Reason #2: Integrity

Why should we as Christians be concerned with the immigration debate and be supportive of proper change in the immigration system?
Reason #2: Integrity - Our nation is sending a mixed message.

All nations and kingdoms reserve the right to determine who and how an individual can come across their borders. It is a responsibility and necessity of the government of that nation to protect the people of that nation, and protecting the borders has always been fundamental. In ancient days, some cities would build enormous walls and station guards at iron gates to allow the citizens free passage and to keep out undesirables. Other cities would not have walls, and had a more 'open border' policy. There are pros and cons to each scenario. One is exclusive while the other is inclusive.

In my understanding, the reputation of the United States, as a nation, has always been welcoming and inclusive; promoting 'Freedom and Justice for all'. I always considered our nation to have fairly 'open borders', a relatively simple process of joining our ranks - pretty much, just show up. Right? Well, not necessarily anymore. In the past, this may have been true... but that was long ago. In theory we remain open-armed; yet, as one starts to study and learn the immigration laws and policies of our nation, one quickly realizes that, in practice, we are exclusive.

"How can you say that when we have representatives from every nation on the earth living within our borders?" And isn't Emma Lazarus' poem, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..." engraved on our Statue of Liberty. Yes, this is true.  But, we no longer have an "Ellis Island" approach to immigration, where anyone and everyone (poor, tired, and huddled) can simply arrive on a boat and pass through the border. Now there are long lines - people waiting years and decades - to process into the US... but those people are the fortunate ones who have family members on the 'inside' and who pass admissibility criterion. Unless you have a relation to someone in the US or you have an incredible skill or lots of money, you have an extremely low probability of ever being able to immigrate into our country. 

In reality, we have very little room for the poor and huddled masses. Although I am grateful that our nation welcomes the highest number of refugees of any other nation in the world, I personally think we could do better.  As a matter of integrity, our reality should reflect our reputation.