REPENTANCE BEFORE AMNESTY: A Prophetic Cry to the Christian Immigrant Community in the United States Dr Josimar Salum

REPENTANCE BEFORE AMNESTY: A Prophetic Cry to the Christian Immigrant Community in the United States

Dr Josimar Salum

06/27/2025

The debate about immigration, especially in the Christian context, involves not only political and legal aspects but also a profound spiritual dimension. Over more than 30 years serving wholeheartedly among fellow Brazilians and many immigrants from other nations, I have observed recurring situations that reveal serious distortions, both in legality and in moral integrity.

On one hand, there is a clear and urgent need for immigration reform that can bring dignified and humane solutions to millions of people. On the other hand, one cannot ignore that many immigrants, consciously or not, end up wounding this land by breaking laws, opening the door to spiritual and social consequences that go far beyond simple illegality.

There are concrete cases that illustrate this reality. People enter the United States with a tourist visa, already planning to work and stay illegally, taking on a lie at the very moment of entry. Others, holders of a student visa, go on to work even though they know the law does not allow it, justifying themselves with phrases like, “No one will find out; I have to survive.”These same people, however, sign documents formally declaring they will not work, which constitutes deliberate fraud.

There are also sham marriages carried out exclusively to obtain immigration benefits. Petitions without a truthful basis are presented under the pretext of “helping someone,” but in practice, far from the truth, whether in religious processes or asylum requests.

Another concerning aspect involves businesses that, in order to avoid tax obligations, opt for informal and unregistered payments, encouraging “under the table” agreements. In many of these cases, there is no demonstration of repentance; on the contrary, there is even a certain pride in the ability to circumvent the rules, under the justification of sustaining and providing for the family.

Such behaviors, besides violating civil law, create serious spiritual breaches. It is like mocking the laws of the country that welcomes them, trying to gain advantages without respecting its norms. Added to this is the reality of people who cross the border in absolutely irregular conditions, fully aware they do not meet any legal criteria, and yet try to legitimize such practices, rationalizing their attitudes in the name of economic or social issues.

In this scenario, the need for genuine repentance in the Christian community stands out. The text of 2 Chronicles 7:14 warns us: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” Many prefer to treat these acts as mere justified mistakes, but they remain sins that break legal and spiritual principles, leaving doors open for painful consequences.

Therefore, it is urgent to proclaim a clear message of repentance that awakens consciences and especially sensitizes the Christian immigrant community. Even when these practices occurred before a genuine conversion to Christ, there is room for confession and a cry for forgiveness, so that God can fully work restoration in these lives.

A worrying phenomenon has also been observed in immigration legal practice: unscrupulous lawyers and professionals, known for fraudulent practices and for promising “shortcuts,” were repeatedly hired by people of faith, often without any ethical questioning. This was also seen in the Massachusetts region, where there was a high number of cases sponsored by churches involving identical petitions and dubious advice, evidencing a pattern of complicity. Even before the judge, many falsely declared they had not received help, when it was clear that the entire process was intermediated. The predictable result, in many cases, was the denial of requests and the worsening of their immigration situation.

This reflection does not aim to condemn, but rather to make an urgent call to repentance, conversion, and the practice of justice. It is necessary to recognize that many have abused the system, seeking shortcuts and justifications to circumvent rules, harming principles of honesty and integrity. The book of Proverbs reminds us: “Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law resist them” (Proverbs 28:4). And further: “Better is the poor who walks in his integrity than one who is perverse in his ways, though he be rich”(Proverbs 28:6).

These truths invite us to reflect on the importance of remaining firm in truth, respecting norms, and submitting to just principles — not merely out of fear of human law, but as a living testimony of the character of Christ.

The repentance that is needed should not be generic, but profound, transformative, and specifically directed toward the practices mentioned: lies to obtain visas, false statements, sham marriages, fraudulent petitions, informal payments, tax evasion, and benefits unjustly obtained — behaviors that offend the values of honesty and violate the justice of God.

