Immigration as threat and opportunity

The subject of immigration engenders contentious debate, complex discussion, and conniving diatribe among Americans. Four years ago, the mother of a recently elected Republican senator implored her son to be compassionate in his legislative work on the issue. She reminded him of their own family’s journey from central Cuba to south Florida and noted that undocumented immigrants—she called them los pobrecitos, “poor things”—are human beings seeking dignity, work, and a better future just like they were.

One wonders if Marco Rubio remembers his mother’s message as he competes with a presidential candidate who uses the promise of building a border wall as an applause line—in a party where a majority of members regard immigrants as a deleterious threat to American society.

American Christians are also divided on immigration. A 2014 study found that more than 70 percent of Christians supported reforms to allow undocumented immigrants to “stay legally if they met certain requirements,” but fewer than half thought it was very important for the government to pass “significant immigration legislation” immediately. Yet Protestant leaders and organizations across evangelical and mainline traditions have shared a commitment to frame the politics of immigration reform morally and theologically.