In the book of Joshua, we read about how, after forty years of wandering in the desert, God brought his people into the Promised Land. God stopped the flow of the water so that the children of Israel could cross over the Jordan River on dry ground. When they arrived on the other side, […]Continue Reading →
When I opened the non-descript, government envelope containing my husband Billy’s green card, I felt a deep mixture of exhausted relief and wild celebration. No more hyper worrying about getting pulled over. No more awkward conversations with acquaintances who ask too many questions. No more silent but ever-present thoughts of “What if he gets deported? […]Continue Reading →
Learning about immigration and our rich theology to love the immigrant is a great starting point but certainly not the end. Kingdom servants do not stop at awareness but recognize the need to move beyond awareness to engagement. Engagement in its early stages can look quite varied as you begin to enter into the […]Continue Reading →
Tomorrow (Tuesday, June 12), I’ll be in Washington, D.C. along with a group of prominent evangelical leaders that will be launching the Evangelical Statement of Principles for Immigration Reform. In addition to the folks actually at the press conference, there are more than 130 other leaders from across the country who have signed onto […]Continue Reading →
Let’s be honest, fear fuels much of the political activism in this country, on both sides. Sometimes it’s advocacy groups with their latest fundraising letter or email sharing how the other side is “this close” to destroying the America we know. Sometimes it’s cable news shows with their smartly designed graphics, ominous music, and […]Continue Reading →
Congress created the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in 1994 in order to protect survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking, sexual assault, and stalking. VAWA was reauthorized twice, each time with bipartisan support. The bill was then reintroduced in April 2012 by the United States Senate to include protections for immigrants, Native Americans, and […]Continue Reading →
The reality is that our inflexible laws—which in many cases do not give an adjudicator the discretion to consider the full circumstances—invite fraud. Many of us, under the right circumstances, would tell a small lie if we felt it was the only way to care for someone we loved (if we’re honest, most of us tell small lies for much less noble reasons). Abraham, the father of our faith, committed immigration fraud by misrepresenting his relationship to his wife at a border crossing, desperate to find food in Egypt in the midst of a famine (Genesis 12:10-20). As a more contemporary example, revered author C.S. Lewis initially married his wife, Joy Davidson, in a civil ceremony merely so that she (an American) could stay lawfully in the United Kingdom (that’s what U.S. immigration officials consider marriage fraud). Continue Reading →
[illegal is illegal]
but i am a person illegal is illegal but i love, and am loved illegal is illegal but i know no other . . . illegal is illegal but i was a child, and am now a man, illegal is illegal but whatever happened to justification? […]Continue Reading →
The concept of self-deportation is one solution suggested by some politicians for dealing with undocumented immigrants in the United States. Their theory is that recent federal laws passed in the United States, such as the new E-verify program and Arizona-style state laws, will deter immigrants from continuing to live in the USA as there […]Continue Reading →
Today is Memorial Day. While I realize that for many Americans, the day has become merely the reason for a three-day weekend or the unofficial beginning of the summer season, Memorial Day is supposed to be about remembering. First and foremost, the day is supposed to be about remembering those who have served […]Continue Reading →
