U.S. Migration's Long History Challenges Christians in 2024

Commentary

by

A United Methodist Insight Special

\Many in our nation—and no doubt, our community—will continue the long, historical tradition of celebrating Columbus Day on October 14, to honor the Italian explorer who first arrived in the Americas in 1492. He did not “discover” but instead claimed already inhabited lands for the Queen of Spain, and thus pioneered centuries of European journeys and habitation here, prompted at first by commercial and religious interests.

But many other people will celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day on October 14 instead. And some will decline to celebrate Columbus because of the exploitation, disease, damage and destruction inflicted upon indigenous peoples and their lands following his seminal migrant voyage to the Americas and the brutal conquests that ensued.

This prologue leads to an ongoing American saga that is full of both pride and pain, respectively among the haves and the have-nots. And the murky sediment of that saga flows even today into the problematic waters of our immigration system, where we both welcome and reject the stranger who seeks entry into our richly diverse country.

An excess of illegal, or undocumented, immigration and the need for reform is one of the top social and political concerns among many in our nation—just below the economy in many Presidential election polls. And yet, there is widespread  misunderstanding—including about who is, and who is not, in the U.S. illegally, and why. Yes, there are millions of undocumented immigrants who come seeking new lives, safer lives, more livable lives, often bringing their families or seeking to reunite with them. Most are fleeing war, economic scarcity, persecution, the ruinous effects of globalization and other causes of danger and deprivation.

Meanwhile, many others are here legally, whether they are refugees, or seeking asylum from political or domestic violence, or have permanent or temporary resident status. That includes many students, seasonal workers and other migrants like those who fled recent political violence in Haiti and are here legally but are being viciously persecuted in Springfield, Ohio, and elsewhere, due to repugnant, false claims made about them.

There is also much misunderstanding about what real impact migrant residents are having on various communities where they live and work, start and support businesses, go to school and church, and raise their families. Reportedly, 11 million undocumented people live in the United States. They pay $12 billion in payroll taxes annually, according to the Social Security Administration. Plus, they pay more in property and sales taxes.

Some of the misunderstanding—whether from just misinformation or intentional disinformation—leads to disruptive, disparaging and sometimes dangerous incidents. People get scared. And people get hurt.

This is also a religious concern because the safety and sanctity of human life and community life are direly at stake. Even more, it is a religious concern because God speaks directly to us in our holy Scriptures about how we are to treat the sojourners who cross our borders to live among us. We are to welcome them as guests, and then as family. Thus, it is a religious concern that I must address and that we should discuss, learn about, pray about and do something about in meaningful ways. I hope you agree.

“In the 21st century, migration and problems faced by asylum seekers constitutes one of the most pressing global issues knocking on church doors,” writes the Rev. Harold Recinos, PhD, in his 2021 paper “Crossing the Border in Search of Christian Hospitality.”  He says it is important for us to not overlook “that the theme of migration is fundamental to the scriptural tradition and recalled in the life of congregations by the story of Abraham, the Exodus narrative, the tales of Moses leading liberated slaves through the wilderness, the crossing into the promised land, Jeremiah’s reflection on involuntary migration and in the experience of exile calling God’s people to seek the peace of the city, and including the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt to escape the Herodian persecution.

“The God of Israel constantly reminds people to receive, respect and love the immigrants as they love themselves,” writes this professor of Church and Society at Southern Methodist University’s Perkins School of Theology, "’for you were once immigrants in the land of Egypt’” (Leviticus 19:33-34).  “In other words,” he adds, “there is no discussion of God’s salvific history without entering into the world of migration, the concern for strangers and the pursuit of new life in the complicated conditions of an anti-immigrant society.”

Moreover, Methodism’s founder and inspiration John Wesley was clear in his theological and pastoral emphasis on the significance of manifesting God’s sanctifying grace—in hopes of attaining entire salvation—through not only acts of piety but also acts of mercy that included ministries of outreach among the poor. He committed himself to such acts through what he called “vile” practices of brazenly preaching to evangelize passersby in fields, coal mines, prisons, and on the dirty streets of London, all of it a radical departure not practiced by other Anglican priests at that time.

“There is no holiness without social holiness,” Wesley said. That admonition relates primarily to the organization of Methodist societies, classes and other small groups that provided mutual support, accountability and encouragement to their members. But many also relate it to the importance of social ministries of mercy and justice, inspired by Wesley, that are necessary to respond to the selfish, divisive and oppressive evils of our society. Religious historians have written much about Wesley’s foundational, motivating force of love that undergirded all his beliefs and ministries.

“One great reason why the rich in general have so little sympathy for the poor is because they so seldom visit them,” writes Wesley, as quoted by Recinos. “Hence it is that... one part of the world does not know what the other suffers. Many of them do not know because they do not care to know: they keep out of the way of knowing it — and then plead their voluntary ignorance as an excuse for their hard heartedness.”

Too many churches note the supposed distance and anonymity of migrant neighbors when they answer with a helpless shrug the rich lawyer’s self-justifying question to Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” They have a limited view of their God-given mission field.

But “The world is my parish,” John Wesley famously said. He proved that sentiment personally in his early missionary journey to the new American colony of Georgia and his futile efforts to evangelize indigenous people there, as well as his later, more successful open-air preaching and mission outreach at home. And he proved it by sending first Francis Asbury and then Thomas Coke to America to organize Methodists here, with his simple instruction to “Offer them Christ.”

