The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
Leviticus 19, NRSV
The story of the United States is the story of immigration. The history of the United States is characterized by waves of ethnic groups arriving to these shores searching for security and prosperity. Each new wave of immigrants has brought with them hopes and dreams of a better life, as well as unique strengths and contributions to give to the country as a whole. These strengths and contributions have made the United States a richer and more diverse tapestry of cultures. Unfortunately, each new wave of immigrants has also encountered the sting of prejudice and racial hatred from those already here, but who had so quickly forgotten their immigrant heritage. The immigrant values of labor, family and hope have transformed the United States and continue to bring much needed change today.
There are an estimated 12,000,000 to 14,000,000 undocumented immigrants currently in the United States, with 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 of these immigrants being children. Approximately 450,000 undocumented immigrants come into the United States each year in search of a sustainable income. While there is general agreement that the immigration system is broken and outdated, the current debate centers on what to do with the population of undocumented immigrants in the United States.
A comprehensive approach to immigration reform seeks to understand why immigrants have come to the United States and recognizes the tremendous contributions they have given and will continue to give. Enforcement-only approaches to immigration reform are limited in their scope and take into account only the “breaking of the law” through illegally crossing the border. The enforcement-only approach does not seek to understand the context of why so many have crossed the U.S. northern and southern borders illegally. The General Board of Church and Society does not advocate for “open borders” or for “amnesty,” but rather, for a comprehensive approach that protects the rights of workers, reunifies families separated by long waits in the current immigration process, and for an earned pathway to citizenship for those who wish to remain in this country.
Biblical and Theological Context
"We believe that the resources of creation are God's gift for all people. We believe that as people of God we need to be open to others and welcome especially the sojourners in our midst. The Unites States of America prides itself as being open to ethnic diversity. However, United States citizens have not always held to that ideal. While some people have been welcomed, others have remained in the outskirts of U.S. cultural core and fabric. Furthermore, the reality is that with time U.S. borders have been getting narrower and often a spirit of hostility and racism toward the sojourners in the U.S. – refugees, immigrants, and visitors – has grown to the point of rejection and discrimination; We therefore call The United Methodist Church; to call local churches to seek ways to welcome, assist, and empower the refugee, immigrant, visitors, and undocumented person in their neighborhood, and to denounce the persecution of the sojourner in the U.S. as prejudicial and racist; [and] to request the General Board of Church and Society to work for public policy that is hospitable to visitors in the United States in every step of entry and visit to the U.S." (2004 Book of Resolutions, "Refugees, Immigrants, and Visitors to the United States of America," ¶119)
Scripture references: Leviticus 19:33-34 and Matthew 25:37-38, 40
What GBCS is Doing
GBCS works with various coalitions on comprehensive immigration reform. The Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform is made up of business groups such as the Chamber of Commerce, with some labor organizations, with immigrants, advocacy groups and with a number of faith groups.
GBCS is advocating for comprehensive immigration reform legislation that will provide a path to citizenship, protect workers, reunite families, restore the rule of law and enhance security.
Goal is workable, humane legislation to help everyone
Classic political stalling tactics, fueled by baseless claims by uninformed media sources, foster blaming others for not doing enough, while making it impossible to do anything at all.
For one week people will pray 24 hours a day, with one hour focused on corporate prayer as a public witness against the harsh measures in the Arizona law.
Responding with Faith to Immigration
Participate in this 10-week campaign from Independence Day to Labor Day to raise awareness and commitment among Christians about the concerns of immigrants.
American Friends Service Committee
The American Friends Service Committee has a page on Immigrants’ Rights that contains printable brochures, a link to a legislative blog, an events calendar and guides for discussion.
Interfaith Immigration Coalition
The Interfaith Immigration Coalition is a coalition of multiple faith groups, including the United Methodist Church, that is committed to enacting fair and humane immigration reform. Their web site contains resources such as the Interfaith Statement on Immigration Reform, alerts about upcoming events, links to educational resources and articles, and tools for advocacy on both the local and federal levels.
Isaiah 58 Solidarity Vigil and Fast for Arizona The anti-immigration bill that recently became law in Arizona has galvanized the faith community to stand with our immigrant brothers and sisters and stand against those who seek to divide our communities and distract from the real solution to our broken immigration system: comprehensive immigration reform.
Justice for Immigrants
Catholic Web site for immigration ministries and good information.
Made in LA is an Emmy award-winning film on the three-year experience of three immigrant women who stood up to exploitation in a Los Angeles sweatshop run by a trendy clothing retailer. The study guide is designed to help local congregations and other groups plan and hold special showings. It contains information on how to obtain a screening kit and provides a timeline for promoting a showing.
