As has become the case in recent years, the President began his term with a flourish of executive orders. This is both no surprise and was promised by President Trump. This is one of the things that I lament every time there is a new president. But, alas, this is where we are. This is reality.
At the top of the priority list for President Trump is border enforcement and deportations. And so, he signed executive orders that would begin a harsher enforcement of these policies than the last four years has seen. Indeed, these policies will be harsher than at anytime in my lifetime.
I applaud them.
And it’s not hypocritical for me, as a Christian to do so. And I hope to be able to convince others of that.
Here is an illustration that I live and believe is not hypocritical. And then I’ll tell you why it’s not.
Our church recently began a food pantry. We will help anyone that needs food that comes to our church needing food. We don’t ask a citizenship question. And we would never feel the need to do so. We would help citizen or illegal immigrant with food and not think it’s wrong to do so. But I’m guessing 90% of the people running that food bank would also support the deportation of illegal immigrants, myself included.
I can hold both of these positions because the responsibilities of a government are different than the responsibilities of a Christian. Our role in the world is different than the government’s role.
Government Responsibility
Romans 13 is the most clear passage of Scripture concerning the responsibility of government. If we are discussing whether a Christian is being hypocritical when they support deportation and strict border policies, then we must think about the responsibility of the government.
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. (Romans 13:1-7 ESV)
We find the government’s role in Romans 13:3-7. Government has a purpose. And this purpose is to reward good behavior, punish bad behavior, and protect its people. Paul actually calls them ministers of justice. The government is the servant of the citizenry of a particular nation, state, or locality.
Upholding the law is an important matter for the government. In fact, it is why they exist. Don’t let modern understandings of government get you confused here. The government does not exist to be your mother. It exists to do the things listed above. There may be other things good for the government to do, but those are not foundational things. These are.
Deportation Is Part Of The Job
We don’t live in one large world country. We live in the United States of America. There are laws in this country. And there are ways in which our country has documented who we are, because we are citizens. We also have safety net programs in place in our country as well as numerous other things.
Simply put, our country has citizens that it takes care of.
One of the ways that America takes care of its citizens is by documenting, vetting, and approving all people that come within its borders. This is protecting the citizens from other people.
Again, America is America. We don’t live in a one world country. We live in a nation. And this nation has decided that the best way to protect its people is by knowing who goes in and out, vetting those people, and giving approval to who stays and goes. That is why there are laws in place.
America has not always thought about who walks in and out of its borders. The Immigration Act of 1891 opened Ellis Island and began what we call Legal Immigration today. Before then, this was not a concern for the country. But at that point, the decision was made to monitor who goes in and out. And look at the reason for monitoring.
The federal government assumed direct control of inspecting, admitting, rejecting, and processing all immigrants seeking admission to the United States with the Immigration Act of 1891. The 1891 Act also expanded the list of excludable classes, barring the immigration of polygamists, persons convicted of crimes of moral turpitude, and those suffering loathsome or contagious diseases.1
This is interesting to consider because it points to a government deciding to do what it is that God ordained it to do. Whatever you think of the rules, controlling immigration was a means for doing this.
What I want you to see is that immigration policy is not opposed to Christianity. It is a method that the government has chosen to use to do what it is that God has ordained government to do.
God didn’t tell government leaders exactly how they were supposed to punish evil doers, reward good behavior, and protect the citizenry. He just told them to do it. And monitoring who comes into the country seems to be a good method for getting that done. And it is one that our country chose to use a long time ago.
Because this is the case, it is not wrong for a government to detain people that have come into the country illegally. Those people broke the law and blew past this set of safeguards that the country put in place for its citizens.
Therefore, I do applaud the removal of illegal immigrants from the country. And I see this as an obligation for the governing authorities in America. But my obligations as a Christian are not the same.
I Am Not The Government
My role, however, is not the same. Though the Constitution gives me a role to play in our country, I am not the government. I am a citizen. But first I am a Christian.
I believe all that I wrote above. But, as I mentioned in the hypothetical above, I would love and care for an illegal immigrant in need. And, by the way, I am not sure if it is a hypothetical because I have never stopped to ask someone if they are a legal citizen of the United States.
As a Christian, I am commanded to care for those in need. And I also believe that I am to care for the foreigner in need.
Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 10:19 ESV)
I am not to look upon an illegal immigrant as below my help. I am called upon, by the Lord, to love and care for them if it is in my power to do so. As A Christian, I have that responsibility.
And I can carry out this responsibility while supporting deportation because I have a different role than the government.
A Closing Word
Much of the confusion on this issue really comes down to a misunderstanding of what governing authorities are responsible for and what I as a citizen is responsible for. Deportation is an ugly business. But it’s one that the government takes on for the protection of its citizens. And it seems to me that neglecting that has brought numerous problems upon its citizens in the last few years.
The news has covered murders, beatings and rapes that have taken place due to not vetting and approving people to stay in this country. These all could have been avoided. And, as it stands, these were a dereliction of the duty to protect America’s citizenry.
Beyond this, the porous border has incentivized other activity that even harms people from outside our country. Human trafficking has been allowed to happen on the border as well.2 Abuse of women and children is running rampant among those attempting to cross the border.
In the United States, victims of trafficking are almost exclusively immigrants, and mostly immigrant women.11 The average age of trafficking victims in the U.S. is 20.12 In the U.S., immigrant women and children are particularly vulnerable to the deceptive and coercive tactics of traffickers because of their lower levels of education, inability to speak English, immigration status, and lack of familiarity with U.S. employment protections. Further, they are vulnerable because they often work in jobs that are hidden from the public view and unregulated by the government.3
When the government decides not to uphold the law and protect its people, many people get hurt. That’s not the loving and caring thing to do.
Christian, if you see someone in need, help them if you can. That is what you are obligated to do.
And don’t let someone think that you are hypocritical or sinful for caring about the safety of your fellow citizens.
R. Dwain Minor
- https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/our-history/explore-agency-history/overview-of-agency-history/origins-of-the-federal-immigration-service ↩︎
- https://www.congress.gov/118/meeting/house/116344/documents/HHRG-118-JU08-20230913-SD003.pdf ↩︎
- https://www.aclu.org/documents/human-trafficking-modern-enslavement-immigrant-women-united-states ↩︎
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