The Word reinforces: “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy” (Proverbs 28:13). May there be courage and discernment to proclaim this message without fear, calling the community of faith to live in the light of justice and righteousness, not only in speech, but especially in attitudes and in the willingness to humble themselves, avoiding judging and condemning others or taking pride in any sense of self-righteousness.

This reflection echoes the call of John the Baptist, who proclaimed to the people: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matthew 3:2), reminding us that repentance is not merely a feeling of guilt, but implies a change of mindset and conduct, with concrete results and visible fruit.

This analysis points to a sensitive and urgent matter, so often silenced: the need for true repentance within the Christian immigrant community. May the voice of the Holy Spirit find hearts willing to listen and obey, so that there may be healing, restoration, and transformation both on a personal level and collectively.

And may Almighty God grant us His amnesty, even before, by His mercy, He might move the country to offer any amnesty to immigrants. 

Psalm 103 (excerpt)

6 The Lord works righteousness

and justice for all the oppressed.

7 He made known his ways to Moses,

his deeds to the people of Israel.

8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,

slow to anger, abounding in love.

9 He will not always accuse,

nor will he harbor his anger forever;

10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve

or repay us according to our iniquities.

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his love for those who fear him;

12 as far as the east is from the west,

so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

13 As a father has compassion on his children,

so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;

14 for he knows how we are formed,

he remembers that we are dust.

#ASONE

Letter to a willing migrant to America

Dear sister;

I understand exactly what you are going on and I can related myself with some of your situations. 

What I am going to share is not the ideal scenario and I will write based on my belief that obedience to laws is not absolute. By living in Cracovia, by now you should have understood this easily. There are laws that are simply unjust, anywhere, and in my case I will never obey them. Unless it costs me too much, if not displease my Lord, I simply declare with clean conscience, by faith, they are not for me. So I move on...

Yes, we must respect and obey authorities. Yes, I do uphold the Constitution of my country and abide by the laws of the Land. However there are some laws that contradict directly what God says and with those laws I don't want to have nothing with. I don't even let my conscience feel guilty. I merely don't think about it.

I don't know what are the financial costs involved'as you migrate. Let us suppose you clean this financial obstacle. What I mean is you would pursue your dream step by step and you have to effectively start it. Plainly saying if you have to work here there are always a way to do it. Give to the Lord what is the Lord's and to Caesar what is to Caesar's. But be sure that Caesar's never wants to give what is the Lord's. Think about it!

Researching, dreaming, expecting, planning and all of those things you have been experiencing for so long and you have been involved with for so long added to your old vision and desire to migrate to America must be over. You should step in by faith, move on through any door opened and let the time brings you to another challenge and only by then, on that specific time, you will face it and make a decision.

You may object that coming here you will have to work to pay your school while you should not work with a Student Visa... You could reason that a Student Visa would be just for an year and then, after one year, "what will I do? What about when my time here is over? Why if I have to return to Cracovia? What about the ties I have to cut off in Cracovia to come to America and if I need then when I return? And if, if, if... if nothing doesn't work, "what am I going to do?" You see... Just thinking... You did nothing, You didn't step by faith.

See, you are not moving forward step by step, you are attaching uncertain tough questions to easier real present decisions. If you make one decision at a time any decision can open to you a set of possibilities that you will never experience unless you decide your way after each step you move forward.

Frustration is the fake sense of not being able to get over something you thought you could not do so you have never tried or you have tried but you just went half way to accomplish it because you believed the lie it was not possible. The Truth is: all things are possible! I can assure you that with my own testimonies. Yes, we can do all things with God.

Let me encourage you to stop dreaming, I mean, sleeping. Awake up to the fact that it is not you or any fulfilment of any laws that justifies you, but only Jesus. I mean, get rid of that illusion you can be justified by fulfilling the Law. You will never do it and I bet you you don't even follow all the Laws in your own country.

