Augustinian and friends, this is where the Church and also Protestant churches/communities step in and provide housing, food, clothing, medical care, warmth, friendship, practice with American English, education about jobs and work in this country, help with all the required paperwork, prayer, worship, and safety to those who are in the process of applying to be admitted to the U.S. This is what Christians are supposed to do.
Practically, this means that the Christians in the vicinity of “the border” are on tap for all this work, and that’s quite a burden for them and it’s understandable that they would say, “We can’t do all this ourselves. We have jobs and families and we don’t have the money to take care of so many people.”
So all the rest of us Christians in the middle of the country, and up North and out East should do our part and chip in money, lots of it, and possibly volunteer ourselves to go or even move down to “the border” to be available to help with this good work.
I think that one reason why immigration laws are as stingy as they are is because Christians have failed to do the good work of caring for refugees that we are called to do in the Scriptures and by our Church/churches. When no one is willing to take care of refugees and immigrants except the street gangs, it’s no wonder that our government has to make such tough laws that make it difficult for truly needy people to enter the U.S. They can’t just let a flood of people in who will end up destitute and easy victims for recruitment into crime.
Pres. Trump is not a monster–he is carrying out his job as spelled out in the U.S. Constitution–to ENFORCE the law. He has repeatedly called for Congress to pass sensible immigration laws, but they are too busy squabbling to do any actual work, other than working on plans to impeach a man that their constituents elected.
It all comes down to what Christians are willing or not willing to do. I’m willing to help.
