Immigration

Guest Blog by: Elizabeth Murray In January of 2001, a devastating earthquake hit the Central American country of El Salvador. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, at least 844 people were killed, 4,723 injured, 108,226 houses destroyed and more than 150,000 buildings damaged. The earthquake caused approximately 16,000 landslides.  Another earthquake with similar consequences occurred in February of the very …

Immigration can be an overwhelming topic.  While political pundits on both sides of a policy debate tend to reduce the matter to a simple, black-and-white issue, the reality is that immigration is complex.  There are economic, cultural and political ramifications to how we respond to the arrival of immigrants to our country. Christians also face theological and missiological ramifications in …

Guest Blog by: Iris Clement “Charity begins at home, and justice begins next door.” ~Charles Dickens I’ll admit that my generation (the “Millennials” or “Generation Y”) has its defects. We carry around a sense of entitlement, we are glued to our computer screens and smartphones; our communication skills (the 5-paragraph essay variety, not the 140-character kind) leave something to be …

Guest Blog by: Melissa Manske Tuesday’s GOP Primary Debate in Florida found Gingrich and Romney competing for frontrunner status. Another thing they now apparently share is a position on the DREAM Act. After earlier proclaiming that undocumented, long-term residents should not be kicked out of the country and (I thought) sounding sympathetic to the plight of undocumented youth, Gingrich announced …

I spent most of last week in Jackson, Mississippi, on a retreat with some good friends from the Christian Community Development Association, hosted by the John M. Perkins Foundation.  Dr. Perkins, who is now 81 years old, is one of my heroes.  Born into a sharecropping family in Mississippi, Dr. Perkins grew up in the midst of one the most …

Guest Blog by: Yaphet Tedla After about a month and half into our semester in Jerusalem, my friends and I found ourselves seating in the cafeteria of our school and reminiscing of things we missed about America. The school was built of Cenomanian limestone with Crusader arches, which gave the whole building pleasing aesthetics. Our school was located right next …

I live in the suburbs.  A lot of folks in the suburbs of Chicago—and probably in many other suburban areas around the United States—tend to think of immigration as an urban phenomenon.  Churches often think of immigration as an “urban ministry” issue.  In reality, though, immigrants are just about everywhere in the U.S., including, particularly in suburban areas: in Chicago, …

Guest Blog by: Melissa Manske I am twenty-nine years old. I learned Spanish from traveling to Peru and Guatemala and living in a NJ city that is about a third Latino. I have friends from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic (happily citizens), and undocumented friends from El Salvador, Honduras, Ecuador and Mexico. If the average person could have a …

Guest Blog by: Sarah Quezada **Republished with permission from the author. The original blog post can be found on here on her website** Last week I sat in the hospital waiting room while my sister anticipated the arrival of my dear nephew. While I’m sure two days of labor were difficult for her, it was no picnic for those of …

January has been designated by the President as Human Trafficking Prevention Month.  Last Wednesday, on National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, my Twitter feed was filled with folks raising awareness about the reality of human trafficking. They were challenging the Church, in particular, to respond both with prayer and action to abolish this horrific practice. Human trafficking is basically a new …

“ I do hope that everyone will breathe a prayer of gratitude to Godthis weekend for gracing our planet with Dr. Martin Luther King.”  ~Tweeted by Bill Hybels, 13 January 2012 In 2007 I was invited to write the following essay on Martin Luther King, Jr. words from his “Love, Law, and Civil Disobedience” and an application to the current day …

Guest Blog by: Elizabeth Murray The United States is a country made up of immigrants — yet there is widespread stigma against those illegally entering the United States. Many people claim they do not pay taxes, use social services, and take jobs away from deserving American citizens. These claims are generally untrue, and no light is ever shed on the …

Immigration policy took a step in a positive direction when it comes to supporting family reunification.  Though far from a panacea, the family unity waiver would allow for petition within the U.S. rather than outside, which often caused a ban of re-entry to keep petitioning members from being with their family for several years. Matt Soerens wrote a post about …

Last Friday, the Department of Homeland Security proposed changes to the way that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service will consider certain family reunification cases.  Though the complexity of the law—and what these proposed changes would do—makes it a bit confusing to understand, this proposed change is an answer to many, many prayers. I visit Spanish-speaking churches on a …

Guest Blog by:  Joel Perez Last week began with the following email I received from a student at a Christian college (not George Fox University, where I work): “A mentor of mine forwarded me an article that you wrote regarding undocumented students and colleges. This is a more personal question. I’m 26 years old, a strong Christian and I’m about …