The faith community must be a light and a prophetic voice against a nation that continues to exploit undocumented immigrants in the midst of one million coronavirus deaths.[1] Many clergy leaders have prioritized praying for our healthcare professionals, but we have neglected the hardworking families who labor on farms and fields and in warehouses and plants. We have lacked the moral courage to call out America for its mistreatment and demonization of people who are responsible for putting meats, produce, and necessary foods in our supermarkets and on our kitchen tables. We have stayed silent as the undocumented community has been falsely labeled as criminals, even as they are saving American lives. These undocumented women, men, and children are on the frontlines sacrificing their health, human dignity, and lives to make sure Americans do not go hungry. Many undocumented workers have never received PPE equipment, they do not have access to healthcare, paid sick leave time, or any direct financial assistance provided by the CARES Act.[2]
As our public officials have turned their back against God’s people, the church should have been at the forefront challenge negative narratives against our fellow neighbors. We have witness public officials from President Eisenhower to President Trump center their negative political attacks and deportation rhetoric against undocumented immigrants to gain political power.[3] The power of these attacks helps fuel the anger in his already xenophobic electoral base and provide dehumanized bodies as cheap labor to our capitalist system. America knows our undocumented workers are “essential workers.” If they were removed from our nation, we it would cause critical damage to our country and create an agricultural shortfall of $60 billion dollars.[4]
As faith leaders, we have to call out America’s lies against the undocumented community. Our government knows the undocumented community helps our economy. A few months before President Biden’s election, the US Agricultural Labor adjusted their policy to increase cheap labor for US Farms. Cheap labor is what helps America maintain its food supply, especially during the coronavirus pandemic.[5] For centuries our government helped corporations increase profits by exploiting the undocumented community for cheap and sometimes free labor. The church must recognize the largest undocumented population is within the Latinx community. They contributed immensely to the United States and yet 1 in 3 are living below the poverty line, half of the families are low-income, and 60% earn less than $15 an hour.[6] Today, the Black and Brown communities are the groups hardest hit by the coronavirus. Undocumented immigrants from those community are hurting the most. How long will our powerful Christian institutions who profess to stand with the foreigner stay silent in the midst of this massive injustice?
The millions of essential workers are people who have survived the devastating impact of US foreign policies and military intervention in their home countries. Many have escaped their native countries because the US government was responsible for assassinating their leaders, perpetrating genocide, extracting natural resources, sabotaging their economies, and replacing sovereign government officials with American puppets. In 1915, the US invaded Haiti and supported the brutal dictatorship of the Duvalier regime. In 1965, the US invaded the Dominican Republic for the second time. In 1970, the US helped remove Salvador Allende from power in Chile. In 1968, the US helped support the coup against Juan Francisco Velasco Alvarado in Peru. In 1980, the US helped remove Daniel Ortega from power in Nicaragua. In 1983, the US invaded Grenada. In 1989, the US invaded Panama. Over a century ago, in 1846 the US invaded Mexico at gunpoint and seized indigenous lands—lands that we now know as the states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and California. As Vice President Kamala Harris visited South America lecturing Guatemalans to not journey to America, she left out how the US CIA supported a coup d’état against President Jacobo Arbenz that destabilized the nation and created a mass exodus of citizen fleeing for their lives.
The American church must work to promote the truth behind why undocumented members of our communities migrate to America. We must publicly denounce false and misleading information about our undocumented sisters, brothers, and cousins and preach the truth about how US foreign policy has harmed them. While we step up to tell the truth, let us also share the painful history of how the church supported anti-immigrant policies rooted in xenophobia. In 1729 the Pennsylvania Quakers passed laws to hurt Scotch-Irish immigrants after the War of Independence. In the 1840s the Protestant church helped found the “know-Nothings,” which became an anti-immigrant political party.[7] In the 1960s, the Catholic Church kept Puerto Ricans in church basements and would not allow them to congregate with the regular parish community. In 1922, many churches supported Dr. Harry Laughlin as he advised Congress’ Immigration and Naturalization Committee; he proclaimed that immigrants and Blacks were inferior people.[8]
Today, through all of the difficulties, undocumented workers contribute to the positive growth and development of America. They help stimulate our economy, pay 12 billion in taxes, start businesses, and have some of the safest neighborhoods in the country. Many of their children have invested in American institutions of higher education and have applied their skills in all sectors, from healthcare to information technology. We need undocumented immigrants for our country to function.
The American church must ask for forgiveness and stand with the undocumented immigrant community sacrificing for our nation. Our churches need to challenge mainstream media narratives by lifting the voices of the undocumented community. We need to continue to denounce public officials who use propaganda to demonize them. We need to partner with local and national organizations to more effectively advocate for public policy that helps those who are undocumented. We need to support The National Day Laborer Organizing Network call for President Biden to remove the threat of deportation to undocumented workers who report abuse and unsafe work conditions.[9] We need to leverage our institutional power to publicly challenge Congress to pass policies that create a path to citizenship. We have to stand up against US foreign, military intervention and war that disrupt the business of sovereign nations that are not a direct threat to the American people. Let’s remember in Matthew 25:40, Jesus Christ tells us how we treat the undocumented community reflects how we are treating him.[10]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic.
[2] Narea, Nicole. “For Immigrants without Legal Status, Federal Coronavirus Relief Is out of Reach.” Vox. Vox, May 5,
- https://www.vox.com/2020/5/5/21244630/undocumented-immigrants-coronavirus-relief-cares-act
[3] Colvin, Jill. “Trump Continues to Cast Some Immigrants as Criminals.” AP NEWS. Associated Press, February 7,
- https://apnews.com/a4f02d2b6625439cb1ec53186c466acd/Trump-continues-to-paint-immigrants-
as-criminals.
[4] “Cases in the U.S.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, May
7, 2020. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/cases-in-us.html.
[5] “Updated ICE Statement on COVID-19.” ICE. Accessed May 4, 2020.
https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/updated-ice-statement-covid-19.
[6] Despres, Cliff. “Reports: Latino Workers Are Hit Hardest by COVID-19 Pandemic.” Salud America, April 23, 2020.
https://salud-america.org/latino-workers-are-hit-hardest-by-covid-19-pandemic/.
[7] González Juan. Harvest of Empire: a History of Latinos in America. New York: Penguin, 2011. Pg 207
[8] González Juan. P. 208;
“Book of Resolutions: Repentance for Support of Eugenics.” The United Methodist Church, September 13, 2019.
https://www.umc.org/en/content/book-of-resolutions-repentance-for-support-of-eugenics.
[9] https://ndlon.org/on-workers-memorial-day-immigrants-call-on-biden-to-turn-the-tide-on-exploitation-and-abuse/
[10] “Matthew 25:40 (KJV) – And the King shall answer.” Blue Letter Bible. Accessed 10 May, 2020.
https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/mat/25/40/t_bibles_954040
