Immigration Crisis

Back to Home Page

The Immigration Crisis in America

By Reed Benson

The United States of America has been moving toward a social precipice for several decades that has implications that can forever change our political and cultural fabric. If a change is not rapidly effected, it is only a matter of fifteen or twenty years before the point of critical mass is reached, and the America we have known for generations will be irretrievably lost. In 1965, our immigration policy was radically altered. As a consequence of this law, we are now receiving far more legal immigrants than ever before. Additionally, illegal immigration continues to mount, essentially out of control. Most Christians seem to be blinded to the gravity of the situation. For too long, Christians have presumed that this is an issue that either has no biblical principles upon which one should thoughtfully proceed or have assumed that the biblical exhortations of love and evangelism outweigh all other factors. On both counts, they have been wrong. The Bible and historical facts do speak in this area, if we have the ears to hear.

Nationhood

In scripture and in history, the concept of a nation is not merely a matter of borders or lines on a map. A nation is a reasonably homogenous ethnic grouping. It is a mass of individuals that have the common bonds of race, culture, and language that think of themselves as one unit and seek to act collectively. It is unquestionably God’s plan and moral will that the inhabitants of the earth be divided into separate and distinct nations—each with their own unique ethnic and cultural stamp. The first significant attempt to defy this principle by seeking to unify all peoples was at the Tower of Babel. God was not pleased with this trend so he intervened: "And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they let off to build the city" (Genesis 11:6-8). Under Moses this principle was reiterated by God: "When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel" (Deuteronomy 32:8). God insisted that Israel take steps to prevent the dilution of her ethnic and cultural heritage when she entered the Promised Land. Thus, Israel was forbidden to intermarry the native peoples. Such "multiculturalism" would destroy their national character. The simple concept that God desired different ethnic groups, races, and peoples to remain separate and retain their unique attributes is still valid today. Nowhere in the New Testament did God change this principle. In fact, the Beast of Revelation 17 is an amalgam of nations in one political, cultural, religious system that seeks to blur all distinctions and centralize power.

All attempts to erase or blur ethnic, cultural, and linguistic divisions as manifested in nations is a step toward the Tower of Babel. Many institutions have been organized for this very purpose, most notably the United Nations. All such organizations and notions must be resisted by Christians.

Is it unChristian to Limit Immigration?

Many Christians have been so inundated with the message of love that they cannot balance it with other biblical precepts. Is it unloving and unChristian to suggest that we should keep others from entering our land? Absolutely not. It is not unkind, unChristian, or wrong to admit that you love your own children more and prefer their company to the other children of your neighborhood. Neither is it wrong to refuse to share your inheritance with children other than your own offspring. Likewise, it is not unreasonable or unChristian to suggest we should not allow everyone who wants to enter America to have his way. Must we be a welcome mat—and a doormat—for everyone on the planet?

The sentimentality in our churches has been saying yes for too long. But the Bible teaches otherwise. Even Paul’s love chapter teaches that love is not all permissiveness. Love is consistent with God’s commandments: "Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet, and if there be any other commandment it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law" (Romans 13:8-10). The commandments that fulfill the law are found in the Old Testament. God has not changed his mind about them nor has he changed his view about nations, peoples, and ethnicity in regards to separation. Separation is still a valid biblical principle—then, now, and forever. It is thus not the least bit selfish or unChristian to seek and practice separatism, either as an individual, or as a matter of public policy.

Modern foreign missions have developed a faulty mindset that leaves our own homeland vulnerable. It has even been expressed that we should be glad we do not have to go over the oceans to bring the gospel to the heathen anymore because now the heathen are flowing over our borders coming to us! What a blighted view! They foolishly think that the curse of a heathen alien invasion is a blessing!

Not only is it not unChristian to protect our people, homes, heritage, ethnicity, and culture, but it is unChristian not to do so.

American Immigration History

Some say that we are a nation of immigrants, thus we can never stem the flow of new arrivals. But this is not true! Most Americans were born in this nation. From the 1600s until the 1840s, most of our growth as a nation was from native fertility.