Let us gain your attention to the fact that your depression and suffering for the current problems you face are temporaries. You are not alone in the universe with the type of problems you face, you are not unique, you are not special, all similar sufferings are present in many believers houses around the world. 

Like if you were always thinking or saying: "You have no idea what I have been through. If you just know it!"

If I really knew it I would not be able any way to help entirely with what you need, the same way people can't not help me the way I think I need or deserve, they simply can't help me with many problems I go through. If I am depressed I myself will absorb all the sadness that it comes with, drop by drop, until nothing is left and I will patiently go (I have no other option anyway) as deep as I can into all the implications I am surrounded with. So, I think, let me cry all I can cry and be in my room by myself all the time I want to, because all will pass away. Do you understand me?

Let us call you to meet the Lord at the airport, with tickets to your destiny and let the misery of trying to please God by your efforts, depending on somebody and something else, be gone. God is already totally pleased with you, daughter, and those who are completely pleased with Him He makes their hearts's desires to pass.

Be blessed,

Josimar Salum

Immigration: A Uniform Rule of Naturalization

January 23, 2013  |  Worcester, Massachusetts

By Josimar Salum

My son, my wife and I are immigrants from Brazil. The day of our Oath to become American citizens was quite a special day to be remembered for the rest of our lives.

Our son is married to an immigrant young lady and they gave us a grandson who was born in Boston. As citizens native born or naturalized we all have the same rights and duties, except the right to be elected President. Only a native born has this unique right.

On debating the Immigration issue I must be very clear that I am against illegal stuff: any kind of disturbance of the Order and disobedience of the Law, the act of people crossing the borders illegally, breaking of criminal and civil laws, any illegal behaviors, any crime and I am especially against terrorism.

I am also against injustice of all kinds, oppression, slavery and anything and anybody that hinder any people the Pursuit of Happiness and Freedom.

I believe that those who break the Law should be prosecuted through a Due Process as I also believe can find mercy at the Courtroom. I have seen Honorable Judges and Prosecutors acquainting defendants, especially young people, for civil violations and for minor criminal acts.

I have saw Justice in all the instances and cases I served along as a defendant, a plaintiff or as a juror.

Justice is not served when:

- Enforcing the letter of the Law with severity because there are Laws that are simply not right;

- In any given individual case mistakes are committed. As it is, each of us in the US Justice System is judged individually. Justice
is not served by the possibility of an error; these may happen,

-  But Justice is served by the power of the Democracy of our Nation which was founded upon Principles of Life, Freedom and Justice.

The right to pursuing happiness is based on and related to the individual freedoms that we still enjoy like any other place in this planet (because they are endowed by our Creator): of Expression, Speech, Press, of Worship, of Assembly, and most important the Freedom to be an individual.

The tyranny of Government and even tyranny from the Courtrooms should never prevail because free individuals cannot be manipulated, all of them at the same time, never.

This precious jewel called Freedom we enjoy today is the result of the fight of brave men and women who died here and abroad.
Just to name one example as much as Brazil has a Supreme Law in the Land called “the Constitution of the Citizens” it is not as quite for the Citizens indeed.

The concept of “Freedom even at last” on a flag of one of the Brazil states does not fit our Conscience. We want freedom now, never for tomorrow.

The general welfare in societies is only possible if each individual can pursue his own welfare and of his family. It is the right to pursue happiness that makes individuals responsible for each other.

We are a blessed nation indeed, one Nation under God with Justice and Liberty for all.

When I read the Preamble of I call "The Constitution of Freedom" I always realize that I am touching serious fabrics of civilization.

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish  Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general  Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

It is in the Constitution Article 1 Section 8 that says that among many powers the Congress has the power to “establish a uniform Rule of Naturalization.”

The United States have been a beacon and a refuge of hope from generation to generation that has draw more people from other nations than any other country in the world have done.

Migration movements, good and bad, righteous and unrighteous also have been related to the US economy since the time of its foundation.

