Top 10 Ways the Bible Opposes Illegal Immigration
What are the biblical answers to the arguments for illegal immigration?
I keep hearing the most hysterical, irrational and unbiblical things about illegal immigration. "It's un-Christian to deport people; it's racist to build a wall; you can't be a Christian if you're against illegal immigration!"What are the biblical answers to the arguments for illegal immigration? I haven't read a simple biblical response to all of the propaganda, so here are 10 things you need to know about illegal immigration.
- Illegal immigration is – how do I put this delicately so as not to offend – illegal.So, God is against it. "Anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished" (Romans 13:2 NLT).As soon as someone conflates illegal and legal immigration, quit listening. They're dishonest and using propaganda to make an argument. Or they have no moral compass that differentiates between "illegal" and "legal."
- Entering a country illegally is cheating.Lunch line, first grade: Johnny cuts in line. "Cheater cheater! Miss Smith! He cut in line!!" And Miss Smith disciplines Johnny hard – because he cheated everyone else in line behind him.When a person enters the U.S. illegally, he is cheating every person waiting patiently for their turn to come in legally.God hates cheating. Proverbs 11:1 says, "The Lord hates unjust scales." Cheating = unjust.
- Because of Nos. 1 and 2 (illegal/cheating), entering illegally is immoral.Read this next sentence carefully. It might burn your eyes like a laser if you're a snowflake in a safe place coloring a coloring book. Here it is:Cheating is always immoral.If your fiancé disagrees with that statement, RUN RUN RUN! Do not get married to that person, who is a cheater! In the same way, entering a country illegally is immoral.
- Entering the country illegally is a sin. Stating the obvious: Romans 13:2 and Proverbs 11:1.
- Entering a country illegally is trespassing, like breaking into a home is trespassing.People have a right to be safe in their own homes, without having to worry if someone will break in and do them harm."But most illegals aren't going to do harm when they enter, David!"Fine. I'll be illegally breaking into your home tonight. But I promise I won't do any harm! I'll just camp out for a few days and eat all your food. Do you have gluten-free?And it's actually not true that someone who enters another country illegally has done no harm. Their very first act in the United States was to show a disregard for the U.S. law, the citizens of the U.S. and a complete disregard for all of those folks who are waiting in line to come into the country legally. That's harm.
- Acceptance of any illegal activity breeds corruption.Here's what you get with illegal immigration:
- Forging of official government documents – fake IDs, Social Security cards, driver's licenses. A fake ID is a lie. Oh, and a felony.
- Identity theft. Many illegal aliens buy stolen Social Security cards and use them. Identity theft is a nightmare. And a felony.
- Private property destruction. Illegal aliens entering over the southern border just run right through property owned by someone (one rancher said he's had half a million people cross his land, leaving all kinds of debris). Imagine someone crossing your backyard in the middle of the night on a regular basis and leaving soda cans, diapers, toilet paper. You'd call the police!
- Slavery. Sex trafficking is a huge cartel business that is thriving in part through illegal immigration.
- Violence and murder: July 1, 2015, Kate Steinle.
- Death. People who try to enter the country illegally die all ... the ... time. Stories like this are not uncommon: "19 found dead in trailer."
Anytime a people say, "Some of our laws don't really matter," it leads to a culture of lawlessness. If I can personally decide that some laws don't matter, who are you to tell me which ones do?
- A wall on a border to protect a country is moral, not "un-Christian."Some religious leaders have said that it is "not Christian" to build a wall to keep people from illegally entering a country: "Building a wall in un-Christian."The Bible is crystal clear on this.Nehemiah sees his country with a broken wall. The broken wall leaves Jerusalem open to people coming in and doing harm. Nehemiah prays to God, and God actually helps Nehemiah. Nehemiah 6:15-16 actually says God helps them build the wall.God helped them build a wall. To protect the country. I guess God didn't get how "un-Christian" He was being.
- A wall is not a sign of hate.Julissa Arce, an illegal-immigration activist who illegally used forged identification documents, says a border wall is a "symbol of hate."Imagine me saying the following:"My neighborhood is full of hate."Every single house has a fence around its backyard to keep me out. Fences are horrible! Haters! Haters!"See how ridiculous I sound? And I've just slandered every one of my neighbors.A wall put in place to protect a country is:Order (we don't stand for chaos).
Justice (everyone enters the same way – it's only fair).
Security (we don't want bad players like sex traffickers/drug dealers/gang members coming in, only good people who want to join us).Got a verse for that, David? Sure. A bunch. In Nehemiah. - Enforcing immigration law is not racist.I saw a man from Latin America the other day. He had a fence around his yard. He won't let strangers hang out in his backyard. HE HATES WHITE PEOPLE. AND BLACK PEOPLE! AND ASIANS.I sound really, really dumb saying that, and I felt dumber typing it.Enforcing immigration laws for every race is not racist. It's making sure everyone follows the same rules.Regarding white supremacy, guess who is No. 1 and 2 among the 1 million legal immigrants allowed in the U.S. each year? Gotta be white, right?Wrong.No 1. and No. 2 on the list of legal immigrants is India and China. Hard to get to white supremacy from here.
- Arguing FOR illegal immigration or amnesty may be indicative of these attitudes:
- An attitude of Entitlement: I deserve to be a law unto myself. Since I broke this law, I should get to demand you make me legal.
- An attitude of Arrogance: This law only applies to others. Who are waiting in line. And I don't do lines.
- An attitude of Selfishness: I'm not going to wait my turn! Who cares if it costs someone else? Live and let die, baby.
The Bible is a real thing. And in it, God talks about fairness, justice to others and obedience to Him. You cannot use it argue for any activity that is unfair to others, unjust to others and disobedient to God.
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David Ruzicka is a pastor of Fort Bend Fellowship in Katy, Texas. He holds a BBA, MBA and M.Div degree. He's a hunter, father to two daughters, married to his first wife and writes from an admittedly unique and off-center perspective. Ruzicka has written several columns for The Christian Post, and he blogs at ilikemycoffeeblack.com.
Originally posted at WND.
