February 19, 2006
Rev. Henry Ticknor
Unitarian Universalist Church of the Shenandoah Valley
Captain John Smith: Illegal Alien
Several years ago I had an opportunity to visit Ellis Island in New York Harbor. Ellis Island, the place that for generations welcomed all those seeking political and religious freedoms as well as adventurers, the wanderers, the persecuted, and the fortune seekers.
It was a week day in January so the number of visitors was very small and I can still recall what a powerful experience it was to stand in the great halls where countless immigrants from countless countries arrived for processing before being admitted to this country.
Walking up the steps from the docks and moving into the large spaces of the buildings I could sense the presence of the thousands, even millions of individual men and women, husbands and wives, children and relatives who had stood in this very same place.
It felt as if I could hear the multitude of languages being spoken, the crying of infants, some born on the ships that brought them, the coughing from those with tuberculosis and the cries of anguish from those declared unsuitable for entry who were culled out and separated from those they loved.
From the main building I went to the nearby train station where these new Americans boarded trains that took them to cities across the country. It seemed as if the tracks that left the station quickly went off in all directions symbolizing the different destinations and journeys of all who passed through Ellis Island.
When the time came to board the ferry that had brought me, I left Ellis Island knowing that for generations this had been a destination of great joy for many and a place of great despair for the thousands who were denied entry to our country. I left thinking that in many ways this place was like a giant loom that produced a tapestry of many colors reflecting the beliefs, traditions and individual stories of generations of new Americans.
So, this morning I want to conduct one of my occasional and highly unscientific congregational polls. I like to conduct these informal surveys for two reasons.
First, I think they help us to get to know one another better and secondly they always point out what a diverse group we really are. This morning's survey has to do with when did you or your families immigrate to this country.
So let's see. Are there any here this morning who immigrated to this country within their lifetimes? What was your country of origin? When did you come to the United States?
Are there any here whose parents emigrated from another country? What countries did they come from? Grandparents? Great grandparents? Is there anyone here whose relatives were already in America when the Europeans first arrived?
It probably isn't a great revelation that this is a country whose growth and prosperity came as a result of immigration. During the colonial period most of the immigrants to the U.S. came from northern Europe. In the 1800s many came from Germany and Ireland where crop failure created extreme hunger and famine.
While most came to seek their fortunes and to experience religious freedom, others were brought forcibly and against their will to work as forced laborers in the mostly agricultural southern colonies.
By 1882 Congress had passed the first immigration statute barring Chinese immigrants from entering this country.
In the 1920's, quotas designed to maintain the country's original ethnic and racial make-up formed the basis for most new immigration laws and it was not until the 1960's that the quota system was abolished; however the demographics of those admitted into the United States continued to favor white Europeans and their descendents.
Writing in a white paper on immigration, Maurice Waters, a staffer in the office of Congressman John Conyers, captured this country's mixed record on immigration.
"Despite the noble and compassionate words of Emma Lazarus inscribed on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty in 1903, Americans have not always reflected that spirit of support for the immigrant even in the early years of our country's development.
Questions were raised by some of our founding fathers including Benjamin Franklin about who and how many newcomers should be admitted to these shores."
Waters writes that "If we look at our history of immigration concerns and legislation, one could conclude that America has been preoccupied with four issues:
- From our founding days until WWII our emphasis was on maintaining our original racial and religious characteristics.
- From WWII to the present our concern has been to maintain our ideological values of capitalism and democracy.
- Throughout our entire history we kept our doors open to the persecuted
- Throughout our history we continued to stress our needs for labor and scientific know-how."
Today's immigrants come from all parts of the world. The current phase of US immigration resulted from the elimination of strict quotas based on nationality.
In 1978 our government set an annual worldwide quota of 290,000 immigrants. In 1990 that number was raised to 700,000. But in spite of these limits, in reality immigrants have been arriving at a pace that has often exceeded one million persons per year.
But in addition to those who enter this country legally, by some estimates 500,000 immigrants enter this country illegally each year and by one estimate the total number of undocumented residents in this country is about 11 million--many of whom are from Mexico.
