Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Immigration, The Old Testament, and the Arizona and Utah Immigration Crusaders (or Marauders?)

I found this blog post last night and I thought it was quite profound, especially here in Mormon Utah. The author is discussing a couple of verses that he found in the Old Testament:

The Israelites are told directly in Leviticus 19:33-34 that “if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex (or oppress) him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself.”
Mr. Miller than discusses that our policy towards illegal immigrants should more closely follow this admonition.

I wonder if Utah Senate candidate Lee, Utah Rep. Sandstrom and his Aryan-loving friend the Honorable Rep. Pearce from AZ have read Leviticus lately? In Reps. Pearce and Sandstrom's case, I would guess that they haven't.

Pearce is proposing AZ legislation, and Rep. Sandstrom would love to pursue the same course in Utah, that would not make it illegal to provide birth certificates to babies of illegal immigrants born in the United States. Beyond the violation of the 14th amendment, there are a ton of problems with this proposal. First, this bill would (although not explicitly mentioned) require hospitals to inquire of the immigration status of patients -- would the bill require hospitals then to turn in the illegal expectant mothers? It seems like the kind of cheap Gestapo-esque trick that the Arizona legislature would pull. Second, is the constitutional ramifications of the bill. The 14th amendment states the following:

Section 1 -- All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Especially this proposed legislation, and (I believe) the already enacted legislation are both clearly unconstitutional. Not providing birth certificates doesn't change the fact of birth location and the qualifications for citizenship in the 14th Amendment. Arizona legislators must realize this and so the only reason (or what I hope would be the reason) I could see Arizona passing a law like this is for this law's controversial nature -- possibly in a effort to push Congress to finally act on illegal immigration.

Otherwise law-abiding illegal immigrants deserve a pathway to citizenship without being forced to leave the country first. The illegal immigrants I have dealt with have come seeking better opportunities like the millions of immigrants that this country has openly received since its inception. All these proposed mass-deportation proposals are ill-conceived and knee jerk reactions to fallacious, bigoted rhetoric from some on the extreme far-right. The mass-deportation arguments don't consider cost or fairness, and they do nothing to solve the illegal immigration problem.

We need to follow the admonition in Leviticus and try and find ways to help illegal immigrants achieve citizenship in an efficient and cost-effective manner, instead of spewing hateful and often false rhetoric about the stereotyped ills that illegal immigrants are bringing across the border -- in a majority of cases these stereotypes aren't true.

4 comments:

PaulC1958 said...

"The Israelites are told directly in Leviticus 19:33-34 that 'if a stranger SOJOURN WITH THEE in your land, YE shall not vex (or oppress) him. But the stranger that dwelleth with YOU shall be unto YOU as one born among YOU, and THOU shalt love him as THYSELF.”'

CAN YOU NOT READ? All these admonitions are directed at individuals and what they personally are to do. There is nothing in the admonition about what the state must or even should do. So I ask you how many illegal aliens are living with YOU in YOUR home and eating YOUR food? How many doctor's bills are YOU PERSONALLY paying for illegal aliens, etc., etc., etc.? No you're trying to shift what YOUR God tells YOU to PERSONALLY do on to the community, state and nation. YOUR God will give YOU no credit for YOUR efforts!

As I'm neither an Israelite nor a Christian, I don't really care what it says in Leviticus 19:33-34 or anywhere else in your book of myths; and that is being as kind and respectful as I can be.

WE HAVE BEEN INVADED (is there a more accurate term for 12-20+ million people coming into our country illegally) and we must lance this metastasizing cancer before it kills our society.

pramahaphil said...

tell us what you really feel.

I can see you don't get Leviticus. The books of Moses are called the LAW for a reason. It was followed by the individual and the state you biblical scholar you.

So what do suggest we do? "Lancing a cancer" suggests we treat illegals with a level of harshness -- I'm assuming you don't mean kill illegals like you would a cancer. Are you for mass deportations and a heavily militarized wall, or are you simply stating that we need to control our borders?

Do you know any illegals, or have you ever worked with any? Judging by the venom you spew, I would assume the answer is no. Most of them work harder than anyone I know and are trying to make the most of the land of opportunity -- they would become citizens if there was a reasonable pathway to citizenship.

Anonymous said...

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.
Is a person, born in the US to non citizens, subject to the jurisdiction of the US?

Phillip Bell, EA said...

I would say the answer is yes.

What is the point of your question, anon?