From Africans brought without their will to the Chinese who built railroads to Mexicans who harvested our produce to be served in our table to Europeans, Asians, Latinos, Brazilian who built our structures: migrants have been cleaning our houses and market places and serving our donuts and coffees, and venturing as entrepreneurs to and in our industries.

And more, vietnamese, Afghans and Iraqis who immigrated as refugees from the war we (even we have) waged, all of them have found here the dreams they never had and the abundance they never imagined.

And as much as I know we are all them and they are becoming us all, just Americans.

There is a cry in the land from all its inhabitants for a “Uniform Rule of Naturalization” that symbolizes our kindness, materializes our need for security and brings Justice to millions who entered here lawful and unlawful, yes, unlawful as they stayed by all means for lack of right laws and protected by a broken system.

There are many on waiting lines on our Consulates around the world who want to come.

Our propaganda around the world about our prosperity and freedom would for sure attract anybody who dared to dream to come to a place called theLand of the Free and Home of the Brave.

We sold out millions of movies and have showed our youth well dressed and well fed at the fringes [?] of extreme knowledge and progress for the world to see.

We have accumulated technological advances and produced so many novel products put together they have inebriated infatuated young and old. Even kids far way and at the most diverse places dream of growing up just to move to America.

We have become champions in almost everything and the youth from other nations saw the brilliance of our schools and desired to come.

And they all came. Without our legal permission or not, they all came. And they stayed.

So what?

We wrote broken Laws; illegally they are enforced the way they should not be enforced, and we didn’t even take care of our borders.

We have allowed our corporations to hire anyone for decades and our farms to absorb any help. We liked the illegal participation of foreigners in our economy because we needed to benefit from the lower prices that that participation has produced.
In the history of our migration in times of abundance we demanded and welcomed migrants.

In times of economic distress and depression we blame them, persecute them and want them deported.
Individually we may be not responsible. Individually the migrants should be responsible. But as a nation of individuals we should consider this. We are all guilty as charged of the collective damage done to individual illegal immigrants.

The British came and killed the Native American. What an ignorance and cruelty! They did what they thought was right! They were wrong. And it has cost a long effort of reconciliation and a long time of restoration. And even today there is no total and complete healing yet on this matter.

But the British men also loved the Native American girls. They all came, the Dutch, the Swedish, and Italians, and all others. They got married, girls with boys, they had children, all Americans. Their children grew up, and the native - born have now married each other.

They constructed houses, farmed the land, built institutions, churches, schools, universities, a huge civilization.

What, in the beginning, started with a Commonwealth has not ended until this day.

They built a nation as if they were building a Kingdom, a Kingdom for God to bless the people, any of them, all of them.

America was a tower of refuge and a stronghold for security, a fortress for the persecuted and a fort of peace. And still is.

They developed the whole land. They united with each other and along with values, cultures, traditions, wealth, from different backgrounds and they became and came to be known as Americans.

Here we are, native born and from other nations, a society based in the gathering of principles never seen in any other nation, a melting pot as any other nation in this planet.

Here we are, hundreds of years later, facing a challenge of huge proportions of having to decide what we will do with our inheritance.

More than 12 million (18?) of so-called illegal they can remain illegal or not - only until the Congress decides to act. It is their duty. It is our responsibility.

Maybe this time we will do it right and promote an amnesty not just for them but for all of us, once for all.

A BIBLICAL VIEW ON IMMIGRATION

A BIBLICAL VIEW ON IMMIGRATION
By Josimar Salum

The America’s “ethnic churches” are facing dilemmas about the law and the role of the church in the lives of undocumented people. There are legal and social concerns demanding answers for problems that impact thousands of communities all across America.

In America there are millions of undocumented people that are in desperate need to be reached with the Gospel of the Kingdom.

The Church of Christ in America has thousands and thousands of undocumented people participating in its life, leadership and ministry.

U.S. officials recognize that there are 12 million of “illegal” people living in America soil that may be benefited with the President Bush Guest Worker’s Program.

