Immigration: Who Is Our Neighbour?

Prabhu Guptara

Considering this vexed question properly involves three different perspectives—Divine, national, and individual.

  1. God uses both economic necessity and political circumstances to accomplish his purposes—even though both the economic necessity and the political circumstances may arise from human stupidity.

  2. In the teaching of Jesus, each nation has the right to form its own policies (about immigration, as about everything else). Where rules are unjust, or discriminate in favour or against a particular people group, then it is right, as in the case of all other unjust laws, to agitate and even act against such rules (people will differ both in theory and in practice regarding how far it is right to go in opposing any such laws).

  3. All the research indicates that people do not generally want to move out of their established network of local relationships—and are either (not as frequently as we think) tempted by bright lights and the prospect of gold, or are (much more usually) forced out of their natural nexus because of psychological, economic, or political circumstances. Having moved outside their nexus, they naturally have to build a new nexus, and it is difficult to return to the old nexus.

Does the above throw any light on whether the US should or should not change its legislation in relation to immigration?

The following questions and answers may be of use:

  1. Is current US legislation non-discriminatory? My answer: No; there are different “immigration quotas” for different countries, and these are politically determined.

  2. Have US policies helped to create political turmoil in certain countries, with a subsequent increase in applications for immigration from those countries? If so, it would seem only just for this to be recognised—and this ameliorates the force of Question 1. However, it should be clear that considering this matter properly involves thinking about not merely immigration, but also wider political questions. Is it right to use immigration quotas as an instrument of even a just foreign policy? For the present, pass.

  3. Have US policies helped to create economic hardship or turmoil, with subsequent increase in the desire for immigration from those countries? As in the case of my second question, if this has been the case, it is only just for this to be recognised—and this would also ameliorate the force of Question 1. And, as in the case of Question 2, considering this matter properly involves thinking about not merely immigration, but also wider economic, financial, and monetary policies.

What about illegal immigration? This is clearly wrong, but it is worth asking why illegal immigration occurs, who it benefits (apart from the immigrant), and why most attempts to stop illegal immigration are directed against the immigrant, rather than against those who aid, abet, and profit from illegal immigration. This matter is tied to the wider field of “black money” and the international systems for turning that into “white money”—including drugs, prostitution, protection rackets, tax havens, and so on.

All that naturally forces on our attention the global dimensions of migration—which brings in its wake the question of internal migration within every country. Putting these together, we see that increasing migration is a worldwide phenomenon, and we need to ask what economic, political, or other processes are creating this undesirable trend against the biblical ideal of “everyone in his own house and under his own fig tree”? Can international challenges be tackled merely nationally?

Finally, does any of the above reduce in the slightest the call to love our immigrant neighbours as we love ourselves?  

Prabhu Guptara is a Senior Fellow of the Trinity Forum. He lives in Switzerland. His personal website is www.prabhu.guptara.net, and he blogs at www.prabhuguptara.blogspot.com. This article is offered entirely in a private capacity.

4 Responses (comments are closed) • Provocations, Society, Mon 02 Oct 2006

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Comments and Responses
By Dan Panetti
Plano, TX
on 2006 10 13

Prahbu, I appreciate your thoughtful approach to this difficult humanitarian issue.
We are covering this issue with our middle school students as a part of our Student Leadership Institute program here at Prestonwood Christian Academy and I am going to print out your article and give it to each student in my group for them to read.  Thank you, once again, for addressing this issue.

By John Wood
UK
on 2006 10 13

Prahbu, you raise some pertinent points. Recently I welcomed our new intake of staff and was informed by the HR department that 60% had come from overseas, This brought to mind a conversation I had previously had with the Polish minister for science who had told me that our gain was at his country’s expense and that he was determined to stop the flow of talented youth to advanced countries. I have had similar reflections from senior people in India and China.

While the latter two are well on their way to rectifying the situation I ponder to what extent the so called “rich” countries ability to attract talent from anywhere amplifies global inequality. The counter argument is that we provide an experience which can be taken back. Is this excuse just a form of imperialism. Just how should a responsible employer tackle this issue?

In another arena I have been looking at how science can be taught more holistically. One of the concepts is that of flow - whether of electrons or people. There is a potential gradient (or food/wealth gradient) interfaces that cause resistance (immigration departments), heating especially if too many are forced down a wire at once (public concern), and so we could go on. While the equations of central flow are the same, the boundary conditions are different. I wonder if there is any mileage in looking at these boundary conditions more carefully when we look at immigration.

Regards

John

By Peter Hyson
on 2006 10 10

Prahbu, challenging as always. Thank you. On the economic aspect, I have been struck by the enormous waste while potential immigrants are having their applications “processed” - which can often take many months. If they are left unable to work, in any capacity, during that time it is an expensive losss to the potential host country and a source of boredom and frustration for the applicant. Are there organisations - perhaps Christian, perhaps not, who are seeking to bring both dignity and economic benefit to each?

By William Edgar
on 2006 10 02

Very helpful thoughts from Prahbu. Although it raises more questions than it answers, they are the right questions to ask.

Thanks,
William Edgar

It is significant, I think, that in the presence of a story, whether we are telling it or listening to it, we never have the feeling of being experts—there is too much we don’t yet know, too many possibilities available, too much mystery and glory. Even the most sophisticated of stories tends to bring out the childlike in us—expectant, wondering, responsive, delighted—which, of course, is why the story is the child’s favorite form of speech; why it is the Holy Spirit’s dominant form of revelation; and why we adults, who like posing as experts and managers of life, so often prefer explanation and information.

Eugene Peterson