Illegal immigration pits law vs. mercy
PHOTO BY BOBBY ROSS JR.
Passion for aliens - Bobby Lawson, minister for the Park Forest Church of Christ in Matteson, Ill., south of Chicago, prays with an undocumented immigrant's relatives outside a deportation center.
Passion for aliens - Bobby Lawson, minister for the Park Forest Church of Christ in Matteson, Ill., south of Chicago, prays with an undocumented immigrant's relatives outside a deportation center.
CHICAGO - On a dark street, a mother weeps.
At 4:45 a.m., she stands outside a two-story brick building surrounded by razor wire, her sobs drowning out the drum of machinery at a nearby factory.
The Spanish-speaking woman just said goodbye — through a glass panel at a federal deportation center west of Chicago — to her son Miguel, an illegal immigrant from Mexico.
A minister wearing a beige overcoat and a black knit cap rushes to comfort the mother and pray with her distraught family.
“This is why I come,” says the minister, Bobby Lawson, who pulled a white church van out of the Park Forest Church of Christ parking lot in Matteson, Ill., at 2:53 a.m. that Friday. “These families are getting ripped apart.”
Across the nation, debate rages over U.S. immigration policy — with Americans split on whether to crack down on illegal immigrants or create an amnesty process for undocumented aliens.
In the 2011 fiscal year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported a record 396,906 immigrants — 55 percent of whom had been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor, according to the Obama administration.
A majority of evangelical Christians say that illegal immigrants “threaten traditional American customs and values,” according to a Pew Research Center survey last year. Only about one-third of evangelicals believe these immigrants “strengthen American society.”
For members of Churches of Christ, the Bible’s instruction to obey civil law can clash with God’s call to welcome strangers and aliens.
“Most average Americans, including those in the church, have not taken the time to get to know the immigrants in our inner cities,” said Sean McClue, intercultural missionary for the Central Phoenix Urban Ministry, which is supported by Churches of Christ.
“People’s identities have come to be defined by their immigration status rather than the fact that they were created in God’s image,” added McClue, a former missionary to Mexico. “Listening to their personal stories would help us understand the difficulty of the situation and the complexity of the issue.”
Moises Pinedo, a member of the Elizabethton Church of Christ in Tennessee, said he sees no need to check someone’s immigration status before sharing the Gospel.
But neither should Christians ignore the issue, said Pinedo, a native of Peru who became a U.S. citizen in 2008.
“For someone who purposely breaks immigration laws and then looks for ways to legitimize his actions, the only solution may be to return to his native country in order to assure his heavenly home,” Pinedo wrote in “Illegal Immigration,” a 2009 book published by Apologetics Press.
“Sadly,” he added, “many more try to cross the border of the United States than to cross the border into heaven.”
Immigration attorney Isaul Verdin, a member of the McDermott Road Church of Christ in Plano, Texas, sees it differently.
There’s a difference, the American-born son of Mexican immigrants believes, between violating a moral law and an administrative one.
“These people are merely violating the law because there is no legal way to enter the U.S.,” said Verdin, a graduate of Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., “and they are desperate to escape deplorable conditions in their country and help their family.”
MINISTER'S MESSAGE: 'GOD CARES'
Every other Friday, Lawson rises early and drives nearly an hour to the regional deportation center in Broadview, Ill., just off Interstate 290.
Here, he joins two Roman Catholic nuns and other volunteers who minister to detainees’ families before their shackled loved ones are taken to O’Hare International Airport for flights to the U.S. border.
From 4 to 6 a.m., relatives can deliver cash and a small bag of personal items.
“They go into a room and sit at a table, and the person they’ve come to see is on the other side of a glass panel,” Lawson says. “They don’t get to touch them. And whatever they give them, they hand to a guard.”
Hidden in a nondescript industrial park with few streetlights, the deportation center — which processes immigrants from six states — can be difficult to find.
Headlights pierce the darkness as vehicles bearing the detainees’ relatives turn the corner. Lawson flags down the drivers and shares instructions on where to park and check in.
“There’s usually somebody that speaks English,” he says. “I make sure and tell them ‘no cell phones’ and that they have to have identification.”
He hopes his kind words and friendly directions make a difference.
“I can come and say, ‘God cares … and God’s people care,’” Lawson says, a chilly breeze blowing as he awaits the next arrival.
STIRRING IN HIS HEART
Lawson traces his passion for immigrants to Bible studies over the last few years.