However these numbers are far from the real number which nobody has true knowledge, some saying that the numbers can reach the total of at least 30 million undocumented people living today in the United States.

These are the questions we ask today in the light of this reality:

· How the ministers deal with the legal issues facing the immigration community?

· How the church can help integrate the immigrants into the American society?

· Why people leave their countries to come to America?

· Does God bless illegal immigrants and churches filled with them?

· What is the main role of the church (if any) in dealing with the immigration community?

· Why is the Anglo speaking church indifferent with the issue of Immigration?

· Does the Bible speak about Immigration?


DEBATING THE ROLE OF THE CHURCH IN THE IMMIGRATION COMMUNITY

In May of 2005 the BMNET – Brazilian Ministers Network and World Vision promoted a Congress in which a debate over this issue was part of the program.

The speakers were Paul Freston, Ricardo Gondim, Ronaldo Martins, Cairo Marques and Josimar Salum.

We summoned the churches of the “Evangelical Diaspora” to develop a Theology of the Undocumented” - a Theology of the Immigrant that answers the following questions among many others:

ü Can a Christian live and work illegally in another country?

ü Can a Christian pay bribes to authorities to cross the borders of the United States?

ü Can the Church develop its work of evangelization in another country ignoring the problems of its members who break immigration laws and live in secrecy?

ü Does a Christian have an ethical and moral justification to break the Immigration laws of a country giving as excuse his survival necessity?

ü Is Ethical standard relative when the survival is in game?

ü Is it right the simple desire of expansion of the Gospel to justify “illegal” immigration?

ü Is it right to move a ministry to another country that can offer better alternatives for the ministerial prosperity like the corporations commonly do to get more profitability?

Ricardo Gondim affirmed four things as a result of the Congress discussion that is relevant for our debate today. To that I am adding some comments:

1 – The Evangelical Ethics is convenient and varies according to the culture.

It prioritizes some “sins” that had been culturally taught as more serious – to drink alcoholic beverage, the adultery, the homosexualism, etc.

When collated with the necessity to coexist other circumstances – to pay a bribe to a Mexican officer to cross the border, to lie to the Immigration officer or Consul, to drive without a Driver’s License, to work with a fake Social Security number - they start to see these things “small sins” and have more “condescension”.

Perhaps the Church needs exactly this “condescension” to be more humane. The Church in centuries co-existed with the Theology of “Moral Perfection”, and always had much guilt as believers could not admit their sins, errors and imperfections. The Victorian and Puritan Ethics always generated a lot of hypocrisy, hurting many people.

The Pastors of the Ethnic Churches have to show this kind of condescension if they don’t want to be left alone in their buildings.

The believers of the Diaspora Church can teach the rest of the Church that the complexity of these issues can lead us all to be more merciful and less legalistic and see that life is more complex than we think.


2 – The evangelical perception is triumphantly exaggerated.

The Brazilian Evangelicals per example believe that they were called to change the world indeed.

In Brazil many of their institutional projects are megalomaniac and sometimes inconsequent as the Evangelicalism became a movement of the multitudes drawn by a triumphalism message without the Cross.

But far away above the Ecuador line pastors are confronted with another reality as they don’t experience the same success in reaching other cultures even their own people who here are vested with other cultural characteristics. Church growth is not as fast as in their home countries.

Experiencing these difficulties along with the immigration, ethical and moral issues can help making us more humble.

3 – The leaders of the Diaspora Church do need to rethink their Evangelical Theology deepening it into a more Biblical academic perspective.

The ultimate goal of the today’s church emphasizes more on results especially on numbers than the Character of its constituents.

Their message and their preaching became more appellative to the emotions and the well being of the listeners than to the conversion and sanctification of their lives.

A Christian church can not impact a society with words of non-sense, but only with the transformed lives of the people through experiencing the transformational power of the Gospel.


