Immigration and our Call to Love

Post Author: Rev. Ashley Updegraff

Her name is Isabelle.¹ Originally from Venezuela, she left her home because she and her husband could not afford to feed their children. Life in Venezuela had become untenable. So they left, in search of a better life in America. They traveled over 2000 miles and crossed 8 countries. Their journey led them through the Darien Gap, an inhospitable region that connects North and South America. They walked through the jungle, facing any number of unknowns: robbery, abuse, kidnapping, even death. They crossed Mexico, at the hands of the corrupt cartels, and finally made it to America. Isabelle was 6 months pregnant during the most arduous part of the journey. Because the risks were so great, and the cost to make the migration so steep, she left her 10-year-old daughter behind in Venezuela, with only the hope that they would be reunited someday. 

I steward Isabelle’s story, and many others like it, after having the privilege to share a meal with her and other recently arrived migrants as part of a Border Immersion trip through the organization Border Servant Corps. For five days, members of my congregation and I met with a variety of people and organizations to better understand the immigration crisis and what is truly happening on our southern border. We spent time with Border Patrol agents, sat in on the morning docket at Federal Court, met with a Public Federal Defender and a Magistrate Judge, and spoke with numerous humanitarian organizations providing aid to those who need it most. We also visited shelters where recently arrived migrants can stay as they await further travel. 

The border wall, separating a portion of El Paso, Texas from Ciudad Juarez, in Mexico. My congregation and I met with Border Patrol agents to learn more about their work at a park right here.

Our week with Border Servant Corps was a remarkable one. Our heads and our hearts expanded both with knowledge and with compassion for those crossing the Borderlands. And it couldn’t have been more timely. With the election now just a day away, immigration is a hot topic and a sensitive one, at that. It’s an issue that can divide families, communities, and congregations. But it doesn’t need to. 

As Christians, we worship a God who freed the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt. And when God brought them out of slavery and met them in the Wilderness, God gave them laws to order their lives and relationships. God said to them: “You shall not oppress a resident alien; you know the heart of an alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.”² And then, in order to be sure that the people truly understood how to do this, our God gave further laws: laws about leaving the edges of your fields for the widow, orphan, and alien to glean and pick, so they don’t go hungry.³ Laws about tithing your produce every three years, and leaving it in the town square so that the widow, orphan, and alien can come and be fed.⁴ God cares about the alien, the stranger, the foreigner. And God demands that we care, too. 

We worship a God who entered flesh in Jesus, and who said “for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me… just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.”⁵ Jesus commands us to treat the least in our society like we would treat him. He says that the best thing we can do is to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves. 

So despite what you might think about immigration politically, our faith demands that we take action and help the vulnerable. And there is none so vulnerable as a migrant fleeing persecution, who has traveled thousands of miles, and is newly arrived in a country where they don’t speak the language. There is none so vulnerable as a migrant who has packed their entire life into a backpack, leaving family and friends, and hoping against hope to start anew. 

It is our call as Christians to pay attention to the immigration issue—to seek reliable, truthful information—and to dispel misinformation when we hear it. Above all, it’s our call to help people in need. 

Regardless of where you stand when it comes to immigration, regardless of what you believe about borders and who should be here and who should not, regardless of the demographics in your congregation or how you vote, we are called to help the vulnerable. And this includes migrants. 

There are incredible organizations who are doing humanitarian work at the Borderlands. Consider supporting their work. Do a clothing drive so migrants have a clean, new, fresh change of clothes with the Fresh Change program. Send monetary support to Border Servant Corps, who receives recently arrived migrants seeking asylum through Customs and Border Patrol. Or take your own congregation or a group of relatives and friends on a Border Immersion trip. Educate yourself on what is actually happening at the Border from organizations with the best, most up-to-date information: Las Americas and Hope Border Institute. 

Most importantly, cast your assumptions and pre-conceived notions aside. The journey to America is not one most would undertake if any other option existed. The migrants seeking asylum at our border are humans just like you and me. They are looking for a safe place to live, free from violence and extortion. They are looking for a place where they can earn money and work hard to support their families. They are beloved children of God, and we are called to do whatever we can to show them love and hope.       

¹ Name changed to protect the individual.
² Exodus 23:9, NRSVUE
³ See Leviticus 23:22, NRSVUE
⁴ See Deuteronomy 14:28-29, NRSVUE
⁵ Matthew 25:35-36, 40, NRSVUE