The 53-year-old minister grew up in a U.S. Air Force family and always considered himself extremely patriotic.
Until a few years ago, he believed that illegal immigrants needed to be deported. As he saw it, they were taking Americans’ jobs and threatening national security.
After all, Romans 13:1 says, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.”
“But there just started being a stirring in my heart,” said the father of four, who earned a Bible degree from Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson, Tenn., in 1980 and a master of theology degree from Harding School of Theology in Memphis, Tenn., in 1985.
As Lawson read the Bible and sought to understand God’s will concerning undocumented aliens, he was overwhelmed “by how much there is.”
For example, Leviticus 19:33 declares, “When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him.”
Elders at the Park Forest church supported Lawson’s request to teach a four-month Bible study on immigrants.
Jack Plummer, a Park Forest elder for 40 years, said the study caused him to reassess his beliefs.
“Now I’m just simply confused,” he said with a chuckle. “I have no idea what the answer is except to know that it will come from God and not from our human way of thinking and planning.”
Jesus surrounded himself with those considered the least of the least, said Ray Rubio, a Park Forest elder and the great-grandson of a migrant worker from Mexico.
“In today’s society, who is considered the lowest of the lowest? The undocumented Hispanic,” said Rubio, the son of a preacher. “Then I would say, ‘Yeah, I think that’s where we need to be.’”
When Lawson heard about Catholic nuns JoAnn Persch and Pat Murphy providing pastoral care for detained immigrants, he contacted them.
He began visiting the deportation center and traveling to the McHenry County Jail to see immigrants clad in orange jumpsuits.
“He found out about what we were doing and said, ‘I’ll be there at 4 in the morning,’” said Persch, 77, taking a break from the cold in Lawson’s church van. “We thought, ‘Oh, yeah, sure.’ But boy, he was here the next Friday.”
On a recent jail visit, Lawson saw detainees from Ethiopia, Somalia, Bolivia, Colombia and Mexico. “What a wide range of people in one place,” he said.
Ricardo Barrera, minister for the Elgin Church of Christ, a Spanish-speaking congregation west of Chicago, accompanies Lawson on the jail visits.
Barrera, who immigrated legally to the United States when he was 16, said the detainees understand that they broke the law by crossing the border.
“But their perspective is like, ‘I didn’t do it to come and kill anybody. … I did it because I had to. I had no choice,’” Barrera said.
The ministers provide rare physical contact — a hug, a soft touch — for inmates who must visit with relatives through closed-circuit television.
“You honestly do get to see in their eyes such a need of hope and mercy,” Barrera said. “Everybody’s looking at them like they’re killers or rapists or whatever, and you come in and minister to them, and you bring them hope. You read the Bible, and you just listen to them, and that makes a big difference.”
The amazing thing about Lawson, Barrera said, is that the Anglo minister could choose to ignore the issue.
“When he went to see one of our members, I mean, this family was blown away by how much mercy they saw in Bobby,” the immigrant minister said.
TEARS AND PRAYERS
As teary-eyed relatives leave the deportation center, Lawson walks with them to their cars.
He always offers to lead a prayer.
Most eagerly accept.
Miguel’s three young daughters show no visible emotion after saying goodbye.
As other relatives console the girls’ grandmother, the children stare silently at Lawson. He assures the family that God will watch over them and Miguel.
The minister has no idea if the 36-year-old Mexican got picked up on a routine traffic stop or if he committed a crime.
Lawson can’t explain why the man’s relatives have proper documentation and he does not.
Really, Lawson says, such questions are not his concern.
“God, be with this family,” he prays before they drive away. “Bless them. Keep Miguel safe. Bring them back together again.”
At 4:45 a.m., she stands outside a two-story brick building surrounded by razor wire, her sobs drowning out the drum of machinery at a nearby factory.
The Spanish-speaking woman just said goodbye — through a glass panel at a federal deportation center west of Chicago — to her son Miguel, an illegal immigrant from Mexico.
A minister wearing a beige overcoat and a black knit cap rushes to comfort the mother and pray with her distraught family.
“This is why I come,” says the minister, Bobby Lawson, who pulled a white church van out of the Park Forest Church of Christ parking lot in Matteson, Ill., at 2:53 a.m. that Friday. “These families are getting ripped apart.”
Across the nation, debate rages over U.S. immigration policy — with Americans split on whether to crack down on illegal immigrants or create an amnesty process for undocumented aliens.