Today we are called to boldly restate Wesley’s claim in the third person: “The world is our parish.” In fact, what we should not be surprised to discover by now is that actually, the world is in our parish. Many of our sisters and brothers—hermanas y hermanos—whom God bids us to befriend are not over the border or on a distant shore. They are here among us—living in standard and substandard homes, working on farms and in businesses, paying taxes, attending schools and shopping in stores, learning to speak our language, and for many, waiting, hoping and praying to receive permanent resident, refugee or some legal immigration status someday.

We see and hear them in all these places when we look with our eyes and listen with our ears. At my church, Grace Union United Methodist, we see and hear, and then greet and serve them when they come to our weekly food pantry ministry to shop for the donated food, diapers and other necessities that we offer, thanks to the Community Food Bank of New Jersey. They—many of them migrant farmworkers—are not strangers nor merely clients, but friends and neighbors to our church.

In fact, it was one pantry ministry recipient from Haiti who this past summer connected us with a Haitian-American church in Philadelphia that wanted to plant a new congregation in our area because of the growing number of Haitians living in and moving to South Jersey. Now that new, fledgling but growing congregation is enjoying worship, fellowship and Christian education alongside us in our church building—all thanks to a connection made through our outreach ministry.

We do all this; and yet, we are called to do more. There is much fierce debate roiling about the plight of immigrants, refugees and undocumented persons. Yet, God calls us to engage obediently in vibrant ministries of extravagant hospitality with a genuine spirit of selfless love such as that exemplified by Christ and exhorted to us by both prophets and apostles.  

The United Methodist Church has a long, distinguished history of speaking out and acting affirmatively for the cause of “welcoming the stranger” and urging justice and mercy for immigrants. Its Social Principles speak on these concerns officially for the denomination, as does the Council of Bishops. Meanwhile, our general agencies, such as the General Board of Church and Society, the General Commission on Religion and Race and the General Board of Global Ministries also have made public advocacy statements and called on all branches of the U.S. government for action to ensure justice and mercy for immigrants.

In addition, our Book of Resolutions calls upon all United Methodist churches to “welcome newly arriving migrants in their communities, to love them as we do ourselves, to treat them as one of our native-born, to see in them the presence of the incarnated Jesus, and to show hospitality to the migrants in our midst, believing that through their presence we are receiving the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

We are further urged to engage in the following recommended actions:

• Advocate for legislation that will uphold the civil and human rights of all migrants in the United States and will provide an opportunity to attain legal status for all undocumented migrants currently in the United States, as well as for those arriving in the future.

• Begin English-as-a-Second-Language classes as part of a ministry to migrant communities and advocate for federal and state support of expanded ESL classes.

• Denounce and oppose the rise of xenophobic, racist, and violent reactions against migrants in the United States, and support all efforts to build relationships among people, instead of building walls among diverse ethnicities and cultures.

• Welcome newly arriving immigrants into our congregations.

• Oppose the (continued) building of a wall between the United States and Mexico, which the communities of both sides of the border are in opposition to.

• Call the United States government to immediately cease all arrests, detainment, and deportations of undocumented immigrants, including children, solely based upon their immigration status until a fair and comprehensive immigration reform is passed.

• Provide wherever possible pastoral care and crisis intervention to refugees and newly arrived migrants, identifying and responding compassionately to their spiritual, material, and legal needs.

• Work with civic and legal organizations to support migrant communities affected by harsh immigration laws and over-reaching national security measures.

• Support those churches that prayerfully choose to offer sanctuary to undocumented migrants facing deportation.

There is much more we can do; but these actions are a good start. The United Methodist Church does not tell its members how to vote; but it does enumerate the values members of our denomination should consider as they make their decisions. As we lurch toward Election Day next month and the uncertain, possibly risky days and weeks that may follow, we witness daily some candidates’ and supporters’ nightmarish, overblown warnings of immigrants of color overtaking America, deluging us with criminals, terrorists and drug dealers, while taking valuable jobs, wages and homes. These malicious malcontents are trafficking in lies to arouse our fears. Don’t believe them. Border crossings are dramatically down for many reasons, and they may decrease further once new reform measures are instituted. Prayerfully, those reforms will be more humane than those of the recent past.

Yet, while so many are crying out for comprehensive immigration reform, the role of churches is still to lovingly welcome the strangers whom God sends our way and to advocate prayerfully but persistently for justice and mercy on their behalf. This would be the best expression we can offer to demonstrate our sanctifying, social witness of faith as followers of the one who welcomes us all, Jesus Christ. Amen.

SOURCES:

“Crossing the Border in Search of Christian Hospitality.” Harold Recinos, PhD. Southern Methodist University. Published in Apuntes: Reflexiones teológicas desde el margen hispano. Volume 41, Number 1. Spring 2021.

“Welcoming the Migrant to the U.S.” The Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church. 2016. The United Methodist Publishing House. Resolutions #3281, 2008, 2012

Germano, Brian E. Christianity the Wesleyan Way: Principles and Practices for Life and Ministry. Nashville: Foundery Books, 2020.

Runyon, Theodore. The New Creation: John Wesley’s Theology Today. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1998.

Longtime United Methodist communicator John W. Coleman serves as editor-at-large for United Methodist Insight.