Year End Review

It has been awhile since I posted.  That is mostly because it has been an amazing and busy year.  Let me describe some of what we have been doing this past year as an immigration office.

This has been our first full year of operation at James Place Immigration Services.  I want to give God all the glory for allowing us the privilege and blessing of being able to participate in the following:

• Interact with 150+ clients from 25 different countries
• Officially take on 90 Immigration cases
• Have 3 volunteers become official BIA Accredited Representatives
• Log an average of 20 hours of work per application
• Meet with one Congressman and one Senator
• Have a site visit from the Congressman's chief case worker
• Participate when World Relief invited church representatives from all over the nation to an Immigration Training hosted by Elmbrook Church, which included a tour of James Place to see how our Immigration Services function
• Have successfully closed 35 cases
• See a number of new immigrant faces at Elmbrook Church
• Receive referrals from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Milwaukee
• Pray with each client at the close of our meetings
• Trust God on a daily basis for wisdom and discretion and watch him provide

What an amazing first year, and I cannot begin to imagine the blessings God has in store for our wonderful group of volunteer staff as we continue to display the love of Jesus to the nations in our own backyard.

Happy New Year!
Jason

Reason #3 - Responsibility

Why should we as Christians be concerned with the immigration debate and desire a change in the immigration law?
Reason #3:  Because it is our Christian responsibility.

"Well, so what?  The immigration laws don't affect me, so what is the big deal?  In fact, I think everyone should just go back to where they came from.  I'm not getting involved in that hot topic." 

It is sad, but this is the stance that many Christians take when asked about their position on immigration.  They become edgy, defensive, and accusatory.  Many think our nation would be better without those who are different.  How selfish.  We should care about the topic because the immigration law affects many of those who are our brothers and sisters in Christ.  And, "...when one part of the body suffers, we all suffer."

It is true, our current immigration laws and systems need a serious overhaul.  I have to work with what is there every day; and simply put, our system is full of injustice and complication, which leads to broken families, heartache, victimization, subclasses in our society, and a nation that can't seem to offer dignity to those who are different than themselves.

Why does this concern me as a Christian?  It should concern us because, as the hands and feet of Jesus, we have an obligation to aid the victims of injustice.  As those who love our neighbors as ourselves, we should consider the rights of others more than our own rights.  We should put the interests of others above the interests of ourselves (Philippians 2).  It should concern us because we should stand up for justice, fair laws, and righteousness.  We are to be the voice of those who have no voice.  Granted, there are many things about our nation which are not just, fair, or right, but we need to take a stand on something.  Why not take a stand on immigration, since it affects many of those who are sitting in the pews next to us at church on Sunday. 

I challenge those of you who have a heart for immigrants, to act on your convictions.  Contact your representative, inform your peers, speak the truth, assist those who are caught in impossible situations.  Do this in the name of Jesus.

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.

Reason #1

Why should Christians be concerned with the immigration debate?
Reason #1: Because immigrants matter to God.

Open your mouth for the mute,

for the rights of all who are destitute.

Open your mouth, judge righteously,

defend the rights of the poor and needy.

– Proverbs 31:8-9

"We are called by God to aid the vulnerable. Therefore, we must see the alien and the stranger as individuals made in the image of God, the object of Christ’s love, and as people of intrinsic worth who are in need of our affirmation and support."   - A Resolution of the General Conference of the Evangelical Free Church of America, adopted in 1996.

Christians should care about the immigrant community in our own backyard, because God cares about them. Jesus commands his followers to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind”; and “to love your neighbor as yourself.” God has placed us, as his ambassadors, in this particular community and he asks us to share his love with that community, regardless of race, background, legal status, or country of origin. Immigrants should matter to us as Christians because Immigrants matter to God.

Personally, in the past, I was indifferent to the plight of the immigrant in my city.  I felt that if they got themselves into this mess, then they should get themselves out.  I still believe that everyone is responsible for the choices they make, but I have grown to understand that because people and their situations matter to God, their situation should matter to me.  I should be willing to lend a hand where a hand is needed. 

As our government is deliberating over a new immigration bill at this very moment, I believe that we as Christians, who are also citizens of this country, should make it our loving act of hospitality do what we can to welcome immigrants.  This could be done through advocacy: writing a letter or making a phone call to our representatives voicing our support of changes to the immigration system.  It could be pointing the immigrants we know toward those who can help them comply with the complex and confusing law.  Or, it could be as simple as listening to their story and sharing the love and forgiveness of Christ in a non-condemning way.

As followers of Jesus, we should be the most compassionate, forgiving, and accepting people because we are the recipients of the compassion, forgiveness, and acceptance of Jesus Christ.