Immigration and Learning

 Friends, 

 

You know it is electoral season when the word “immigration” is consistently followed by “crisis” and presumptive presidential candidates have competing photo opportunities on the border between the US and Mexico. 

 

Immigration is no small issue, whether it is electoral season or not, because immigrants have always been a part of the story of the US. However, it is and always has been a complex issue. In no particular order, let me name some aspects of that complexity. 

- The causes of immigration are often violent or heart-rendering. 

- Immigrants typically contribute to the US economy, as well as the economy of their home country through sending “remittances” to their families. 

- The Scriptures consistently call for the “alien” among us to be treated with dignity and justice, since the people of Israel had been immigrants once. 

- Immigration stories are often stories of injustice, mistreatment, and exploitation, whether by “coyotes” who transport them illegally across borders, or by employers who know that without proper papers an immigrant worker has little legal recourse against abuse. 

- Immigration can overwhelm some populations, especially border cities or border states. 

- The process for housing, settling, supporting, and tracking immigration is both labor- and money-intensive. 

 

This is not an exhaustive list by any means, but merely an attempt to appreciate how complex the immigration is. And it is complex long before it reaches the border itself. I’ve seen small communities in El Salvador gather around a family trying to dissuade their son from emigrating to the US because of gang violence. And I’ve seen those same communities gather around in support for a family when one of their members decided that emigrating was their only choice. At no point in the migrant journey is there simplicity.

 

That’s why I am wary of partisan political pronouncements about immigration. Campaign rhetoric always errs on the side of exaggeration, if not outright fabrication. Mario Cuomo once said that politicians campaign with poetry and govern with prose. That may be as generous of a description as one can muster. 

 

Many of us only have a small perspective of the realities of immigration and what is happening on our southern border. That’s why I encourage you to consider joining the CIEL US/Mexico Border trip that is coming up May 21-24. CIEL (Center for Experiential International Learning) is a tremendous organization that sponsors international trips with particular attention to helping us understand some of the complexities from many perspectives. I went with CIEL to North Ireland during my sabbatical and it was an amazing, educational event. Many of you are familiar with CIEL’s Executive Director, Daniel Wehrenfennig, from his work with The Olive Tree Initiative in the past. CIEL is also the organization that was going to organize our trip to Israel and Palestine, until the situation there became so catastrophic. 

 

If you are interested in joining the US/Mexico border trip, you can find more information here. While you are on the website, you may want to check out the page dedicated to honoring the work of Larry and Dulcie Kugelman in supporting CIEL here. Scroll through the photos and you will smile. 

 

I have just signed up for this trip and hope some of you will do so as well. I think it will give us some insight into the very complex matter that looms so large, in the electoral season and beyond.

 

Mark of St. Mark