Treatment of Aliens

                 A couple of weeks ago I did a post on illegal immigration. One reader asked me this:

“I've read about Christians who will help illegal immigrants because they believe they are

helping the disenfranchised. That doesn't seem right to me but how could I turn someone down

who needs food or shelter? What do you think”

                To answer this question, I have turned to the Bible. The Old Testament is often called the Book of Laws and the New Testament is referred to as the New Covenant. This has caused many people to abolish the laws of the Old Testament and only read the New Testament. However, the Old Testament is full of the testimonies of lives of godly people and laws that should still apply to our lives today because God is unchanging and unmoving. You may wonder why I am saying all of this. It’s because the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy have verses that refer to the treatment of aliens. I am not talking about extraterrestrials-those don’t exist. What I am talking about are residents born in or belonging to another country who have not acquired citizenship by naturalization.

“Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels

to be aliens, being you were aliens in Egypt.”

-Exodus 23:9

“He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves

the alien, giving him food and clothing. And you are to

love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt.”

-Deuteronomy 10:18-19

                We all have ancestors, or even parents and grandparents, who came to America from another country. They were all immigrants at some point. Illegal immigrants are hurting our economy and breaking God’s law as well as our country’s law by residing here without documentation. However, we are not to degrade them or keep them from having food and a safe place to stay. I’ll admit, at one point I did feel that we should not even do that for these people because they are here illegally. I still do not support their way of living in America illegally but after reading the verses I am sharing with you, my mindset changed. They helped me realized that the aliens still share the same God as us and God wants us to help everyone as He does. America is God’s land! If we show them compassion then we are showing God’s grace. This does not mean to allow them to stay here illegally, but rather encourage them to go through the naturalization process as our families did. 

Illegal Immigration