By Fernando Soto-Dupuy
Was it right and legal when Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob crossed the Canaanite border on several occasions? The Canaanites would have said no.
Children reach through the border fence dividing Mexico and the United States where it extends into the Pacific Ocean near San Diego, California.
Was it right and legal when the children of Israel crossed the border into the promised land? The Philistines and Ammonites would have said no.
Was it right and legal when the Assyrians and the Chaldeans crossed the Israelite border? The Israelites would have said no.
Was it right and legal when the Greeks crossed the western border of Persia? According to the Persians, the answer would have been no.
Was it right and legal when the Romans crossed the border into the Hellenistic Empire? We all can guess that the Greeks would have said no.
Was it right and legal when the Barbarians crossed the Roman Empire”s northern border? No doubt about it, the Romans would have said no.
Was it right and legal when the Moors crossed the Iberian Peninsula border? If you could have asked the Spaniards, you would have heard “no.”
Was it right and legal when the Spanish conquistadores crossed the New Land border? The New World Indians said no.
Was it right and legal when the (North) Americans crossed the borders of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California? The Mexicans would have said no.
Is it right and legal when Latino-Hispanic Americans cross the U.S. border without a visa? If you ask the (North) Americans, they will say no.
And so on. . . .
What”s Your Perspective?
Your answer to questions like these all depends on what side of the fence you are on. I am responding to this issue from the perspective of a naturalized U.S. citizen born in South America. My wife, a Mexican-American from Texas, grew up along the Mexican border. Her house was less than a mile from the Rio Grande River (those who live south of the river call it the Rio Bravo). Her family sometimes had to feed and take care of illegal immigrants who crossed the border at their backyard.
Did they really cross the border or did the border cross them? Texas used to be a Mexican state and due to historical situations””which are not for us to discuss””the border was moved farther south. In the minds of many Mexicans, they did not cross the border, but the border crossed them.
The same thing happened in California where an “American” border was created between Alta California (which became the states of California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, western Colorado, and southwestern Wyoming) and Baja California (which remained part of Mexico). By the way, Spanish and English were both official languages of the state of California until 1879.
Are borders established by God? If they are, then Christians should support border legislations, border patrols, and border vigilantes. But if it is not in God”s purpose to create imaginary lines between countries, my guess is Christians should not be so fanatical about particular territories and frontiers. Every time I see a U.S. weather map, I laugh because it”s obvious weather phenomena stop and start right at the U.S. border””non-U.S. weather is totally ignored. (Thank God Google Maps allows one to see the earth as God sees it.)
What Is Our Job?
Now, before my (North) American brothers and sisters become too upset at my lack of respect for borders, I want to assure you I am not in favor of open borders or any kind of anarchy. I just want the church to do her job and let the government do its job. On this issue I really support the separation between church and state.
Our job as the church of Christ is not to ask for documents from immigrants who come to live with us. Nor is our job to denounce them or condemn their legal status. The most powerful government in human history””which has the means to find Osama bin Laden on the other side of the world””is sophisticated enough to track all kinds of people and deal with this issue in its own bordered land. It doesn”t need the church”s help to chase undocumented immigrants. I am convinced the U.S. government can do whatever it wants to do regarding this issue. If it wants, it could reform the immigration law right away, or it could deport millions of undocumented people in a couple of months.
Why doesn”t it do one thing or the other? I have no idea, but my guess is the government likes the status quo. Politicians are in no hurry; businessmen see no emergency, for they profit from cheap labor, collecting taxes without providing benefits””although some people want to convince us that undocumented people take more than they provide to our nation. If that is the case, let the mass deportation begin and we”ll see our economic future bloom.
On the other hand, candidates seem to warm up to undocumented immigrants during election years. Again this year they will hear promises of amnesty, new laws, reform, and more. Then, after the election, we may remember the truth of Jeremiah 17:5: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man.”
What”s Our Mission?
The great majority of Hispanic congregations in the U.S. have a very high percentage of undocumented people. (The term “undocumented” is preferable to “illegal”; acts can be illegal, but people are undocumented). Forty percent of the people in the congregation I serve in Anaheim are undocumented. My guess is that in other Latino congregations the percentage might be higher. Some of our undocumented members have been in the country for 20 to 25 years; their children were born here, and they speak perfect English. Some of them own houses and have been paying taxes. Sadly, they live in fear, especially that when they retire, they won”t have any financial support from the government.
I have noticed that undocumented people tend to live very moral and law-abiding lives. They know they risk deportation if they get into trouble. Many of them drive without a license, so they are extra careful not to call the attention of authorities. They are good neighbors and good workers; they do not want to be evicted or lose their jobs.
