cross . . . border 
Scripture
~
Religious group statements on immigrants and borders
~
The Bible as the Ultimate Immigration Handbook
Joan M. Maruskin
| 
______________________________________________________________________________
October 2003 USD conference on:
______________________________________________________________________________
The call to welcome the stranger permeates scriptures. The Bible begins with Adam and Eve being sent into exile and ends with John in exile on the Isle of Patmos. Christians around the world have gained their salvation through the love of the refugee Christ, who fled Herod's wrath and crossed the border into the safety of Egypt. This same Christ reminds us, “When I was a stranger … you welcomed me. …” In response to Christ's words, we are called to build a hospitable community for immigrants, refugees, and migrants in the United States. We never know when the stranger might be Jesus in disguise.
Some scriptures that refer to immigrants, refugees and borders:
Leviticus 19:33-34 NLT*
16Herod was furious when he learned that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, because the wise men had told him the star first appeared to them about two years earlier. 17Herod's brutal action fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah.Ephesians 2:11-22 NLT*
11Don't forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders by birth. You were called “the uncircumcised ones” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. 12In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from God's people, Israel , and you did not know the promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. 13But now you belong to Christ Jesus. Though you once were far away from God, now you have been brought near to him because of the blood of Christ.
14For Christ himself has made peace between us Jews and you Gentiles by making us all one people. He has broken down the wall of hostility that used to separate us. 15By his death he ended the whole system of Jewish law that excluded the Gentiles. His purpose was to make peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new person from the two groups. 16Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death, and our hostility toward each other was put to death. 17He has brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and to us Jews who were near. 18Now all of us, both Jews and Gentiles, may come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.
19So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God's holy people. You are members of God's family. 20We are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. 21We who believe are carefully joined together, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. 22Through him you Gentiles are also joined together as part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.
I Corinthians 12:13 NLT*
13Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into Christ's body by one Spirit, and we have all received the same Spirit.
Hebrews 13:2 NLT*
2Don't forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!
Exodus 22:21 NLT*
21“Do not oppress foreigners in any way. Remember, you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt.
Exodus 23:9 NLT*
9“Do not oppress the foreigners living among you. You know what it is like to be a foreigner. Remember your own experience in the land of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 27:19 NLT*
19‘Cursed is anyone who is unjust to foreigners, orphans, and widows.' And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.'
Jeremiah 22:3 NLT*
3This is what the Lord says: Be fair-minded and just. Do what is right! Help those who have been robbed; rescue them from their oppressors. Quit your evil deeds! Do not mistreat foreigners, orphans, and widows. Stop murdering the innocent!
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
*NLT=Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
From the Conference of Major Superiors of Men and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.
Resolution adopted on August 26, 2001.
The LCWR and CMSM call on the U.S. Congress, the President, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service to commit themselves to a humane immigration policy that respects the dignity of each person. Specifically, we call on them to enact the following reform: 2. To call a moratorium on Operation Gatekeeper and Hold-the-Line, the increased concentration of the Border Patrol in El Paso , San Diego and other cities that has resulted in over 1,200 immigrant deaths on the U.S-Mexico border since 1994. Immigrants are forced to cross in the most dangerous areas of deserts and mountains, where they die from exposure or drowning.
From the Presbyterian Church USA resolution on “Transformation of Churches and Society Through Encounters With New Neighbors”
passed in 1999:
Let us challenge ourselves to trust in God's power by entering into relationship with newcomers. We need to face our fears and insecurities honestly as pastoral issues of central significance. We need to develop the resources that will enable us through mutual support to venture in faith to enter new friendships with the confidence that God will continue to open the way for future steps. We confess that we have kept newcomers at a distance and not responded to them as neighbors in the way Jesus taught (Luke 10). ... And because we do not know them, we often are blind to ways they are deprived of human rights and suffer as a result of government policies. Yet, in Christ, the stranger becomes the neighbor. While estrangement keeps us apart, Christ moves us to encounter “the stranger” as neighbor in a spirit of love and friendship.
From “A Message on Immigration,”
a statement by the Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
We recognize the right of all countries to control their borders and their duty to protect their citizens from the illegal entry of drugs and criminals. But we have serious doubts about the rightness and effectiveness of current policy to erect imposing barriers between the United States and Mexico. We support the search for alternatives to this policy that would more appropriately reflect the relationships of two friendly nations whose peoples and economies are increasingly interdependent. Whatever the policy, border enforcement should always respect the human dignity of persons attempting to cross the border.
From “Welcoming the Stranger Among Us: Unity in Diversity”
A Statement of the U.S. Catholic Bishops
issued on November 15, 2000:
The presence of so many people of so many different cultures and religions in so many different parts of the United States has challenged us as a Church to a profound conversion so that we can become truly a sacrament of unity. We reject the anti-immigrant stance that has become popular in different parts of our country, and the nativism, ethnocentricity, and racism that continue to reassert themselves in our communities.
From Mennonite Central Committee U.S. Statement “Standing With Immigrants,”
1998.
“…we reject our government's mistreatment and scapegoating of our immigrant brothers and sisters. At the same time, we recognize and regret our silence on these issues which contribute to human rights violations of our brothers and sisters. We feel the call to act on behalf of our immigrant brothers and sisters who are in need, whether documented or undocumented, just as God calls the Israelites to do in scripture.”
From “On Undocumented Migration: To Love the Sojourner”
a statement the United Methodist Council of Bishops:
Genuine hospitality for the sojourner requires not only a welcoming embrace, but also the effort to address the conditions that uprooted them from native soil. God's pilgrim people in the States are called to recognize and repent their participation systems that result in injustice and contribute to the circumstances that lead people to undertake the risk of sojourning. Fully the sojourners, acting justly on their behalf, challenges the ultimate commitments and fundamental values of the sociopolitical and economic systems of which we are all a part.
From the Koran, ch8, v73, 8:75:
“And those who believed and left their homes and strove for the cause of Allah and those who gave them shelter and help, these indeed are true believers.”