In the 2011 fiscal year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported a record 396,906 immigrants — 55 percent of whom had been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor, according to the Obama administration.
A majority of evangelical Christians say that illegal immigrants “threaten traditional American customs and values,” according to a Pew Research Center survey last year. Only about one-third of evangelicals believe these immigrants “strengthen American society.”
For members of Churches of Christ, the Bible’s instruction to obey civil law can clash with God’s call to welcome strangers and aliens.
“Most average Americans, including those in the church, have not taken the time to get to know the immigrants in our inner cities,” said Sean McClue, intercultural missionary for the Central Phoenix Urban Ministry, which is supported by Churches of Christ.
“People’s identities have come to be defined by their immigration status rather than the fact that they were created in God’s image,” added McClue, a former missionary to Mexico. “Listening to their personal stories would help us understand the difficulty of the situation and the complexity of the issue.”
Moises Pinedo, a member of the Elizabethton Church of Christ in Tennessee, said he sees no need to check someone’s immigration status before sharing the Gospel.
But neither should Christians ignore the issue, said Pinedo, a native of Peru who became a U.S. citizen in 2008.
“For someone who purposely breaks immigration laws and then looks for ways to legitimize his actions, the only solution may be to return to his native country in order to assure his heavenly home,” Pinedo wrote in “Illegal Immigration,” a 2009 book published by Apologetics Press.
“Sadly,” he added, “many more try to cross the border of the United States than to cross the border into heaven.”
Immigration attorney Isaul Verdin, a member of the McDermott Road Church of Christ in Plano, Texas, sees it differently.
There’s a difference, the American-born son of Mexican immigrants believes, between violating a moral law and an administrative one.
“These people are merely violating the law because there is no legal way to enter the U.S.,” said Verdin, a graduate of Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., “and they are desperate to escape deplorable conditions in their country and help their family.”
MINISTER'S MESSAGE: 'GOD CARES'
Every other Friday, Lawson rises early and drives nearly an hour to the regional deportation center in Broadview, Ill., just off Interstate 290.
Here, he joins two Roman Catholic nuns and other volunteers who minister to detainees’ families before their shackled loved ones are taken to O’Hare International Airport for flights to the U.S. border.
From 4 to 6 a.m., relatives can deliver cash and a small bag of personal items.
“They go into a room and sit at a table, and the person they’ve come to see is on the other side of a glass panel,” Lawson says. “They don’t get to touch them. And whatever they give them, they hand to a guard.”
Hidden in a nondescript industrial park with few streetlights, the deportation center — which processes immigrants from six states — can be difficult to find.
Headlights pierce the darkness as vehicles bearing the detainees’ relatives turn the corner. Lawson flags down the drivers and shares instructions on where to park and check in.
“There’s usually somebody that speaks English,” he says. “I make sure and tell them ‘no cell phones’ and that they have to have identification.”
He hopes his kind words and friendly directions make a difference.
“I can come and say, ‘God cares … and God’s people care,’” Lawson says, a chilly breeze blowing as he awaits the next arrival.
STIRRING IN HIS HEART
Lawson traces his passion for immigrants to Bible studies over the last few years.
The 53-year-old minister grew up in a U.S. Air Force family and always considered himself extremely patriotic.
Until a few years ago, he believed that illegal immigrants needed to be deported. As he saw it, they were taking Americans’ jobs and threatening national security.
After all, Romans 13:1 says, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.”
“But there just started being a stirring in my heart,” said the father of four, who earned a Bible degree from Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson, Tenn., in 1980 and a master of theology degree from Harding School of Theology in Memphis, Tenn., in 1985.
As Lawson read the Bible and sought to understand God’s will concerning undocumented aliens, he was overwhelmed “by how much there is.”
For example, Leviticus 19:33 declares, “When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him.”
Elders at the Park Forest church supported Lawson’s request to teach a four-month Bible study on immigrants.
Jack Plummer, a Park Forest elder for 40 years, said the study caused him to reassess his beliefs.
“Now I’m just simply confused,” he said with a chuckle. “I have no idea what the answer is except to know that it will come from God and not from our human way of thinking and planning.”
Jesus surrounded himself with those considered the least of the least, said Ray Rubio, a Park Forest elder and the great-grandson of a migrant worker from Mexico.
“In today’s society, who is considered the lowest of the lowest? The undocumented Hispanic,” said Rubio, the son of a preacher. “Then I would say, ‘Yeah, I think that’s where we need to be.’”