We, as the church of God, have a mission to fulfill regarding this huge chunk of our population. Various sources estimate the undocumented population in this country at 12 million. Are we welcoming them into our churches? Do they feel threatened when they mingle with white Americans? Are we proclaiming a gospel of integration or are they receiving the bad news of separation? Do these undocumented folks look at the church as a government agency or as a city of refuge?
Some years ago we talked about the issue at a special Hispanic pastors meeting. We invited an immigration officer who worked in the deportation department to talk to us. He assured us the government does not have the capability to deport every single undocumented immigrant. Government agents don”t go from house to house asking for papers. They do eagerly look for and deport those who have committed crimes, especially domestic crimes against their spouses or children. Other kinds of undocumented individuals, such as those who were caught working without papers or who were denounced by a neighbor, are not looked at as a priority.
Can an undocumented Christian man become an elder? Can he hold a public ministry? Can he be hired as pastor? Well, Abraham, the wandering Aramean, became the father of the faithful. His great-grandson Joseph, an undocumented slave, became a prime minister in the most powerful country of his time. A young man became one of the major prophets in the Bible when in exile. And don”t forget Esther, who became a kind of Miss Latina USA of her time.
Finally, an undocumented family””a young son, his mom, along with his stepfather””fled the violence of a military regime and entered the relative safety of a neighboring country; that boy grew up to become our Lord and Savior. These persecuted immigrants have a way of always looking for a place of refuge. Woe to us if we do not provide that place and expect them to succeed.
I encourage you to look at this issue with a compassionate mind-set. There are several admonitions in the Old Testament about how to treat a foreigner while he or she is in your country. And the New Testament challenges us to see the foreigners from a missional point of view. The undocumented people among us represent a way God is bringing the need to us, instead of sending us to them.
And please, if you reread the questions at the beginning of this article, do so from the point of view of the person standing on the other side of the fence.
Fernando Soto-Dupuy is the Hispanic pastor of Anaheim (California) First Christian Church. He teaches at Crossmont Bible Institute and teaches Spanish for Hope International University, Fullerton, California. He and his wife, Nona, have been married for 28 years and have three children and three grandchildren.
Because of his admitted Hispanic background, I’m not sure Fernando Soto-Dupuy has objectively presented in his article, “The Other Side of the Fence,” all the necessary information needed for one to make an informed decision concerning immigrants who have entered the United Stated illegally. Regardless of the circumstances concerning the U.S. and Mexico in the 1840’s (more than one hundred sixty years ago), borders between the two countries have been established, uncontested, for all these years. Therefore, to his first question, “Did they really cross the border or did the border cross them?” Easy answer: they crossed ILLEGALLY. They KNEW it. And one sad factor introduced is the CHILDREN brought with them. They had no choice and are thrown into an almost IMPOSSIBLE circumstance. Also, his assumption that “it is not in God’s purpose to create imaginary lines between countries,” is scripturally unfounded. God established many boundaries when He led the Israelites into the Promised Land.
Soto-Dupuy then goes on with the question, “What is our Job” [as Christians]? He says he’s not in favor of open borders (then why the earlier question about our mutual border?) or any kind of anarchy. GOOD! Nor should ANY Christian be! But, he says he supports the separation between church and state. I don’t think he (nor anyone else) will find that concept ANYWHERE addressed in the United States Constitution. This is a common misinterpretation. The First Amendment simply states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…..” We are, in fact, told to “submit [himself] to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” (Romans 13:1) So, what IS our job? Simply serve them as we would any other person in need and do what we can to encourage them to do the right thing. If they were “[living] very moral and law-abiding lives,” they wouldn’t be driving without driver’s licenses, therefore having no insurance providing for others they may accidentally encounter. Additionally, they wouldn’t be taking advantage of welfare, healthcare, etc. (again, stealing).
As to the question of whether an “undocumented” (illegal) Christian man can serve as elder, I think not. Please re-read the qualifications given in Scripture, especially that which says a man should “have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.” (1 Tim. 3:7)
I understand the dilemma these poor, unfortunate people are in. They are, literally, “caught between a rock and a hard spot!” The answer though, shouldn’t be to break existing immigration laws, but to CHANGE the law to accommodate the problem. I recommend contacting your Senators and Representative to do this. Maybe the law could be changed to allow those who want to come here to work to be able to EASILY obtain a work permit (green card). Maybe the law could be changed to allow those ALREADY here illegally to register (without penalty) and obtain a work permit (yellow card). Maybe the law could be changed to require those with work permits (maybe even student permits too) to check in at the post office periodically.