The United Methodist Task Force on Immigration has endorsed the powerful documentary for viewing by congregations as a means of introducing and promoting dialogue on issues of immigration and justice in the United States. Bishop Minerva Carcaño of Phoenix, Arizona, chair of the task force, says that the story in the film "beautifully illustrates the courage, perseverance, and strength that these women show daily in caring for their families, contributing to their communities, organizing to overcome exploitation, and building a life that is both inspiring and challenging."
National Immigration Forum
Web site for the National Immigration Forum, an immigrants' rights advocacy group. The web site contains updates on current legislation and resources for research as well as community action.
Night of 1,000 Conversations www.nightof1000conversations.org is a website encouraging people to host conversations to discuss how the overreach of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is undermining the civil liberties and human rights of people living in America.
Sermon Resources for Immigration
Sojourners has put together some excellent resources for preaching and teaching on this important issues.
We Can Stop the Hate
An excellent resource to help shed light on hate speech, how it spreads, who is responsible for it and the myths it generates regarding immigrants.
The rights and privileges a society bestows upon or withholds from those who comprise it indicate the relative esteem in which that society holds particular persons and groups of persons. We affirm all persons as equally valuable in the sight of God. We therefore work toward societies in which each person’s value is recognized, maintained, and strengthened. We support the basic rights of all persons to equal access to housing, education, communication, employment, medical care, legal redress for grievances, and physical protection. We deplore acts of hate or violence against groups or persons based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, or economic status. Our respect for the inherent dignity of all persons leads us to call for the recognition, protection, and implementation of the principles of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights so that communities and individuals may claim and enjoy their universal, indivisible, and inalienable rights.
We recognize, embrace, and affirm all persons, regardless of country of origin, as members of the family of God. We affirm the right of all persons to equal opportunities for employment, access to housing, health care, education, and freedom from social discrimination. We urge the Church and society to recognize the gifts, contributions, and struggles of those who are immigrants and to advocate for justice for all.
164 The Political Community
While our allegiance to God takes precedence over our allegiance to any state, we acknowledge the vital function of government as a principal vehicle for the ordering of society. Because we know ourselves to be responsible to God for social and political life, we declare the following relative to governments:
We hold governments responsible for the protection of the rights of the people to free and fair elections and to the freedoms of speech, religion, assembly, communications media, and petition for redress of grievances without fear of reprisal; to the right to privacy; and to the guarantee of the rights to adequate food, clothing, shelter, education, and health care. The form and the leaders of all governments should be determined by exercise of the right to vote guaranteed to all adult citizens. We also strongly reject domestic surveillance and intimidation of political opponents by governments in power and all other misuses of elective or appointive offices. The use of detention and imprisonment for the harassment and elimination of political opponents or other dissidents violates fundamental human rights. Furthermore, the mistreatment or torture, and other cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment or punishment of persons by governments for any purpose violates Christian teaching and must be condemned and/or opposed by Christians and churches wherever and whenever it occurs.
The Church regards the institution of slavery, the practice and commission of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and aggression as infamous and atrocious evils. Such evils are destructive of humanity, promote impunity, and therefore must be unconditionally prohibited by all governments and shall never be tolerated by the Church.
165 The World Community
God’s world is one world. The unity now being thrust upon us by technological revolution has far outrun our moral and spiritual capacity to achieve a stable world. The enforced unity of humanity, increasingly evident on all levels of life, presents the Church as well as all people with problems that will not wait for answer: injustice, war, exploitation, privilege, population, international ecological crisis, proliferation of arsenals of nuclear weapons, development of transnational business organizations that operate beyond the effective control of any governmental structure, and the increase of tyranny in all its forms. This generation must find viable answers to these and related questions if humanity is to continue on this earth. We commit ourselves as a Church to the achievement of a world community that is a fellowship of persons who honestly love one another. We pledge ourselves to seek the meaning of the gospel in all issues that divide people and threaten the growth of world community.
There are an estimated 12,000,000 to 14,000,000 undocumented immigrants currently in the United States, with 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 of these immigrants being children. Approximately 450,000 undocumented immigrants come into the United States each year in search of a sustainable income. While there is general agreement that the immigration system is broken and outdated, the current debate centers on what to do with the population of undocumented immigrants in the United States.
Made in LA is an Emmy award-winning film on the three-year experience of three immigrant women who stood up to exploitation in a Los Angeles sweatshop run by a trendy clothing retailer. The study guide is designed to help local congregations and other groups plan and hold special showings. It contains information on how to obtain a screening kit and provides a timeline for promoting a showing.