Tim Wildmon

AFA president

July 2006 – What is the Christian response to illegal immigration? That is a very interesting question in light of the fact that our country is now dealing with what to do with the tens of millions of people in our country illegally and the guarantee that millions more are on their way if something is not done to secure the American border with Mexico.

I was talking with someone recently who told me she felt like the Christian thing to do was to be on the side of the poor and needy and that if the people can make it here we should welcome them in and take care of them. After all, all they seek is a better life for themselves and their families, she said. That is what Jesus would do, she told me. Given the teachings in the Bible encouraging acts of charity, love and compassion her argument is hard to refute.

“So you are for an open border,” I said to her. “No security, just a ‘ya’ll come’ policy, and we are supposed to take care of them all.”

She paused and looked at me. Bewildered.

“I am just saying if they make it here, we should help them and let them become American citizens,” she responded.

“If that is the case, the compassionate thing to do would be to quit having these people sneak over the border risking injury or death in the desert. Let’s just meet them at the border, drive them to where they want to live, provide them a home, and find them a job. Would that not be the more charitable way of helping them?”

This person meant well, but she could not logically connect the ideas of being for open borders while at the same time stating she wanted security.

You cannot have both.

The question we have to ask is this: What is the legitimate role of civil government? Another way of asking the question is this: What is the constitutional role of civil government? And, for the Christian, it is also good to look at what the Bible says about civil government. 

A few days after that conversation, I was on an airplane with a lady who is a college professor. We began to make small talk and something came up about the federal government. She said she was disappointed with the government’s and the Bush administration’s priorities. She had detected that I was a conservative and said she wasn’t sure we wanted to get into a serious discussion, that what she had to say might offend me. She seemed sincere and pleasant enough, and I told her to throw her ideas my way, I could handle it.

Boy, did she.

Her main problem was that the United States doesn’t have a national health care plan. She said it is not “Christian” that a country as wealthy as we are should allow such a high percentage of its citizens to go uninsured and that all our citizens should have access to first-class medical treatment regardless of income. When I asked her how the government should pay for universal health care she said, “Well, it would cost less than invading Iraq.”

I thought about it for a minute. Well, I did lose count when we went over $200 billion in the war effort the last couple of years, and there seems to be no end in sight as to how many more billions we are likely to spend. Finally, I responded.

“Yes, but we must fund the military for our national security and defense,” I said. “It is a first priority.”

In other words, survival as country is the first and foremost responsibility of the federal government. If we don’t have a country, then any debate of how much health care the government should pay for is a moot point. Now, one can argue about the legitimacy of the war in Iraq, but the constitutional principle is what is most important for a country of laws.

Which brings us back around to the original question I posed. What is the Christian response to illegal immigration? As is the case with many social and moral issues, the Bible gives us principles to follow in solving problems. In this case it would include the commandments don’t steal and don’t lie. 

First, it is the responsibility of those crossing into America illegally not to do so. Just as it is a sin to break into someone’s home, it is wrong to come into another country unlawfully unless your life is threatened and political asylum is granted. Illegal immigrants are here under false pretenses. It is incumbent on them to return to their country of origin or be deported.

It is also a Biblical mandate that civil government maintain law and order for the overall good of society.