4. The Evangelical Missiology is not transparent.

Few have the courage to admit that there are financial interests behind this new wave of missionary work outreach to the nations of the First World.

There are cases that the move of the ministry to US and Europe is based on financial reasons and not on a calling of God. And a denial of this is condemnable because it may lead to opportunism and greed.

What is the main reason to plant a church to reach immigrants in a country? How this church can contribute to the country where it is inserted? How this church can impact the society and bless the community around it?

There is no problem at all in leaving your country to get a better life overseas. There is nothing wrong in being an immigrant.

Ultimately it is not immoral to seek for a better life for your family.

Jeremiah 29:4 –7 declares: “This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: "Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper."


THE FACTS AND THE REALITY OVER THE IMMIGRANTS

These are the facts, cruel reality for some people. However it is only the daily challenge for millions of families accustomed to live in secrecy, those who crossed the borders to live in the United States.

The majority of the immigrants who had entered and live in this country did not carry a work visa or legal documents to inhabit here. In all the history of immigration in America this proves to be accurate.

Since the Pilgrims and throughout the history millions of immigrants flooded ships and airplanes and ultimately the Mexican borders and moved to America with the solemn dream to live in the Land of the Freedom and the Home of the Brave. With papers or no papers they arrived here to stay and here they lived in the past and live in these days. Their children born in American soil are naturally born although their parents may not even get the chance to become citizens in their life time.

Those who walk through the borders prayed to find the “right coyotes”, paid them a high sum of money (most of the time borrowed from relatives, friends and in the worse scenario from strangers paying exorbitant finance charges) and asked God not to be caught by the Immigrant Officials.

Others go prayerfully to the American Consulates in their countries and apply for a Tourist Visa, writing in the forms the promise they will not work when they arrive in U.S. The Consul grants the Visa and they come. And after a few days, if not the next day, they find a job and they began their lives and prosper doing jobs most of the natural born Americans don’t want.

Many preachers who come to visit US and preach in the churches are not allowed to share the Gospel, because they were granted with B1-B2 Visas and not with R-1 Visa (Religious Visa).

Those who arrive with Tourist Visas and those who cross the borders without a Visa are not allowed by Law to work in US, but here as I previously said they find jobs, they attend schools, they even file taxes as the Government issues a Tax Identification Number for them.

As a matter of fact, anyone can apply to IRS to get an ITIN and with that number they can report the money they receive from their jobs or their businesses though they are not allowed to work.


WHAT THE BIBLE SPEAKS ABOUT IMMIGRATION?

I myself have read the Bible with the eyes of an immigrant looking for answers about my own dilemmas and the dilemmas of my people.

And I have found amazingly how the Word deals with the subject and tell the history of many immigrants who crosses borders to live in other countries.

The Bible has a lot to say about Immigration.

The Bible is par excellence a history book of immigrants. From Genesis to Revelation this subject predominates.

Since Abraham to John, exiled in the Patmos Island, the Bible tells the history of men and women who had left their native land to live in other people's lands.

1 - The Bible is the Revelation of the God of the Immigrants, the God who protects and defends the immigrants.

Psalm 146:9: The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

2 - God commanded Israel to treat the immigrants well and to love them, to feed them, therefore in the past they had also been immigrant.

Exodus 22:21: "Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt.

Leviticus 19:34: The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy 10:19: And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt.

Deuteronomy 14:29: So that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

Leviticus 23:22: 'When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.'

3 - God commanded the same laws to be observed by the native-born and the aliens.

Leviticus 18:26: But you must keep my decrees and my laws. The native-born and the aliens living among you must not do any of these detestable things,

Leviticus 19:34: The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born

Numbers 15:29: One and the same law applies to everyone who sins unintentionally, whether he is a native-born Israelite or an alien.

Deuteronomy 24:14: “You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether one of your brethren or one of the aliens who is in your land within your gates.

4 - God made provision to make the aliens live lawfully among His people.

