Illegal Immigrants and Religious Freedom

            The liberty principle for today concerns illegal immigrants and freedom of religion. Although the two topics do not seem to go together, they are some of the subjects that will be discussed at a gathering of religious leaders and government officials in Washington, D.C. this week.

            There seems to be people who believe that Christians in the United States are not living their religion if they are opposed to illegal immigration. They believe that Christians are to be obedient to the commandment to “Love thy neighbor as thy self.” Representative Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) spoke at a prayer service for Christians in the Middle East on Monday. “As we recognize our responsibility to protect Christians around the world, I hope we will look at opportunities to protect Christians in our bordering countries.” 

            Somehow, I missed the information that protecting the sovereignty of our nation prohibited Christians from practicing their religion. As far as I know, the United States is not telling anyone how to live or not live their religion. We are merely telling them to recognize and obey the laws of our nation.

            Even though Jews, Catholics, and other religious groups are protesting conditions at the border, U.S. government officials are not likely to approach the question of whether tougher immigration laws are counterproductive to the nation’s efforts to focus on conflict overseas that are related to religion. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says that he is trying to help people to stay in their own countries.

Our approach for Christians in the Middle East and for other people who are being religiously persecuted around the world… is to try to create the conditions inside their own countries so that they can have that religious freedom.

            The Trump administration’s new asylum policies make it tougher for people to claim asylum in the United States. These policies, plus a reduction in the number of refugees accepted, means that the United States does not intend to accept all people who wants or needs to come to America.

            I believe that it is far past time for the United States to stop taking people in every time that there is a problem in their home country. Even though we are a Christian nation, we cannot save the entire world. We do not have room within the boundaries of the United States to welcome all people who want to come here. We need to find ways to help them to prosper in their own nations.