Where Are You From?

“Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely, and against those who oppress the hired workers in their wages, the widow and the orphan, against those who thrust aside the alien, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.” – Malachi 3:5

If you haven’t heard about the huge rallies happening across the country regarding new immigration legislation, then crawl out from under your rock, please.

Being from somewhere south of the United States kind of sucks right now. If you were brave and daring enough to try to enter the US (with or without documents) you might get screwed with new legislation that is sure to be a huge talking point as midterm elections heat up. Late yesterday, an immigration reform bill made its way out of its Senate committee to face a full vote later this year. If it passes there, it will almost go head-to-head with a very harsh bill passed by the House of Representatives last year. That bill, known as the Sensenbrenner-King Bill, is borderline ridiculous.

Under the bill in the Senate (assisted with langauge from an earlier bill sponsored by Senators John McCain and Ted Kennedy), those who entered the United States without proper documents would be eligible for green cards, resident visas and then citizenship under a very strict and drawn out process. Hope exists, but is at the end of a very long, dim tunnel. Mexico gets the free pass, because undocumented workers from any other country would be immediately deported without passing “Go.” Likewise, under the Senate bill, border protection (between the US and Mexico – no Canadians want to live here) would be ramped up, making it nearly impossible to sneak across the great economic divide that the Rio Grande symbolizes.

The House Bill basically makes everyone a criminal who dares to talk with an undocumented immigrant. All those who entered the US without the proper paperwork would be charged with a felony, and those who hire or provide social services to undocumented individuals would be charged with aiding and abetting a felon. (Seriously, under HR 4437, churches can face criminal charges if they give a cup of cold water to someone without a social security card.)

With all of this, we Americans are announcing a giant ‘screw you for being born’ to those who were not lucky enough to be born in the United States. America is really good at the blame game, and once again we’re lynching people for something they had no control over. They were born into countries with corrupt socialist economies, or capitalist countries who broker deals with American big business, or countries whose cores have been hollowed out by NAFTA, or countries whose villages have been rearranged by western missionaries. These victims who had no control over their social situation decided to take their destiny into their own hands and so they packed up their belongings or said goodbye to their families and headed off in search of this American Dream they heard so much about.

And for some, the dream came true. They were able to get a job working on a hot roof in Houston in August, or cleaning a toilet in a bad gas station bathroom that you wouldn’t let your dog pee in, or ringing up rude customers at a dirty fast food joint. They saved money by living with others who had the same exact dream and carpooling to work. They worked hard, often more than 80 hours a week, making sure everything was ready for us lucky ones by the time we woke up in the morning. And now, our government wants to get rid of them.

If you think for a minute that the Sensenbrenner bill is a good idea, do two things: 1) Watch a movie and 2) Read a book.

The movie I want you to watch is “A Day Without a Mexican.” Ignore the mediocre acting and lackluster special effects and get to the root of the meaning: were we to criminalize the act of being undocumented, America would be screwed. Those jobs you think these workers are stealing are jobs your college educated white-skinned self would never do. They do the jobs you glance over in the newspaper and the ones you tell your kids about so you can scare them into making good grades. It is an unspoken rule of American economics that undocumented individuals make this thing hum and contribute to the rising productivity and GDP that we show off to the rest of the world.

The book I want you to read is Jorge Ramos’ “The Other Face of America.” Finally, you can get some hard stats to shield yourself from anti-immigration talking points. The US actually has a net income because of immigrants. While certain people will tell us that immigrants just take our social services to the country’s detriment, they actually contribute more than they cost. They spend their money and pay sales tax and other fees and in the end, America wins. Not as many are criminals as you think. And, their incomes do more to support the developing world than any sort of charity or national planned economic initiative does. And, if you still don't think undocumented immigrants deserve a place at our table, then you need to examine your heart and theology, because you're not as nice as you think you are.

So, now that you have the facts, it’s important that you have the heart. It’s easy to hide behind those who look like us as they argue on news shows. It’s quite another to be benevolent to the immigrant among us. I support the bill currently under debate in the Senate because of its ability to offer hope to those so badly in search of it. I also support it because it deals with humanity and not with rich white guys and their talking points. I’ve spent times in the homes of immigrants, heard their concerns and their life stories, and know why they are here. I want them to feel welcome. Lots of differences separate us, but if I am willing to let go of my arrogant pretensions that come so easy as an American and instead sit and listen to their stories, I will see that we are only separated by the simple fate that causes one baby to be born in one country and another baby to take its first breath in a different one.