Deuteronomy 29:10-12: All of you are standing today in the presence of the LORD your God—your leaders and chief men, your elders and officials, and all the other men of Israel, together with your children and your wives, and the aliens living in your camps who chop your wood and carry your water. You are standing here in order to enter into a covenant with the LORD your God, a covenant the LORD is making with you this day and sealing with an oath.

Deuteronomy 31:12: Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the aliens living in your towns—so they can listen and learn to fear the LORD your God and follow carefully all the words of this law.

5 - God demanded His people not to take advantage of anyone who are poor and needy, even if they were immigrants.

Deuteronomy 24:14: Do not take advantage of a hired man who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother Israelite or an alien living in one of your towns.

6 - God ordered the Justice to serve all, including the immigrants.

Deuteronomy 24:17: Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge.

Deuteronomy 27:19: "Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

7 - God established the right of the Israelites to live in their own land summoning them to treat appropriately the immigrants as a condition to preserve that right.

Jeremiah 7:5-7: If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever.

8 - It is in the Bible that God reprehended severely the leaders of His people for their oppression to the aliens.

Ezekiel 22:6-7: 'See how each of the princes of Israel who are in you uses his power to shed blood. In you they have treated father and mother with contempt; in you they have oppressed the alien and mistreated the fatherless and the widow.

Ezekiel 22:29: The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the alien, denying them justice.

Zechariah 7:10: Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.'

Malachi 3:5: "So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me," says the LORD Almighty.

9 - We are after all aliens and immigrants in this Earth.

Leviticus 25:23: 'The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants.

1 Peter 2:11: Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.

10 - The Bible narrates the history of His pilgrim people in strange lands.

1 Chronicles 16:17-22: He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant: "To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit." When they were but few in number, few indeed, and strangers in it, they wandered from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another. He allowed no man to oppress them; for their sake he rebuked kings: "Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm."

11 - In the days of King Solomon 153.600 aliens were living in Israel and they were assigned to build the Temple.

2 Chronicles 2:17-18: Solomon took a census of all the aliens who were in Israel, after the census his father David had taken; and they were found to be 153,600. He assigned 70,000 of them to be carriers and 80,000 to be stonecutters in the hills, with 3,600 foremen over them to keep the people working.

12 - Solomon prayed to God mentioning that aliens were going to come to Israel attracted by His Great Name and asked Him to hear them as they would pray to Him.

I Kings 8:41-43: "As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name- for men will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when he comes and prays toward this temple, then hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.


THE BIBLE: A BOOK OF IMMIGRANTS

The Bible tells the History of Joseph in Egypt and how he became the Governor of the land in order to preserve the life of his own family; the history of Ruth, the woman immigrant who chose to make Israel her land and its people her people and Daniel and his friends, exiled immigrants in Babylon, who prospered there as they served the Lord in despite of the unjust laws of the land.

Acts of Apostles is an epic book of immigration. It tells how the disciples were traveling around the known world and living in other countries reaching the nations with the message of the Kingdom.

In general the Bible is the history of heavenly Citizens strangers and aliens in this world.

Hebrews 11:13: All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.

The two direct orders of God to bless the people of the Earth are in its nature and mission emigrational:

1) TO ABRAHAM:

Genesis 12:1-4: The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him.

God said to him: “Leave your country and go to the land I will show you.” In other words: Immigrate!

And in the immigration journey he lived a live with the dilemmas that many live today – how to live lawfully in the land of his journeys.

To protect himself and his wife Abraham instructed her to tell the Egyptians she was his sister instead of his wife.

Genesis 12:1-20: Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, "I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'This is his wife.' Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you." When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that she was a very beautiful woman. And when Pharaoh's officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels. But the LORD inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram's wife Sarai. So Pharaoh summoned Abram. "What have you done to me?" he said. "Why didn't you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, 'She is my sister,' so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!" Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.

How to tell the truth when there is life threatening danger? How to stand with the truth when the system does not give you a way out to accommodate your conscience to your moral patterns?