When Lawson heard about Catholic nuns JoAnn Persch and Pat Murphy providing pastoral care for detained immigrants, he contacted them.
He began visiting the deportation center and traveling to the McHenry County Jail to see immigrants clad in orange jumpsuits.
“He found out about what we were doing and said, ‘I’ll be there at 4 in the morning,’” said Persch, 77, taking a break from the cold in Lawson’s church van. “We thought, ‘Oh, yeah, sure.’ But boy, he was here the next Friday.”
On a recent jail visit, Lawson saw detainees from Ethiopia, Somalia, Bolivia, Colombia and Mexico. “What a wide range of people in one place,” he said.
Ricardo Barrera, minister for the Elgin Church of Christ, a Spanish-speaking congregation west of Chicago, accompanies Lawson on the jail visits.
Barrera, who immigrated legally to the United States when he was 16, said the detainees understand that they broke the law by crossing the border.
“But their perspective is like, ‘I didn’t do it to come and kill anybody. … I did it because I had to. I had no choice,’” Barrera said.
The ministers provide rare physical contact — a hug, a soft touch — for inmates who must visit with relatives through closed-circuit television.
“You honestly do get to see in their eyes such a need of hope and mercy,” Barrera said. “Everybody’s looking at them like they’re killers or rapists or whatever, and you come in and minister to them, and you bring them hope. You read the Bible, and you just listen to them, and that makes a big difference.”
The amazing thing about Lawson, Barrera said, is that the Anglo minister could choose to ignore the issue.
“When he went to see one of our members, I mean, this family was blown away by how much mercy they saw in Bobby,” the immigrant minister said.
TEARS AND PRAYERS
As teary-eyed relatives leave the deportation center, Lawson walks with them to their cars.
He always offers to lead a prayer.
Most eagerly accept.
Miguel’s three young daughters show no visible emotion after saying goodbye.
As other relatives console the girls’ grandmother, the children stare silently at Lawson. He assures the family that God will watch over them and Miguel.
The minister has no idea if the 36-year-old Mexican got picked up on a routine traffic stop or if he committed a crime.
Lawson can’t explain why the man’s relatives have proper documentation and he does not.
Really, Lawson says, such questions are not his concern.
“God, be with this family,” he prays before they drive away. “Bless them. Keep Miguel safe. Bring them back together again.”
From the March 2012 Print Edition.
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feedback that promotes thoughtful and respectful discussion. Letters and comments should be 750 characters or less and may be edited for length or clarity. Comments to the print or online edition are considered to be letters to the editor and may be published.
If we are supposed to be Jesus on earth we must be Jesus to all. A contributor of the article suggests that for illegal immigrants to be saved they must go back to their country to undo their crimes. If we apply this across the board we cannot preach Jesus to those who have committed a crime because they cannot undo their crimes. Let's not forget the last act of mercy Jesus showed before He ascended to heaven. He said "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise" (NIV) this was promised to a criminal who deserved the death penalty, according to the account found in Matthew. As Christians we are called to be different than those of the world, I know it is a challenge, but if we trust in Him we can be Jesus to all
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Jose A. Arevalo C of C, Falls Church Lake Ridge, VA - USA February 22, 2012 |
Why don't we just turn inward and continue to build ourselves up to achieve a false sense of security? This issue is about fear of change. We are afraid we will lose our comforts. But, we cannot prevent what is coming. Immigration is not the issue. It is a substitute and stand-in for others fears not explicitly expressed.
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Steve Allison Hardin Valley Church of Christ Farragut, TN - USA February 13, 2012 |
The headline frustrated me a bit. I.e. i never saw how the law (US immigration law, that is) is pitted against mercy and I'm not sure it's helpful/proper to parallel the immigration issue to familiar law/grace concerns. IF one wants to enforce a law, is one against grace/mercy? I admire those who minister to immigrants. But I hope you'll revisit this subject delving more into the issue. I.e. is opposing immigration law enforcement the Christian thing to do? Is deportation un-kind? I didn't get how the "stirring in Lawson's heart" offsets a clear NT command. Please give him a chance to better describe that stirring.
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John none Los Angeles, CA - USA February 11, 2012 |
As a general principle why do we care if people are in our country? Could it be we do not want the new ones to receive the same benefits we receive from our state and federal governments? How about we do away with all benefits and let the governments do what they are constitutionally expected to do?
