As a pastor in Arizona I’ve had the opportunity to see the impact of our nation’s broken immigration system up close.
Some dear friends of mine, a young family that lives in constant fear of being torn apart because of the uncertainty of their immigration status. With Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), they are striving to advance in their careers, serve their community and raise their children well.
Yet they are prohibited from truly flourishing as the fate of DACA continues to be up for debate. This has created an overwhelming burden for this young mother and father as they strive to live and love as good neighbors.
DACA recipients are mothers and fathers, teachers and students, nurses and doctors, colleagues and volunteers, friends and neighbors, church and community members. God’s people.
In the Bible, Hebrews 13:1-3 says “Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for … some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it… Remember those in prison, as if you were there together… and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.”
Therefore I am calling on Congress to act immediately to pass a permanent solution for DACA recipients. The livelihoods of these young immigrants continue to hang in the balance without one.
The Supreme Court’s recent decision continued DACA but not permanently. This means that 680,000 people could be made ineligible to work, including the 28,000 healthcare workers helping fight COVID-19, losing the income and healthcare that supports them and their family during the middle of a global health emergency. They would also suddenly be eligible for deportation.
Supreme Court justices pointed out that Congress alone has the power to solve this problem permanently. Though 87% of the American people support DACA recipients’ ability to stay in the United States, members of Congress of both parties have failed to come together and find a reasonable solution.
We have the opportunity to show the hospitality that we would want to receive if this was my suffering, your suffering, your mother’s suffering, your child’s suffering, your friend’s suffering. How would we want to be treated? What would we do if we knew that they were angels among us?
Instead of continuing to try to end DACA, the Trump administration should put its weight behind a congressional solution, and Congress should leave politics aside and immediately solve the plight of Dreamers.
I especially call on Senator McSally: will you join us and follow in the footsteps of Arizona’s previous Republican Senators McCain and Kyl and show leadership to help move our nation towards more just immigration laws, especially during this time?
Caleb Campbell is the Lead Pastor at Desert Springs Bible Church.