The same dilemma David lived where he fled to the stranger land of Gath.

I Samuel 21:10-15: That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath. But the servants of Achish said to him, "Isn't this David, the king of the land? Isn't he the one they sing about in their dances: 'Saul has slain his thousands and David his tens of thousands'?" David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard. Achish said to his servants, "Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?"

2) THE GREAT COMMISSION

Matthey 28:19-20: Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Mark 16:15: He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.
Jesus commanded them to go to all the nations. In other words He said: Immigrate!

Yes, it is an immigration charge. The disciples were charged to the entire world and by doing that they were made immigrants by the Great Commission.

Acts 1:8: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

SIN AND ILLEGALITY

It is illegal to preach the Gospel in many countries, but I am not convinced it is a sin at all.
With this statement lies a broader question: What it is illegal and what it is a sin?

The immigration community lives with this dilemma every day, although they wait for a change in the Law of the land so they may get the right to become “legal”. Yes, simply by a Government decree they may be able to stay in the land they have chosen to build their lives, to grow their families and to worship their God.

Five years ago a friend of mine asked me if I was going to develop a entire Theology of the Immigrants out of the Bible after I began to share with him some of the thoughts of this essay.

I simply responded him with another question: Why not?

Do the Scriptures have something to say to the millions of immigrants of this world? Do they are justified by God when they lie to the officers of a country and break its laws to live in the land they entered legally or illegally? Is it just and right a country that denies the rights of the people of the world to become their own citizens?

Those questions are not easy to answer and it was not my intent to answer them all here, even a few, because of the complexity of these issues and the delicacy of the subject.

One thing I am sure is that the Word of the Lord talks about immigration as well talks about the Laws and the Authorities we are suppose to obey and respect.

With no demagogy or false moral I have written openly about the immigration issue into the immigration world of ethical conflicts that millions face every day in living without papers and documents in a stranger land.

They have chosen this kind of life and face the consequences. But it is not that simple for them to return to their home land even knowing they may ever be able to collect social security benefits without getting their legal status.

MY OWN HISTORY AND EXPERIENCE

The life of an immigrant is not easy. My great grandfather Mr. Mussa (Moses) was a Lebanese who fled to Brazil in the beginning of the last century with his brothers and sisters.

They fled to save their lives, from the Turkish who invaded the Lebanon and were killing thousands and thousands of them.

He went to Brazil and lived illegally there in the first years. My grandfather Jamil used to tells us histories of how they lived in poverty and how the family survived despite of hunger and misery. Great grandfather Mussa died very young.

My grandfather Jamil started his own grocery business as well his other three brothers and they were successful.

In 1997, I myself immigrated to America, as a missionary, with my wife and our child. Here by God’s grace we have succeeded and He willing in the next months we will become American Citizens. The privilege to live in this county is something we do not take for granted.

In the last years, actually every year, millions of citizens of almost every nation on the planet come to America seeking for a better life, fleeing famine and hunger, unemployment, wars, genocide, or simply come with the dream to live in a land of opportunities as any other place in the world.

This blessed America became what it is today because of God’s blessing through many generations of immigrants from the past and in the present.

They have partnered with the native-born - who are all Immigrants descendants, except the Indians. They built this great nation and every minute millions of them are still working to make this Nation even greater and blessed.

In the last years thousands and thousands of true Christians immigrated to America to seek a better life. They challenged some of the laws of the land, argued themselves with conscience conflicts, but stay, living here with their families, preaching the Gospel and embracing the Church life.

Meanwhile thousands and thousands of them applied to the Permanent Visas and after years became Citizens as the Law changed and granted them the right.

To me the following Words of the Holy Spirit give light and a direction to this entire issue:

Acts 17:26: From one man he made every nation of men that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.

And they all came, with Visas and without them to the American north lands:

Zechariah 6:8 Then he called to me, "Look, those going toward the north country have given my Spirit rest in the land of the north."