More compassion needed for migrants

For generations, members of the Christian tradition have told stories of wayward travelers, refugees fleeing persecution and migrant peoples traversing country borders in pursuit of a better life. Mary and Joseph themselves fled to Egypt with the infant Jesus to protect him from King Herod, according to the Gospel of Matthew. Presumably they were not impeded by an 18-foot border wall on their trip from Bethlehem.

How we should act toward these travelers is laid out in

passages such as Leviticus 19:34, Zechariah 7:9 and Jeremiah 22:3: It is our religious duty to treat immigrants with kindness. In his letter to the Galatians, the Apostle Paul tells us that we should ignore national boundaries: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female,” he writes, “for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”

While we can’t expect the government to do the work our faith calls us to do, U.S. immigration policy is, to Christians, a religious issue. Our faith demands generous compassion for those in need — that we care for our neighbors as we care for ourselves. With a 250 millionstrong Christian base, it’s a wonder our country does not employ radical open-border policies.

One group of Christians in particular consistently misses the mark in viewing immigration policy through a Christian lens. A 2018 Public Religion

Research Institute poll of more than 2,500 American adults concluded that 75 percent of white evangelical Protestant Republicans, the highest percentage of any Republican group, believe immigrants are invading American society.

And a Pew Research Center poll also found that 68 percent of white evangelicals believe the United States does not have a responsibility to house refugees — a significantly higher percentage than the national average.

This is especially startling when contrasted with polling from March 2013, which found 56 percent of white evangelical Protestants supported a path to citizenship. This begs the question: Are evangelical voters nationwide having a crisis of faith, or are they simply allowing the politicization of immigration policy to cloud their Christian duty?

My colleagues and I at Vote Common Good recently traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border in search of the truth. It was in looking past the countless articles, data points, and Democratic and Republican narratives that we found families — our neighbors — waiting for deliverance. A single trip to the border has humanized my entire outlook on our nation’s immigration policy.

At a shelter near New Galas, Mexico, I spoke with five women from Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala. They shared their individual stories of poverty, danger and civic unrest that led them to the border. Each noted that God had sent them on a mission to protect their children. They looked to us, a group of pastors and other people of faith, for assistance. I was heartbroken to be unable to provide immediate relief.

I ask evangelicals to reflect on the following: How can we fight for religious freedom while upholding regulations that stop people from fulfilling God’s calling? Any one of us, if called upon by God to protect our family and seek immediate asylum, would obey.

Our group was not alone at the border. Countless faith leaders have traveled to immigrant shelters to offer their support.

Gregory Bull / Associated Press The Apostle Paul writes in his letter to the Galatians that “all are one in Christ Jesus” — a tenet many Christians should heed more.