Guest Column
Amnesty: Grace Extended to All
By Aquiles Ernesto Martínez
A pathway to permanent residence and citizenship for undocumented immigrants
continues to split hairs among the sponsors of the law-enforcement-only
approach. Such an idea would be like "rewarding" illegal behavior. It
would increase illegal immigration, create chaos, and make a mockery of our
rule of law. That is why many adamantly oppose amnesty and anything that
resembles it.
What this perspective has overlooked, though, is that the American system,
legislators, and the nativists have given a de facto amnesty to a plethora
of greedy, illegal employers. Except for sporadic smacks on the hands and
bills that won't be enforced across the board, these lawbreakers still hide
in the shadows of impunity with the consent of friends in high places. Out
of the hundreds of thousands businesses that broke the law in 1999, as the
President of Americans for Legal immigration, William Gheen, rightly
recognizes, only 400 were sanctioned. But how many undocumented immigrants
have been "burned" to the stake?
The lack of enforcement of the law against the big fish in contrast to its
ferocious enforcement against undocumented immigrants, is more than a break
or good luck for the former; it has been pardon in disguise, a form of
underground, institutionalized forgiveness legitimated by the inaction of
those who vehemently reject forgiveness to undocumented immigrants while
displacing most of their aggression on them. Isn't this a unilateral form
of amnesty giving or an only-one-culprit profiling?
When feeling threatened by minority groups, dominant groups typically resort
to xenophobia, segregation, legislative controls and even expulsion and
annihilation. Why is this so? Minorities, just like undocumented
immigrants, are easy preys and cannot strike back!
If illegal employers have not been getting de facto amnesty, why don't "the
D.A. King's" hold rallies in Capitol Hill against the owners of meat,
poultry, and seafood processing plants, carpets factories, construction
companies and onion fields as opposed to shouting "ˇViva la Migra!"? Why
don't GOP legislators introduce bills that turn these employers into
"felons" and anyone who lends them a hand? Why don't we see marches against
these "criminals" or "hateful web-pages" denouncing how they are making
America "less safe" and giving jobs to foreigners? Why don't amnesty
opponents bring the point that the 1986 Amnesty did not work because
employers continue to transgress the law? Why doesn't the police cooperate
with immigration agents to fiercely profile companies that hire undocumented
workers? The answer is simple: You do not mess with someone stronger than
you!
In the interest of fairness, if no pardon is granted to hardworking, good,
qualifying undocumented immigrants in some form - given the mess we are all
responsible for - neither can any form of mercy be extended to companies
that make fun of the law.
The good news is that we don't have to play this game that always favors
the fittest at the expense of the weakest. Grace is a higher value at our
disposal, the corner stone of comprehensive immigration reform. Justice
without forgiveness does not bring reconciliation. Without reconciliation
there is no peace. And if there is no peace, social progress is just a
utopia.
In the mist of complexities and confusion, grace is what makes us pause to
recognize and confess our wrongs, forgive each other, and start afresh as we
put the past behind and create win-win situations. The dynamics of supply
and demand tell us that employers and employees need each other. The
message of grace - cleansing us from ignorance, fear, guilt, and rage - put
us at the verge of mutual, liberating growth.
As Congress revisits the complex issue of illegal immigration, we hope that
amnesty is extended to all, and in doing so, the ritualistic "forgive our
trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us" will have a whole
new meaning and old adversaries become good friends.
To err is human, to forgive is divine
____________________________________________________________
Dr. Aquiles Martínez is an Associate Professor of Religion at Reinhardt
College, Waleska, GA, and an Ordained Minister in the United Methodist
Church. In addition to three books published in the area of Early
Christianity, he has written numerous articles and essays on the same topic
and contributed many op.eds to newspapers on the issue of immigration.
Contact at:
AEM@reinhardt.edu
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