People have asked me why I am so taken with the undocumented immigrant. There are law-abiding people who need your help, they say.
Good point.
Why do the stories of the undocumented immigrants touch the deepest parts of my soul? Why do I remember their stories more vividly than all the others I have heard in my work at the Willow Creek Legal Aid Ministry? Why is it that I can still see the eyes of the undocumented immigrants when I close mine? Why do their stories, so different from mine, seem like part of my own story? After all, I grew up downtown Chicago in an upper-middle class white family. I have never gone without anything I need. I attended the best schools and enjoy any number of privileges. The undocumented immigrants I have met have experienced a very different kind of life, one with very little schooling, if any, and even less privilege. Continue Reading →
So many of us, surrounded in our homes and neighborhoods by others who look just like us, refuse to see the undocumented immigrant. They are underground. We turn our heads. As a result, there is an entire group of people at risk—at risk of dissolving, disappearing, becoming invisible men and women. This dissolution should hurt the deepest part of any soul who follows Christ because it is those at risk, those who others refuse to see, who Christ reaches for, and says “I see you and blessed are you.”Continue Reading →
