As One Born Among Us
By Chuck Poole
“When an immigrant resides with you, you shall not oppress the immigrant.The immigrant shall be to you as one who was born among you; you shall love the immigrant as yourself.”
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Exodus 12:49, “There shall be equality under the law for the citizen and the immigrant.”
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Exodus 22:21, “You shall not wrong an immigrant,” Exodus 23:9, “You shall not oppress the immigrant.”
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Leviticus 25:23, “Because all the land in the world belongs to God, in the eyes of God we are all immigrants.”
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Deuteronomy 10:19, “You shall love the immigrant.”
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Deuteronomy 24:17, “You shall not deprive an immigrant of justice”
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Zechariah 7:9-10, “Show kindness and mercy to one another; do not oppress the immigrant.”
Add to all of those passages the book of Ruth, a migrating foreigner who becomes an ancestor of David (Ruth 4:13-17) and Jesus (Matthew 1:1-16); and Matthew’s story of Joseph,Mary and Jesus as border crossing, asylum seeking refugees fleeing political violence(Matthew 2:13-23), and what we are left with is a clear Biblical witness to God’s preferential concern for asylum seekers, migrating families, refugees and immigrants.
The cumulative weight of scripture tells us that our nation’s current obsession with detaining and deporting immigrants is not only bad public policy, it is a human injustice, and a grave moral failure; which makes this present moment, for persons of all faiths, one of those critical seasons in life when we know most deeply the truth of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s powerful old reminder that, “The moment we begin to fall silent about things that matter is the moment when our life begins to end.” Now is the time for persons of all faiths, along with persons of no faith but good faith, to stand up for our immigrant neighbors by speaking out against the deportation of non-criminal undocumented immigrants.
Immigrants who commit acts of violence, like citizens who commit acts of violence, need to be apprehended. But, our nation’s current campaign of cruelty against non-criminal undocumented immigrants is clearly not about public safety. Rather, our nation’s current campaign of fear against non-criminal undocumented immigrants is rooted in the sad and sinful soil of xenophobia, fear of the other; an institutionalized xenophobia which has borne the bitter fruit of anti-immigrant nationalism, racism and white supremacy.
The most fundamental answer to that tragically weaponized, institutionalized xenophobia is for all of us to recognize that we are all the beloved children of God; to learn to look with love and welcome upon all persons as though they were born among us, and as though we were born among them; no longer othering the other as a stranger to be excluded, but welcoming the other as we wish all others to welcome us; our sad and sinful xenophobia, fear of the other, transformed into a glad and beautiful xenoamora, love of the other, until all of us come, at last, to embody the expansive spirit to which Leviticus 19:33-34 calls us, loving the immigrant as we love ourselves; seeing the asylum seeker, the refugee, the stranger and the immigrant as God sees them; as one born among us.
“Cuando un extranjero resida con ustedes en su tierra, no lo maltratarán. El extranjero que resida con ustedes les será como uno nacido entre ustedes, y lo amarás como a ti mismo, porque ustedes fueron extranjeros en la tierra de Egipto. Yo soy el Señor su Dios”. Estas palabras de Levítico 19:33-34 pertenecen a una amplia corriente de bienvenida que recorre toda la Biblia: versos y voces que llevan la hermosa noticia de la incansable preocupación de Dios por los refugiados, solicitantes de asilo y todas las personas y familias migrantes.
Un coro que abarca toda la Escritura, que incluye también:
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Éxodo 12:49: “Habrá igualdad ante la ley para el ciudadano y el migrante.”
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Éxodo 22:21: “No debes hacer daño a un inmigrante.”
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Éxodo 23:9: “No oprimirás al inmigrante.”
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Levítico 25:23: “Porque toda la tierra pertenece a Dios; ante los ojos de Dios, todos somos inmigrantes.”
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Deuteronomio 10:19: “Amarás al inmigrante.”
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Deuteronomio 24:17: “No debes privar a un inmigrante de justicia.”
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Zacarías 7:9-10: “Muestren amabilidad unos con otros, y no opriman al inmigrante.”
A estos pasajes se suma la historia de Rut, una extranjera inmigrante que se convierte en ancestro de David y Jesús (Rut 4:13-17; Mateo 1:1-16), y el recuerdo de Mateo sobre José, María y Jesús como refugiados que cruzan fronteras huyendo de la violencia política (Mateo 2:13-23).
El resultado es un claro testimonio bíblico de la constante preocupación de Dios por los solicitantes de asilo, las familias migrantes, los refugiados y los inmigrantes.
Ahora es el momento para que personas de todas las religiones —junto con quienes no profesan una fe, pero caminan con buena voluntad— se levanten en defensa de nuestros vecinos inmigrantes y alcen su voz contra la deportación de inmigrantes indocumentados no criminales.
La frase “inmigrantes indocumentados no criminales” es intencionada e importante.Algunos dicen que cualquier inmigrante que ingresó a los Estados Unidos sin los documentos apropiados es un criminal y, por lo tanto, debería ser deportado.
Pero dediquémonos a decir, clara y en voz alta, lo que sabemos que es verdad:Un inmigrante sin la documentación adecuada no es lo mismo que ser un criminal.