An editorial in the most recent edition of the liberal journal Christianity Today asks the question, "What should U.S. immigration policy be?" The author answers this question in this way:
"For the far right, the answer is obvious: close the boarders. The U.S. cannot and should not absorb such numbers. This view," the author continues, "is regularly touted on Fox News, whose commentators decry the porousness of U.S. boarders, argue for stepped up policing--perhaps even a fence along the entire U.S.-Mexico boarder--and for cracking down on those who employ or aid undocumented migrants.
But some in business believe that the immigrants from Mexico and Latin America are a vital source of cheap labor.
In the words of the editorial, "Immigrants fill a host of unskilled jobs that would otherwise go begging." Business interests recognize that immigrants are a crucial part of the economy."
The views of liberals are not much clearer. Most are open in principle to the arrival of these new Americans, while at the same time they worry what the effect of large numbers of workers willing to work for low wages may have on U.S. workers.
Again, according the author of the editorial, "Some African-Americans worry that immigrants are taking jobs away from their ranks. Other citizens argue that the only real response to the immigration rate is to improve economic opportunity in Latin America..."
Back in early October Senator Bill Frist put this announcement out on one of his websites:
"Somewhere on the Texas/Mexico border, hundreds of immigrants will enter our country tonight. And they'll do so illegally. The scariest part? We have absolutely NO idea what they'll do tomorrow ... on U.S. soil.
Over 330,000 non-citizens cross into our borders each year; many of them illegally. It is estimated that 10 million people now live in the United States without proper legal documentation.
This poses a dire humanitarian threat -- and indeed a dangerous national security threat."
The thinking of some of his constituents are also posted on this website:
"Some bloggers have pointed out unnecessarily that we are a nation of immigrants. In fact, that statement should be revise to say "we were a nation of immigrants" because today we should no longer be admitting a million legal immigrants each year and allowing untold numbers of illegals to flood our country, many of whom fail to assimilate and hold views inimical ( unfriendly) to our democracy. Instead they establish enclaves which reflect allegiance to the countries from whence they came and some continue barbaric cultural practices and beliefs which are foreign to and which threaten America's very foundations...."
And my personal favorite:
"We need tighter borders. We need to build a wall along the Southern border of our country. The wall should be 20 feet high with barbed wire on the outside and machine gun towers with spotlights. The time is past for just increasing border patriol (sic)agents or more helicopter flights."
So what is to be done? Clearly big fences and increased boarder patrols are not the only answer. And I agree with the writer from the Christian Century who concludes, "(one)...response is recognizing that most of the undocumented workers are here to stay, and that they are indeed a vital part of the economy. The alternative is to deport 11 million people--which is simply unrealistic..."
But beyond such issues as visas and drivers licenses, amnesty and education, I believe that there is another equally important issue that faces us as a religious institution---the issue of radical hospitality.
The three Abrahamic traditions all profess strong admonishments that their followers are to welcome the stranger to our land.
The Hebrew Bible reminds us of the place of the stranger who comes to us seeking shelter and assistance, "The strangers who sojourn among you shall be as the natives among you, and you shall love them as yourself; for you were once strangers in the land of Egypt (Lev. 19:33-34).
And in the New Testament Jesus tells us that "What you do to the least of my brethren, you do unto me (Mat. 25:40).
And the Qur'an instructs the followers of Islam to "Serve God...and do good to ...orphans, those in need, neighbors who are near, neighbors who are strangers, the companion by your side, the wayfarer that you meet, and those who have nothing."
So as we enter this debate may our words be guided by more than simple political rhetoric and may we continue to affirm that behind each quota, each visa, each undocumented alien there is a human face just like ours.
Katy Pitcock who was a great resource in researching this morning's sermon sent me an editorial from the Roanoke Times that makes a crucial point and humanizes the immigration debate. The editorial reads in part:
"Hanger, an Augusta Republican, formerly subscribed to the school of thought that people who come to this country illegally shouldn't be rewarded with the benefits of a society supported by true Virginians.
