Guest Column
Anti-Migrant Legislation According to Jesus
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- Rev. Aquiles Martinez, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Religion at Reinhardt College in Waleska, GA. Contact at: AEM@reinhardt.edu
By Rev. Aquiles Ernesto Martínez
Jesus is right! While
valuing the law as a sign of grace, he asserts that the heart of the law
is love; justice, mercy, and faithfulness are its greatest allies; and
dehumanizing rules must be condemned. It is not the impersonal conformity
to rigid thou-shall-not's what makes up a person's dignity or an exemplar
of civility, nor is it the prompt application of what the law says for the
law's sake. Only in a covenant relationship in which there is profound
love for God and our neighbors that bodies of formalized norms reach their
zenith. If human relations defined by these two inseparable statues
constitute the corner stone of the law and its interpretation, shouldn't
our laws embody our love for God with all our being and all people as
ourselves regardless of their migratory status?
Tragically, current legislations are the antithesis of these timeless maxims. Soaked in mean-spirited arrogance, they criminalize undocumented immigrants and benefit primarily the ruling class as stronger sanctions are projected against our vulnerable neighbors and new forms of exploitation are potentially legitimated once "guest-worker programs" are activated. As long as these bills seek to primarily protect us from danger, reestablish order, and punish crimes, they will be the aborted creatures of fear and anger and serve as post-September-11-anti-terrorism artillery.
There is no justice, mercy or faithfulness when undocumented immigrants are the primary target of aggressive legislation and its enforcement, whereas sanctions against illegal hiring are not equivalent and temporary-cheap-labor-worker programs are legitimated on the basis of "mutual benefits" as we prepare ourselves for maximizing profit and enhancing productivity. Where is the true humane character of such provisions?
And what about bills that vilify the offering of food, water, and shelter for these immigrants, make it impossible to asylum seekers to find sanctuary, and deprive children and their parents of basic health care and education for which they pay taxes? Mercy as forgiveness is a superior moral value than preventing our Pharisaic guilt for rewarding illegal behavior. What's so wrong in admitting that our government, employers, and law enforcers have violated the law too and, as we reconcile, we pave multiple paths leading to residence, citizenship, and the construction of a society of friends? Though understandable, present bills are examples of democratic tyranny for which "compassion" is just a demagogic punch line.
A couple of weeks after Martin Luther King Jr. Day, it is important to acknowledge that we've forgotten that laws cannot be fair unless compassion is the driving force that allows us to see each other as common-good seekers. This shouldn't be a tough sell to congressmen who "profess" Christian beliefs.
Re-tailoring the nature of law-making in light of Jesus' contribution is as imperative as the motivations behind its creation, intent, and application, otherwise the eye-for-an-eye typical response to "illegal immigration" will make us all blind. Meanwhile, our legislators "strain the gnats but swallow the camel," and the dehumanizing-rule of law will favor once again the wealthy and the powerful at the expense of the have-nots and weak.
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