The Supreme Court’s decision that knocked out Arizona’s strong law targeting undocumented immigrants spells trouble for other states’ look-alike laws. Even more interesting, however, are the legal arguments that lost. Justices Scalia, Thomas and Alito each wrote dissenting opinions. Since they do not agree much with each other, these opinions encase legal theories that have […]Continue Reading →
Is breaking the law ever justifiable? As someone who has worked in immigration law for a number of years, I have good sense of the immigration situation in the U.S. In addition, as someone who has graduated from a Southern Baptist seminary, been a pastor and is an evangelical, I am acutely aware of […]Continue Reading →
“If you want to get rid of illegal immigrants,” says Alabama sweet potato farmer Keith Smith, “quit eating.” The farmer, lamenting his inability to find adequate farm labor after Alabama passed its toughest-in-the-nation immigration law, HB 56, highlights an important reality: if you eat, you’re almost certainly benefiting from the labor of undocumented […]Continue Reading →
Can’t we all identify? We’re late for work because we can’t settle on an outfit from our jam-packed closet. We’ve already left the drive-thru before we realize they forgot the ketchup packets. Our wallets won’t close neatly because they’re too full of cash and cards. We have “nothing to eat” in our fridge. […]Continue Reading →
Not long ago, I was talking with a friend about the living conditions of migrant farm workers in Maneadero, Mexico. I had just made a trip to the Baja California town, and I described people living in tin shacks, packed ten to a room. Some folks sleep on the ground, in the dirt, under […]Continue Reading →
For the past several weeks, my wife and I have found ourselves unexpectedly homeless. By the time this blog posts, we’ll be on a month-long vacation to East Africa, and since our apartment was going to be sitting empty for so long anyway, we offered it to a family from our church in need […]Continue Reading →
During my senior year of college at the University of South Carolina, I was involved with an emerging Latino ministry in Columbia, South Carolina. The ministry was run by a local church and we focused on ESL classes and childcare for those with children. These classes took place twice a week. […]Continue Reading →
When Mario was 10-years old, and living in Mexico, he went to a Christian camp. By that time in his life, Mario smoked regularly and had begun drinking. He was physically abused and lived in an impoverished village. At the camp, he learned about Jesus, and about how he loves children like Mario. The […]Continue Reading →
For the past several weeks, my wife and I have been traveling throughout East Africa. Here in Kigali, we’ve been guided by my good friend, Theogene, who is originally from Rwanda, whom I got to know when he was living in my neighborhood in suburban Chicago, and who now lives with his wife and […]Continue Reading →
“Many church members are too afraid to come to church anymore.” I was attending a meeting of ministry leaders when the well-respected Hispanic pastor stood to share. He told us how the police had begun parking near their church building on Sunday mornings, watching as church members came to the service. “Some of our […]Continue Reading →