The Bible and Immigration

Immigration is a hot topic in the political realm today. Inside of the Church it has created confusion concerning how to deal with people from foreign lands. The conservative stance is that people should be expected to enter legally, abide by the laws of the land, and assimilate to the American culture. The liberal stance is that all people are welcome into the country, and all people can stay here, as long as they find a way to reach this great nation. Liberals believe that special exemptions to the law must be made for foreigners, so that they can continue all of their former practices and traditions. These are completely opposing viewpoints. How are we to know right from wrong on the topic of immigration? Fortunately, the Bible does lay out some ground work on immigration.

Let us first start with the purpose of citizenship. Citizenship is meant to a provide protection to an individual. Exodus 22:21 says that a person should not vex a stranger. Vex, for our purposes, could be translated into oppression or persecution towards anyone. Conservatives favor legally documented and approved immigration, because undocumented entry into the country puts the immigrant at risk. Great numbers of immigrants are at the mercy of drug lords, gangs, the sex trade, and even children are put into permanent bondage to satisfy the needs and desires of wicked people who take advantage of the weak. Liberals and moderates refuse to see this reality, while conservatives seek to protect the most vulnerable people.

Immigrants, on every level, are inherently excluded from certain practices. In the Bible, foreigners were excluded from the Passover. In America, it is seen that all foreigners are disqualified from ever having the opportunity to become President. When it comes to undocumented/illegal immigrants, they are currently prohibited from voting. This law is good because people who do not understand or fully embrace the American culture should not be allowed to tell those, who embrace and understand it, how they ought to be governed.

Immigrants are expected to keep the laws of the land. The Law of the Old Testament makes it clear that nobody in the land of Israel would get special treatment: "One law shall be to him that is home-born, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you" (Exodus 12:49). The punishment for breaking the law for a foreigner living in Israel was no different than if it were a natural born Israelite.

In the Old Testament, a foreigner was accepted into Israel so long as the foreigner chose to obey the national laws. Deuteronomy 31:12 states, Gather the people together, men and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of his law."

Reading the Biblical description of an immigrant that is acceptable inside of the nation of Israel is much like hearing out the conservative stance on immigration. In fact, the standard to be an Israeli citizen in Biblical times was more strict than what it is to become an American citizen today! The nation of Israel, like America, had a lot of protections for its citizens and applied the laws to its citizens impartially, whether the person was wealthy and powerful or poor and weak. Living in "the land of the free" comes with a cost, but the cost of freedom is worth the sacrifice.