To say that the Indians were the only true natives is false on two counts. First, the Indians were made of hundreds of tribal groups who never thought of themselves as Americans, but only as Shawnee, Creek, Sioux, Iroquois, etc. The American nation was born out of the first generation of European settlers in the 1600s. Most Americans have sprung from this tree and are natives many times over. Second, just as the White man, the ancestors of the Indians came from another continent. As time passes, there is more and more archeological evidence indicating that pre-Columbian White settlement in North America did exist. Those that raise the argument that the Indians are the only true natives, thus America must open her borders, are simply playing on White guilt and have neither the Indian’s or the White man’s interests in mind.

The first wave of immigration after the establishment of the American nation was from the 1840s until the 1870s. This consisted of mostly Irish and German immigrants from northern and western Europe. The assimilation of this wave into the mainstream of America was accomplished fairly rapidly after only one generation. But this is not surprising. Many spoke the same language, and those that did not had very similar religious practices, and almost identical cultural values and habits. The second wave began in the 1890s until the 1920s. These immigrants came from southern and eastern Europe. Their rate of assimilation was a bit less rapid, but it still moved forward without serious difficulty. The Third wave of immigration began in the wake of 1965 immigration reform. This mass has yet to crest—the numbers increase each year. Presently, there are 900,000 legal immigrants entering each year. Illegal alien entrants total at least 300,000. At least 90% of these will not be easily assimilated on four counts: race, religion, language, and cultural habits and character. In essence, they have virtually nothing in common with mainstream America, unlike previous waves of immigrants.

A Biblical Response

The much-trumpeted "melting pot" of America has limits. The United States has strained to melt together the ethnic groups of Europe. Many episodes in our history reveal that assimilating the differing nationalities of Europe into the American mainstream was not easy, even with the differences being relatively slight. We cannot delude ourselves that we can melt the world’s radically differing races, cultures, and religions. To even attempt such is building a Tower of Babel.

Our response as Christians should not based on slogans or sentimentality. We cannot hold up the Statue of Liberty as divine truth. It is not. It has developed into an immigration idol. The "tired," "poor," and "huddled masses yearning to breathe free" inscribed on its pedestal after the poem of Emma Lazarus must be forced to solve their problems in their own homeland. In fact, America can best help the world’s masses by continuing as a shining example, not by being pulled down to join the ranks of the Third World.

If we continue to receive over one million of the poverty stricken alien masses of the Third World each year, within two or three decades America will be changed forever. Yet receiving that one million annually will actually help the Third World almost none, for each year our planet adds ninety million desperately poor. In truth, we will be sacrificing the greatest nation and culture on earth for no reason. The poor of the world need solutions where they are—coming here will solve nothing. As long as we are a willing safety valve for their unwanted, Third World nations will do little to solve the problems they are creating.

Scripture offers some insight in these areas. We read: "But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel" (1 Timothy 5:8). In the same vein, Proverbs 13:22 states: "A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children…" What are you leaving your children and grandchildren? Are you taking steps to preserve not only physical space for your children, but also their history, culture, and ethnic character? Or are you inviting in the aliens and strangers of the earth to devour your children’s inheritance?

Our present immigration policy allows for family members of resident aliens to enter our land as well. They in turn have brothers, aunts, etc. who then are soon able to qualify for entrance. The family chain continues resulting in what is called "chain migration." For too long, naïve Christians assume we must allow this endless process in the name of "family values." We are being duped! We must look soberly at the facts and change our policies!

As an English speaking, White, Christian do not be intimidated into surrendering your instinct to survive and pass on your way of life to your children and grandchildren. Do not let the flippant charge of "racism" send you into hiding and cause you to abandon the practical exercise of your inward convictions. It is natural and normal for you to love and prefer your kind more than another kind—it is not hate. Cling to your ethnic and cultural past! Pass it on to your children without shame! Take no part in the modern Tower of Babel seeking to erase ethnic, cultural, and national boundaries!