HispanicVista Columnists

Thank you for returning to visit me here again. The immigration reform debate in the U.S. has become so discombobulating I had to check into this treatment center. I’ve been learning a lot since I was first admitted into this facility several weeks ago. I hope you might find the following useful, should you decide that you too may be a problem thinker, suffering from the disease of immigrationism.

Immigration Anonymous ( IA ) is a fellowship of U.S. residents who share their experience, strength and hope with one another that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from immigrationism. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop stinking thinking. There are no dues or fees for IA membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions. IA is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy, neither endorses nor opposes any causes. Our primary purpose is to think soberly about immigration policy reform and help other problem thinkers to achieve sobriety.

Step Four: Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.[i][1]

I adore what Senator John McCain has to say about this step: “Don’t let fear convince you that you’re too weak to have courage. Fear is the opportunity for courage, not proof of cowardice. Courage is not the absence of fear, but the capacity to act despite our fears. We were meant to love. And we were meant to have the courage for it.”[ii][2]

The one remarkable thing I have learned about taking inventory is that the objective is not necessarily about what’s in stock, it’s also about what’s missing. After completing this step, the glaring absence of love permeated every dimension of my stinking thinking. I can only hope that this revelation will benefit you as well. I pray for the day when Congress will initiate hearings that will focus on our moral responsibility regarding the illegal immigration issue, guided by the truth that we are meant to love, rather than were. Will you join me in this prayer?

In this step, I was required to list the resentments I had regarding illegal immigration on paper. Upon completion, I reviewed my list. “The first thing apparent was that this world and its people were quite wrong. To conclude that others were wrong was as far as most of us ever got.”[iii][3] I had all kinds of these bad thoughts and feelings. They were poisoning my soul. My sponsor in IA has really helped me to understand that the pages of history are replete with one theme: the hopeless flee to a place that is hopeful. The undocumented immigrants in my community are here because of just that. Heck, my grandparents came here for the same reason. When I place myself in their shoes, I know I would be scheming to cross the U.S./Mexico border as well.

Step Five: Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs.[iv][4]

Wow, this one is tough. I was required to read aloud all the resentments, fears, delusions, self-centeredness and self-pity identified in step four to my IA sponsor. I began to cry within the first ten minutes. The shame that the confession of these attitudes, beliefs and illusions I held about undocumented immigrants was overwhelming. Yet, when completed, I felt light, like I could float, that I was somehow cleaner on the inside, and more attractive on the outside. The world and those around me appeared more inviting, less threatening.

My sponsor characterized this feeling as becoming prepared for the second journey: “The second journey begins when we cannot live in the afternoon of life according to the morning program. We are aware that we have only a limited amount of time left to accomplish that which is really important – and that awareness illumines for us what really matters, what really counts.”[v][5]

It is in this step that my recovery from the stinking thinking about immigration reform in the U.S. really began to take hold. There seemed to be a faint light visible at the end of a very dark tunnel. My IA sponsor captured the essence of what I felt in the following; “When being is divorced from doing, pious thoughts become an adequate substitute for washing dirty feet.”[vi][6]

Step Six: “Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.”[vii][7]

I don’t know if I’ve been entirely ready for anything in my life. My sponsor said I need to jump the curve: “Jumping the Curve means leaving one stage of development for another....it involves leaving the comfort and familiarity of the old world of conventional wisdom, processes, traditions, leadership styles and products.....If that were not intimidating enough, those who do jump will find that the next curve does not even exist yet. In fact, it is being created by the leaders who are in the very process of guiding their organizations through "midair" the gap between today's fading epoch and the demands of the new era that is still unsettled and in evolution."

My IA sponsor said ready refers to a sincere willingness to repent, to change, to trust God to transform you into something better. I was as ready as I could be, so I completed this step.

Please come back and visit next week as I continue walking the path of recovery from immigrationism sharing Steps 7 through 9 with you. Keep comin back! It works!

Bill Dahl, a contributing columnist to Los Angeles based HispanicVista.com (http://www.hispanicvista.com/) is a freelance writer and social justice advocate. Contact Bill at: wsdahl@pacbell.net or see his website at http://www.justjesus.us/ He tackles social issues from a Christian perspective. For the past fifteen years, Bill and his wife have been called to work with the poor, the oppressed and the marginalized as volunteer community youth workers. Bill is published in numerous professional publications, magazines, websites, newspapers and newsletters. He has been an on-air radio guest, and has appeared on both public and network television. He is the author of five manuscripts, presently under consideration for publication. Bill earned a Bachelors and Masters degree in liberal arts from Washington State University. He has taught at the university and community college levels. During his business career, Bill was an executive with several FORTUNE 500 companies including Chrysler, Nations Bank, Bank of America and GMAC. He also led a consulting practice providing strategic advice to companies for several years. He has traveled extensively throughout the U.S. and internationally. He has substantial public speaking experience and has led seminars throughout the United States. He is a member of the Christian Writers Guild and has been accepted to begin graduate study at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, CA. Bill and his family make their home in southern California.

Copyright © 2005 by Bill Dahl. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author. All rights reserved. Rights for publishing this poem, in part or its entirety, in other languages, audio and any other form are contracted to Bill Dahl.

Requests for permission to make copies of or reprint any part of the work should be mailed to: Bill Dahl, wsdahl@pacbell.net

Bibliography and Notes

[1][1] Alcoholics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. New York, New York © Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. 1939,1955, 1976 p. 59.

3 Alcoholics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. New York, New York © Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. 1939,1955, 1976 p. 65-66

4Alcoholics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. New York, New York © Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. 1939,1955, 1976 p. 59.

7 Alcoholics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. New York, New York © Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. 1939,1955, 1976 p. 59