nationalistic pushes leading to sharply curtailing immigration levels.
We are neither qualified nor able to propose a comprehensive immigration policy that will:
address the rush on the southern border
prevent dangerous people with ill intent from coming into America
acknowledge the changing nature of our global economy that is beneficial to some and harmful to others
capitalize on the economic benefits of inviting highly educated people into the country
recognize the moral implications of resettling refugees fleeing persecution, or
modernize an immigration system that hasn’t been updated in decades.
What we are proposing is simply an acknowledgement that immigration is complex, despite attempts to paint it as black and white.
There are real macroeconomic and social benefits to immigration. There are also real fears people have about our changing world. In discussions as complex and far-reaching as immigration, it is easy to forget the human faces behind the issue. There are vulnerable people waiting at the southern border for news on their asylum case. There are some people who have lost their jobs due to companies prioritizing cheap labor. There are valid questions in established communities about how new people groups might affect the status quo. There are business owners and farmers who are seeing their businesses limited by the lack of available labor. People in less-developed economies are facing historic unemployment rates and do not know how to provide for their families.
It is human nature to look out for ourselves, our family, and our communities. When we are told by those in power that our way of life is under attack and we are at “war,” it is hard not to be afraid for our communities. However, the people of God are called to a higher nature that rejects fear, trusts and loves God, and shares that love with those around us.
Scripture isn’t clear on the best way to do that. We aren’t told if we’re supposed to open the border to all or if we have the right to seal it off. Regardless of how we view the issue, it is important that we approach everything we do with love, grace, and mutual respect.
The solution to our modern problems require new and innovative strategies, but what has never changed is that our ultimate solution is not found in human systems or policies but rather in the power of God. He can give us wisdom in how to respond to hateful comments that dehumanize other image-bearers of God. He empowers us to live a life of love and not one of fear.
As Jiwa International interacts with various people, we know that this is a complicated issue and we are not suggesting that there is one right way to view immigration policy and the pros and cons of human migration. But we will continuously advocate for growing in humility by asking questions and diving into the research, as well as serving and praying for the vulnerable people who find themselves in the midst of these complicated issues.
Check out this and other articles in Issue 2 of The Jiwa Journal.
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