For two government leaders, whose political sleeves proudly display their Christian faith, there is a screeching dissonance with how they, Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, appear to practice that faith with regard to immigrants.
That dissonance is particularly poignant at this time of year when Christians commemorate the birth of Jesus, whose parents, according to the Christmas narrative, could find no other place for his birth other than a rickety, smelly stable behind a Bethlehem inn.
Then some short time later, the family of Jesus had to flee to Egypt to avoid the death-certain savagery of Herod’s political persecution, essentially taking asylum. Egypt was not an uncommon place at the time to seek relief from persecution or economic pressure.
Abbott cynically has spent $14 million Texas tax dollars to inhumanely physically “relocate” some 12,000 asylum seekers across the country — not out of benevolence, but for political theatrics. We have lamented his cynicism and refusal to work creatively with the rest of the country to share the burden of immigrants coming across the southern border.
However inconceivable it might seem, Abbott, Paxton and other politicians have sunk to an even lower level, attacking nonprofit, non-governmental organizations and church groups that extend basic humane support to immigrants, particularly NGOs that try to assist immigrants in sorting through the arcane, labyrinthine legal procedures for those seeking asylum or other protections from deportation.
They even absurdly accuse Catholic Charities, the humanitarian arm of the U.S. Catholic Church, and NGOs of trying to “profit off of exploiting our immigration laws.
Immigration and Refugee Services of Catholic Charities pushed back sharply: “These accusations are both fallacious and factually inaccurate. Our life-saving humanitarian work (food, clean clothes, bathing facilities, overnight respite) neither violates federal laws nor endangers communities.”
Indeed, charitable care is legal and typically begins only after the federal government has processed and released an asylum seeker. Both U.S. and international law provide for the right to seek asylum at another country’s border.
Why punish those who are diligently doing what their religious and humanitarian beliefs require, and steps required by the Scriptures of a great majority of faith communities?
People are fleeing oppressive regimes like Venezuela and Afghanistan and others, such as Honduras and Colombia, that wallow in corruption that has upended national economies, oppressing the poor more bitterly than ever.
Men, women and children walk thousands of miles, facing brutal “coyotes,” mercenaries and marauders because they see no other choice. Necessity drives their livelihood. No gets up in the morning and whimsically starts off on a dangerous trek, knowing they may die on the way, be brutalized, maimed, raped or tortured. Many of our ancestors made the perilous journey here from Europe and other places because of similar need and no other viable choice.
Migration is at an all-time high because of the sheer number of severe crises around the world. Politicians have kicked the immigration can down the road for decades, and it has doubled back on us.
Most religious groups hold as a tenet of faith that all people are created in, or reflect, the image of God and thus have individual dignity, accordingly to which societal institutions must treat everyone fairly, benevolently and equitably.
From the Hebrew Bible’s injunctions to “welcome the stranger” to the Good Samaritan parable, our Scriptures are clear: People of faith are to be compassionate. “Welcoming strangers” includes helping migrants in their time of crisis and supporting organizations that provide compassionate assistance.
The politics of immigration must not tamp down our country’s religiously and morally driven ideal of compassion. Nor should politicians do the dirty work of undercutting organizations and church groups that take Scriptures’ commands seriously and to heart.
We hope that the church organizations currently under attack resist with fortitude, and we call upon others to step forward, as indeed they should, to assist immigrants and push back the attacks on those who help them.
Rev. T. Carlos Anderson is director of Austin City Lutherans in Austin. Rev. Jim Harrington is a priest with Proyecto Santiago, St. James’ Episcopal Church in Austin.