That kind of thinking led him to propose an immigrant tuition bill that would have required state colleges to charge out-of-state tuition to the children of illegal immigrants, if the schools accepted them at all.
But Hanger had a change of heart. Perhaps it came with the realization that while his colleagues might support his bill, Gov. Tim Kaine would not.
Perhaps it was the reaffirmation of patriotism and recognition of the United States' great melting pot while presiding at naturalization ceremonies.
Or perhaps it was one face alone, belonging to the woman his son had chosen to make his bride, an immigrant from the Philippines who recently received her U.S. citizenship.
Perhaps a bit of each shaped Hanger's compassionate discovery that laws aren't created in a vacuum. Undocumented immigrants aren't simply an issue that can be generalized away with stereotypes. They are people."
And this, I think, is the heart of the debate. Whether we call them immigrants, undocumented works, or illegal aliens, we are not talking about nameless and faceless statistics we are talking about real people.
Indeed, we are talking about real people like a young woman of Katy's acquaintance who is studying to become a nurse practitioner but could be denied her dreams if legislation passes charging her out-of-state tuition.
Real people Like An and Susan who are fighting to change the verbiage in U.S. immigration laws so same-sex partnerships are allowed equal rights as married couples.
As it stands, gay couples are not afforded the same benefits as heterosexual couples in the boundaries of immigration. Once a heterosexual couple gets married, a green card is almost a shoo-in for the foreign partner.
Because gay couples can't marry they are being ripped apart because of antiquated immigration laws.
If we truly believe in such ideals as the inherent worth and dignity of all people, and the principles of peace, liberty and justice for all then as a religious institution I believe we have a responsibility to take an active role in this debate.
Let me share a story adapted from one in Kathleen Norris' book Dakota. This story, said to have originated in a Russian Orthodox monastery, has an older monk telling a younger one: "I have finally learned to accept people as they are.
Whatever they are in the world, a prostitute, or a prime minister; a poor laborer or the owner of the factory, it is all the same to me. Remember we are encouraged not to judge others so that we ourselves will not be judged. Sometimes when I see a stranger coming up the road on a cold and snow night in tattered clothing and looking exhausted and famished, I say to myself, "Jesus is that you?"
We Unitarian Universalist have a long history of advancing the cause of human rights. We have stood firmly against the ravages of slavery; we have marched with the women who won the right to vote; and we worked throughout the south to bring an end to segregation and persecution of African-Americans.
We have stood alongside our Quaker brothers and sisters in the cause of peace. And most recently, we have been engaged in the fight for marriage equality. Among our saints we count such prominent names as Susan B. Anthony, Dorothea Dix, Clarence Darrow, Albert Schweitzer and James Reeb who was murdered during the march on Selma.
This proud heritage is the foundation on which we must stand if we are to protect another class of oppressed and persecuted people. We need to be vocal in our opposition to punitive and demeaning legislation that seeks to reduce the newest wave of Americans into a nameless and faceless, mob.
We need to work together to assure that the term illegal alien doesn't become synonymous with other pejorative words that have been used to ridicule and embarrass other generations of immigrants.
We have a proud tradition of standing on the side freedom and justice for all. I believe that as people of faith we are called to bring into this debate the moral dimensions of the issue.
We are called upon to uphold the human worth and dignity of each person. We are called upon to see the humanity behind the faces of those whose futures we are debating.
And we are called upon to honor them so that they will not be strangers in a strange land but neighbors and coworkers, students and volunteers, lovers and spouses. We are called upon to welcome the stranger as we or our parents, or grandparents or those before them were welcomed in a new land.
And we are called upon to practice radical hospitality. The author George Steiner put it this way, "I believe we are still here to help women and men to learn to live as each other's guests.
We are guests of this life. We are guests of this planet...people should learn a new language, a new way of life, learn to be guests and let others be their guest."
At Ellis Island I felt the presence of thousands and I was moved by their stories. Today I am moved a desire to ensure that the tired, the poor, the homeless, the persecuted will be received as guests so that their stories will be told as well.
Amen and blessed be
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