Immigrants
“This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.” Jeremiah 22:3.
I have always had a heart for the immigrants of our nation. Many years ago I had the opportunity to student teach in a bilingual class and it was easy to fall in love with our students from other countries. During my career in education, I have had many opportunities to know and serve students new to our country. When my daughter married a young man from Mexico I learned a lot more about immigration and the difficulties it presents. I take seriously the words of the Bible that command us to welcome the strangers! The words of scripture do not differentiate the types of immigrants and how they should be treated. But, of course, we have many categories of immigrants. I will attempt to give you a brief tutorial:
Temporary legal status: This includes tourists, business travelers, temporary workers or students. If their visa does not authorize them to work in the United States and they do so, they could be deported on that basis. There was recently a case of a young woman from Great Britain that traveled throughout the US on a Visa. She stayed with families and did chores for them in exchange for room and board. No money changed hands but she was arrested, taken to ICE detention and deported based on “working” without a work visa. Approximately 40-50% of undocumented immigrants in the US initially entered the country legally but overstayed their visas, surpassing illegal border crossings as the primary mode of entry for new, unauthorized immigrants.
Lawful Permanent Residents: Green card holders. They must be renewed every 10 years. They can apply to become permanent residents if they meet all requirements, pass a test in English, and pay a fee. Recently there have been several incidents of green card holders being detained when attempting to clear customs at the airport. In two cases, that I’m aware of, the green card holder was detained and sent to the ICE facility in Tacoma, run by the private GEO group. One woman had a non-violent conviction of theft that was over 20 years old. She served her sentence. Under the current administration, people that have previously thought themselves to be safe, have found themselves to be in peril.
U.S. citizens: “Naturalized” citizens are lawful permanent residents who have become citizens.
Asylum Seekers: Face a similar criteria as refugees but they arrive at the US border requesting asylum based on a fear of returning to their home countries. This has been a legal process in the United States. Custom and Border Protection (CPB) previously had an AP which allowed asylum seekers to schedule appointments at points of entry. This has been discontinued. Currently, under the Trump administration, the right to seek asylum at the southern border has been suspended.
Undocumented Immigrants: Immigrants who do not fit in one of the above categories are considered undocumented and are subject to deportation. In 2012, President Obama offered deferred action for children who entered the county, generally brought by their parent(s) before their 16th birthday. DACA did not offer a path to citizenship but it did allow DACA recipients to have a valid SS number and work in the US. At this point, they are still accepting DACA applications but there are lawsuits pending and it’s future remains uncertain.
Temporary legal status: President Joe Biden granted this “humanitarian parole” for people from countries in turmoil who have sponsors that will help them settle. The current administration has canceled this, leaving half a million people at risk for deportation.
If you have been watching the news, you may be aware of immigrants who are a productive and contributing part of their communities and are in detention and at risk for deportation. It breaks my heart to see the lives of immigrants and communities torn apart by the administrations attack on immigrants. People are being deported without due process. Our goverment requires fair procedures, a notice and a hearing, before you can be deprived of life, liberty or property. People are detained for long periods of time, sometimes in solitary confinement.
If you voted for this administration, is this what you voted for? Did you anticipate that just the violent criminals would be deported and not entire sweeps of work places? Are you getting what you wanted?
What can you do?
Advocate: sign up for World Relief Advocacy and get more information on how to advocate for our neighbors. Worldrelief.org/advocate