Be careful using the Old Testament since it provides permission for a father to sell his daughter into slavery.
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John Jenkins Great Smoky Mountains Church of Christ Gatlinburg, TN - USA February 8, 2012 |
How can we justify breaking the law in order to assist the poor. We can and we do help others across borders and I think that is the best way to assist people from different countries. While many of us have jobs that insulate us from the employment insecurities the poor feel we are forgetting that they are losing their jobs to illegals due to "under the table" wages and jobs acquired with stolen social security numbers. Changing immigration law to allow a flood of people looking for employment will create more poor legal residents. Send help and the Gospel to their country of origin and no laws are broken and we fulfill our duty to help the poor. Not complicated at all.
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Kenneth Morvant Climax Church of Christ Anna, TX - USA February 6, 2012 |
Unfortunately this is not an easy issue. Be that as it may, the book of Deuteronomy is clear on how God expected Israel to treat the foreigners and aliens among them and that is something which does having great bearing on how we as Christians practice our faith (so says that Apostle Paul, "All scripture is..." 2 Tim 3.16). Praise God for Bobby Lawson, who is striving to be faithful to Jesus!
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K. Rex Butts Columbia Church of Christ Columbia, Maryland - USA February 3, 2012 |
Bobby Lawson's sentiments are laudable, but the fact remains that illegal immigrants are just that, illegal. Here in the UK we are having a major problem with immigration.
For us the problem is an unnatural increase in the number of Muslims who are coming in, so inflating the Islamic problem. In the event of Turkey being admitted to the EU the problem will become far worse, as EU citizens have a right to live and work in the UK. Turkish citizens will then have the right to work here.
As far as the scriptures used by Lawson, most are a part of the Mosaic Law, so therefore are not applicable to us today.
Show compassion to the returnees and their families, of course. But encourage them to try and return legally.
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Pete Hodge Skelmersdale Up Holland, Lancashire - United Kingdom February 3, 2012 |
Immigration is a great issue in that it affects so many people and families. I think we need to start with the country the immigrants come from. What kind of help can we give these countries to make them more liveable for their own citizens. I am speaking partic-ularly about Mexico. It is fraught with drugs and murder and mayhem because there's no other way to make a living. U.S. businesses have products made in China--why not help Mexico by having products made there. It's closer to home.
Sincerely
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Joan M McCullum C of C of Los Banos Los Banos, California - USA February 2, 2012 |
This is a false dilemma since, in the US, Christians (as voters, those capable of funding and hiring lobbyists, takers of non-profit write offs on fed taxes) can elect those who can change the law. The functional problem is that much more funds need to be spent on information technology and interviewers, and the enforcement of laws directed at employers who exploit "illegal" workers, with clawbacks of assets gained from inadequate pay and|or benefits owed the workers. We need to change the rhetorical paradigm to make matters of economic legality and security equivalent to physical terrorism, and the penalties of treason should apply to "illegal" employers.
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Ed Dodds Woodmont Hills Nashville, TN - USA February 2, 2012 |
In ministering to our multi-cultural community (over 50 countries represented), we often run into undocumented immigrants. After spending time with their families and even visiting many of their countries, I understand the feelings of desperation they have to enter the US. We do not condone entering illegally, but understand the desire to take care of one's family. We need change in our present immigration system.
As a church, we welcome the immigrants to our land. We help them by teaching them English, translating for them, and loving them. When possible we help them obtain the correct documents. If they are deported, we show them love and mercy.
We love God and we love others.
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Lisa Steele Antioch church of Christ Antioch, TN - USA February 2, 2012 |
We are Mexican/American since birth and we have seen and believe both sides of the issue as we minister to the Hispanic members of the church. We believe in Romanos 13 and we also believe in Jesus teachings on mercy after the disciples (as also King David and his men) could have been found guilty under the law. Jesus said: "If you understand mercy you would not condemn the innocent (refering to the ones that indeed had broken the law of Moses). We always teach to do your best to follow the law of the land, but we know that there are some cases where we need to be merciful. It's a case by case situation. Blessings!
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Elmer Pacheco Iglesia de Cristo Silver Spring Silver Spring, MD - USA February 2, 2012 |
feedback that promotes thoughtful and respectful discussion. Letters and comments should be 750 characters or less and may be edited for length or clarity. Comments to the print or online edition are considered to be letters to the editor and may be published.
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