Immigrants: Burden or Blessing?

“Immigrants today are a burden because they take our jobs, housing and health care.” That was the assesment of 64 percent of white evangelical Protestants in a 2006 Pew Forum poll. Only 29 percent responded that immigrants “strengthen our country with their hard work and talents.”

That helps explain my surprise that the National Association of Evangelicals approved a resolution calling for comprehensive immigration reform. One of the more controversial elements was a call for a “process for currently undocumented immigrants who wish to assume the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship to earn legal status.” Critics interpret this to mean amnesty for undocumented immigrants, and complaints have poured in to many of the NAE’s member organizations, causing some to distance themselves from the NAE’s resolution while others formally endorsed it.

The belief that immigrants burden our society echoes the rhetoric I hear too often in my religious circles. Just like the Pew Forum poll, the dislike for immigrants doesn’t just apply to illegal immigrants; immigrants as a whole are sometimes perceived as taking more from American society than they give. The distrust turns to disdain, however, when only undocumented immigrants are considered. Illegal immigrants are criminals and should be treated as thieves and murderers; they steal from our healthcare system and educate their children for free in public schools while taking jobs from Americans. Why would any Christian organization want their wrongdoing to be forgiven?

The only Christian response is a Christlike one. We can disagree on how to solve the political and legal challenges, but the Christlike response requires putting ourselves in the shoes of the illegal immigrant: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” If we can do that, perhaps we will rediscover how their talents and hard work strengthen America.