Perceptions
by Nancy Enright
In a polarized world, many people, including people of faith, have the impression that immigrants are to be equated with “danger.” Such perception has been reinforced by a type of politics that prefers to refer to migrants as “illegals” involved in a massive invasion of our country, the reason why we need to build the most prominent wall possible and construct bulwarks in the Tijuana River to deter. If repeated often enough, such words are normalized to such an extent that even people who identify as Christian and profess to have compassion for immigrants can speak out against sheltering them. Everything out of fear.
Is it true that migrants are more likely to commit crimes or are more dangerous than native-born North Americans? According to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, compared with their U.S.-born neighbors, undocumented immigrants are less likely to be arrested for violent crimes, drug offenses, or property crimes.”
Michael Light, Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, states that “undocumented immigrants have lower felony arrest rates than both legal immigrants and, especially, native-born U.S. citizens.” Therefore, fear, as an excuse for lack of compassion for immigrants, is not a legitimate explanation.
In the Bible, the compassionate treatment of the stranger, the sojourner, is part of a general atmosphere of righteousness linked to how Israel is to treat all the marginalized. In Matthew 25, Jesus tells the story of the sheep and the goats, representing the good and the evil nations in the final judgment. He includes how they treat the “stranger” as one of the criteria on which they will be judged. “I was a stranger, and you welcomed me” (Matt 25:35), he says to the sheep on his right hand. Still, to the goats on his left, “I was a stranger, and you did not welcome me” (Matt 25:43). As in the Hebrew Scriptures, Jesus also connects the treatment of the stranger with how one treats the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the imprisoned. The message could not be more explicit: “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even the least of them, you did it to me” (Matt 25:40). Chillingly to those on his left, he says, “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me,” warning further, “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matt 25:45-46).
The attitude of a city, a state, or even a nation towards its marginalized, particularly the strangers among them, can be definitive of its identity.
This sin is spelled out clearly by the prophet Ezekiel, who quotes the Lord speaking to Israel in warning, “Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food, and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy. Thus, they were haughty and committed abominations before me. Therefore I removed them when I saw it” (Ezek 16:49-50). Pride, selfishness, and lack of concern for those in need, especially the aliens and others most marginalized, are grave sins in the eyes of God. What we must fear is not the suffering migrants coming to our cities but the lack of compassion that is dangerously being cultivated daily, even in the hearts of those who claim to know Christ. N.E.
Nancy Enright holds a Ph.D. from Drew University. She is a full professor of English at Seton Hall University and the Director of the University Core. She is the author of two books: an anthology, Community: A Reader for Writers (Oxford University Press, 2015), and Catholic Literature and Film (Lexington Press, 2016), and articles on a variety of subjects, including the works of Dante, Augustine, J. R. R. Tolkien, and C. S. Lewis. Her articles have appeared in Logos, Commonweal, National Catholic Reporter, Christianity Today, and other venues.