The Biblical Immigration Policy

As has been pointed out so often, the people who are claiming the mantle of Christianity have a lot of trouble because they give no evidence of having read the Bible.  The Old Testament and the New Testament have a very generous immigration policy. Those on the right who want to capture the title of Christians have a very mean immigration policy.

The Old Testament has a lot of advice for the Children of Israel concerning the foreigners in your midst. The bottom line is that the Children of Israel need to be very kind, open and generous to the stranger, the foreigner in you midst because the Children of Israel should remember how they were treated as foreigners in Egypt.  Later the Kings of Israel are urged to be welcoming and gracious to the foreigners who come so that those visitors can see what wonders God has done for his people.

The New Testament in the letters just talk solves it all by saying that in Christ everybody is the same. We are all children of God so that we should love each other.

The Immigration problem in the United States needs to be addressed. Here are the pieces that need to be considered: a. We need a policy by which people can come and go freely. Worker's permit or visitors so that they cross at check points and not sneaking in. b. We need to give Hispanics who live here a chance to confess that they have violated the law(this is not amnesty), pay a fine (whatever amount seems appropriate) and give them a procedure by which they can become citizens or legal residents. We can not send them all back. Businesses need the workers.  A solution needs to be found, but the Biblical witness is that we should be a lot more gracious to the foreigner in our midst than many who have the name of Christian are sounding.