The following is a reprint of a joint ecumenical statement of faith drafted by several clergy.
Southeast
New Mexico is facing a crisis that cuts at the heart of Christian faith and
practice. With the recent notification by Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) that upwards of 600 Central American refugees would be housed at the
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center campus in Artesia, it has served as a
rallying call for many local citizens as well as local elected officials.
Tragically, much of the most vehement response has been exceptionally negative,
couched in fear, fueled in highly politicized rhetoric, and grounded in
anything but solid Biblical, Christian, moral, and humanitarian concerns. As
faith leaders and Christian pastors in Eddy and Lea Counties, this is our call
to speak a word of Christian grace, morality, and common sense in regard to the
looming crisis.
Scripture
repeatedly, and unapologetically, calls for God’s people to welcome the
stranger, the alien, the orphan, the widow, and the sojourner. Leviticus
19:33-34 recalls the sacred memory of the time when the people of God were once
the unwanted immigrant in Egypt. Central to the Biblical narrative is the call
to remember the harsh treatment and slavery inflicted upon the Hebrew people
and to live in such a way as to never return such inhumanity upon other aliens.
Jesus Christ also emphasized this vital law of God’s grace, compassion, and
welcome. Most notably, in Matthew 25 reminds us that our salvation hinges on
caring for “the least of these.” Furthermore, James writes that for our
religious faith to be genuine and authentic, it must make as priority our call
to care for the orphans and widows in their distress. As these immigrant women
and children from Central America are brought to our backyard in Eddy County,
Christianity demands we respond with compassion.
Extending
hospitality to the stranger and welcoming the alien is not a practice that
comes easily and also brings an understandable degree of fear. Naturally, we
tend to fear that which we do not fully understand. Accordingly, many in our
community have expressed outrage at the decision to house these people at
FLETC. At issue for many is the presumed illegal presence. Romans 13 calls for
reasonable submission to the sovereign laws of the land and its governing
authorities. Therefore, having presumed the immigrant’s guilt for violating the
law, Romans 13 is hastily referenced to legitimize swift and decisive punitive
measures both in the name of Scriptural authority and legal obligation. This,
in spite of the reality that our criminal code both presumes innocence and
calls for just and humane treatment of arrestees who are imprisoned.
Reading further in the same chapter of Romans, Scripture
calls for love as the fulfillment of the law rather than legalistic and
punitive adherence to the law. Jesus Christ modeled the priority of human
compassion over legalistic adherence throughout his ministry. In speaking of
loving God and loving neighbor, Jesus told the parable of three men. Two upheld
the letter of the law and maintained their ritual holiness and purity by avoiding
the stranger in need. Yet it was one who broke the law and crossed the
cultural, religious, and moral codes of the day to meet a stranger in need. We
remember that lawbreaker as the Good Samaritan. Therefore, even in the midst of
the legitimately illegal status of their presence on US soil, the commands of
God in Jesus Christ are for love, not fear or punishment.
Much of
the controversy and emotionally-charged outrage over these immigrants is
endemic of our own nation’s broken immigration system and the political rancor
over how to best address immigration on a comprehensive, defensible, and
humanitarian basis. While the current situation raises the issues in very
powerful ways, expressing hatred toward, fear of, or anger with the women and
children housed at FLETC serves nothing to resolve the national debate. Rather,
it only diverts precious energy and engenders a destructive spirit of mistrust
that is contrary to Christian love and hospitality. As Jesus Christ calls us to
turn the other cheek and walk the extra mile, let us not look down on the
immigrants for being here until we both understand their real reason for coming
and work collaboratively and prayerfully to seek just, reasonable, and
defensible immigration reform on a federal level.
As a
matter of faith and Biblical authenticity, it is vital that all Christians
approach the immigrants staying at FLETC with utmost compassion. As the prophet
Zechariah made clear in the 7th chapter, God does not honor proper religious
ritual and sacrifice when the people of God also oppress the widow, orphan, and
alien. It is a sentiment echoed in Amos 5:21-24, Micah 6:6-8, Isaiah 1:10-20,
Hosea 6:6, Hosea 8:11-14, Jeremiah 7:22-23, and Matthew 25:31-46. God has made
the command clear. This is no time for fear. In faith, our call is to be the
Good News and stand in solidarity with Christ with confidence and love. Our
call is perhaps best summarized in the words of Micah 6:8 which reads that we
are to love kindness, seek justice, and walk humbly with God.
Rev. Harold Armstrong, First Presbyterian, Hobbs
Mr. Justin Remer-Thamert, New Mexico Faith Coalition for
Immigrant Justice
Rev. Geri Cunningham, St. Peter Lutheran, Carlsbad
Fr. Rod Hurst, Grace Episcopal, Carlsbad
Rev. Nick King, Carlsbad Mennonite
Rev. Ron Collins, Carlsbad Mennonite, Retired
Rev. Betty Collins, Carlsbad Mennonite, Retired
Rev. David Wilson Rogers, First Christian Church (Disciples
of Christ), Carlsbad
Rev. Gene Harbaugh, First Presbyterian Church Carlsbad,
Retired
Rev. Steven Voris
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