By “radical,” I understand one who goes too far; by “conservative,” one who does not go far enough; by “reactionary,” one who won’t go at all.   Woodrow Wilson, Nobel Laureate, Peace, 1919¹

Effective immigration reform belongs in the middle.  For me, as a Christian, immigration reform makes perfect sense.  And there’s good news.  A middle-way approach to how we respond to our immigration crisis is being embraced by a growing group of centrist religious leaders across the country.  Kudos to the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE, http://www.nae.net/resolutions/347-immigration-2009), for example, for their courageous and open support of comprehensive immigration reform.  It cost ‘em, though.  The NAE took a hit from a few reactionary extremists.  I am relieved that many of us standing with the NAE in the murky middle consider such extremist reactions against reform to be rooted in fear at best, or nativist hate at worst. ² .         

Immigration Is Everyone’s Problem, And Everyone’s Solution

I think  the immigration problem in the U.S. is everyone’s problem.  As well, a solution will be good for everyone.  So, join me in the middle (again)³ .  As I’ve said before, the middle ground on most religious or public policy issues is a tough place to stand.  The middle ground is murky, muddy.  The middle ground is difficult to talk about because it lacks those snappy, emotive sound bites that sting the opposition and attract media attention.

Comprehensive immigration reform has a good home in the religious and political middle. 

OK, what do I mean by “comprehensive immigration reform”?  Without going into too much detail, here is what I think — just the opinion of one guy in the middle:

First, from a biblical perspective, I stand in a long line of religious folks who believe what the Bible says about God’s special concern for the most vulnerable among us.  Our nation’s immigrants (most of them) come to us looking for help and hope and safety.  How we treat them is a decidedly biblical issue.  Most followers of Jesus agree (and have agreed for centuries) that we should love them, welcome them, and care for them. 

Second, I believe we need a rational and humane approach to securing our nation’s borders.  Security is a good thing.  Comprehensive immigration reform must address our border issue.  Let’s agree, most immigrants are good people.  Apart from the Native American community we are a nation made up entirely of immigrants.⁴   But some immigrants do seek to harm us and enter our country for illegal purposes.  There must be a rational and humane way to secure our borders so that those seeking to enter for work and safety are welcomed, while those seeking to enter for illegal purposes are stopped.

Third, let’s be reasonable about how to deal with the close to 12 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the U.S.  We could spend billions of dollars to hunt them down for deportation.  Raids make good evening news, but they are not very effective, and cost a ton of money.  Also, since a large portion of our undocumented immigrants have been here for many years, deporting them tends to split families, leaving behind millions of parentless children (who are legal residents because they were born here).  Good policy should not create more orphans.  If we care about families, we need a better way.  God’s grace teaches me a better way.  I think comprehensive immigration reform should provide a reasonable pathway for undocumented immigrants who are currently living and working hard in the US to receive legal status.  This would be good for everyone.  Think about this — it is estimated that our current pool of undocumented immigrants would increase our nation’s tax revenue by close to 60 billion dollars if these workers were granted a pathway toward legal, open status as taxpayers.

Fourth, let’s be reasonable about making it easier for potential workers to enter our country safely and legally.  The current system is so restrictive (paranoid?) that an enormous and dangerous underground illegal system of  exploitation exists.  Immigration fueled by clandestine illegal operations encourages human trafficking and unsafe workplace conditions.  The truth is, even with our difficult recession and employment problems here, our economy needs immigrant labor, so let’s help them to help us, legally.

Comprehensive immigration reform makes perfect sense, from a biblical perspective and from an economic perspective.  It’s the right thing to do.  I stand in the middle on this issue, with a growing number of evangelical and mainline Christian communities, along with other faith communities in our country.⁵ .  Be reasonable.  Join me in the murky, but effective, middle.

© Copyright by Jeffrey Y. Harlow, Ph.D (2010).

1. David Pratt, Editor (2007).  The Impossible Takes Longer: The 1,000 Wisest Things Ever Said By Nobel Prize Laureates.  New York: Walker & Company.
2. I am concerned, for example, about the reactionary outbursts against all immigrants (even legal immigrants) from groups such as NumbersUSA, a well-organized extremist group that prefers to capitalize on our fear rather than our goodness as Americans.
3. I love the middle ground on most issues.  I call it the “murky middle”.  For a series of articles about the middle way and middle way thinking see The Murky Middle category to the right or click on one of these articles:  Three Cups Of Tea Fell On My Z ,  Just War, Nobel Peace, And Obama ,  How Are Our Children? ,  Doubt Is Good, Certainty Is Bad, I Think (Part II) ,  Doubt Is Good, Certainty Is Bad, I Think ,  My Feet Will Follow ,  Doubt, Dancing, And A Good Conversation ,  Slow Change ,  Transformational Leadership: Lots Of Questions, Waiting For A Few Good Answers ,  As Far As I Know ,  Transformational Leadership: Effective Change In The Murky Middle ,  Back To The Murky Middle: Inviting our atheist friends ,  Dandelion Seeds: Problem-solving from the middle ,  Meet Me In The Middle
4. This is interesting.  I guess one could conclude from our own history that it is unwise to welcome immigrants.  Look what happened to our Native American friends when they loved, welcomed, and cared for us! …hmmm.  So…perhaps we’ll learn from our mistakes.
5. For example, in my own faith tradition, in May 2009 the United Methodist Church Council of Bishops released a Statement on the U.S. Immigration Situation (http://bishops.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=21&mid=13506).  See also the centrist coalition of Christian groups, Christians For Comprehensive Immigration Reform (http://faithandimmigration.org/).  Faith In Public Life (http://www.faithinpubliclife.org/) is an organization seeking to provide media access and advocacy resources for moderate faith voices (Christian and otherwise) on public issues.  An innovative issue advocacy group Third Way (http://www.thirdway.org/) seeks non-traditional (read: neither liberal nor conservative) solutions to sticky policy problems.