In Christian Love,
Thanks so much for including the article “The other side of the fence” by Fernando Soto-Dupuy. I was enlightened and challenged by this article. We are blessed to have Fernando Soto-Dupuy in the United States and in our Christian churches-churches of Christ. Hope International University is blessed to have him on its faculty.
Bertram S. Allen, Jr.
Thank you, brother Fernando, for your article and insight as a Christian Hispanic leader in our country. As you point out, we all tend to view reality through the lens of our own cultural perspective. I pray that I, and my fellow “North” Americans will be able to view immigrants in our country through the lens of God’s Word and His heart for the “nations.”
I was born in Texas, obviously within the borders of the U.S.A. I remember that the U.S.A. once was welcoming to non-citizens. Our current laws are not welcoming, but obstructive. The laws need to be changed! And criminals need to be separated from their victims. The criminals need to be deported or kept confined away from their victims. Particularly to be helped if we are wise are those who were brought here as youths and now seek simply to be good citizens of the U.S.A. They all should be given citizenship pronto. How else can they pay the taxes which will get us out of the depression this nation now is in? And the Social Security so many now depend on as their only income. We need more tax-payers!
What is right and what is legal are often two completely different things. Jesus spoke of slavery many times in the Bible but He never said it was right, He only acknowledged it as legal. It was a fact of the times, but we have laws today against it, and we know that it is morally wrong. We have no control of events of the past we can only look at it and try not to let it happen again.
You asked “Is it right and legal when Latino-Hispanic Americans cross the U.S. border without a visa?” in reply I would that it is legal for a Latino-Hispanic American to cross the U.S. border as long as he has his American passport with him, if he was born here or is a naturalized citizen. If he is a citizen of another country, whether in North-Central-South America, Europe, Africa, or Asia or anywhere, there is a procedure where he can apply for a visa to enter this country legally. If he enters any other way it is illegal. Weather or not it is right is a matter of opinion (for me it would depend on the circumstances). My perspective is as Jesus’ in that we should “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s” or as Milton Kirkland said “the authorities that exist have been established by God.” Also we should obey man”™s law unless his law contradicts the Word of God.
On separation of church and state, Milton nailed it.
If you come into this country illegally yes you are undocumented, but that doesn’t override the fact that you broke the law, man”™s law. As long as you remain in this country, undocumented, you are acting illegally. It is true that many of the undocumented/illegal’s in this country are moral and for the most part law-abiding but there are many who are neither moral nor law abiding. Witness the Hispanic gangs in all of our major cities and in our prisons.
I don’t believe that a blanket law, such as our president”™s recent executive order, is the answer. What”™s to keep an undocumented/illegal from saying that he is 29 years old and that his parents brought him over here when he was eight, when he is actually a 42 year old gun runner/drug dealer who has been here for a year or so. Also, if you are here undocumented/illegal and you sign up for this deal and in 1 1/2 to 5 1/2 years down the road this or another president decides he doesn’t want to do that anymore. With names, addresses, fingerprints wouldn’t those moral and law-abiding undocumented/illegals be even more fearful for their future?
This is a tough issue and I agree that we as Christians need to look at this Issue “with a compassionate mind-set”. But we must also remember that as disciples Jesus tells us “I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”(NIV)
I am revisiting this article two years later, as I have students read this in Geography class each semester when we cover Middle America. I realize that few have cared to read the article, and fewer to comment, and that’s okay, I’m a bit late to the discussion myself. I would offer a couple of things to consider, however, with the intention of simply adding some information to what we already know.
1. Even undocumented immigrants with false papers that work for businesses that knowingly hire them with those papers have taxes deducted from their paychecks. They help fund the system, they just can’t get any of their taxes back as a refund later. They also pay sales tax like anyone else.
2. The violent Latino/Hispanic gangs that are a serious concern in many cities of the USA learned gang culture and behavior in the United States when they were refugees from the civil wars (proxy wars?) of the 1980’s in Central America. When the wars were done by the end of the decade, many of those were deported back to El Salvador and Guatemala in particular, and are the ‘spiritual fathers’ of the gangs that now challenge Central American governments for power. Gangs like the Mara Salvatrucha and the M-18 have made those two nations, along with Honduras, the murder capitals of the world in the last 5 years or so.
3. Jesus’ model for ministry has been called ‘incarnational,’ i.e. He came to the other side of the fence.
It seems that the article was a good one for encouraging us to see, not what the best solution to the ‘problem’ should be, but rather to add what is naturally lacking in the self-oriented and mono-cultural perspective of any human, which is the perspective of the other, and especially the other who is different.