Update IV (4/21): Earlier I complained that Congressman Tom Tancredo was not on the list of speakers for FRC’s illegal immigration discussion. I just got word that he will participate. 
Update III: Feds warn businesses against harboring and hiring illegal aliens? Confused…
Update II (4/20): I’ve blogged about the Minuteman Project many times on this blog. Examples:
Secure Our Borders Campaign
Minuteman Civil Defense Corps
Curious George and the Fox
They are a peaceful group of American volunteers (civilians) standing watch on our borders, and they have another message for George Bush.
Regarding the immigration raid I mentioned yesterday, Michelle Malkin and Dan Riehl are both cynical. I agree that the timing is suspicious, but I’m glad to read any news story with the words “illegal immigration” and “arrests” in it, whatever the motives behind the arrests.
Fellow blogger Mark Tapscott, formerly of the Heritage Foundation, is back in the newsroom at the Washington Examiner. Read his editorial about Reconquista. (Hat tip: MM)
————————————————————————————————————————–
Update: An immigration raid? Imagine that…
The Family Research Council will host a discussion forum on Christians, the rule of law, and illegal immigration on April 27. You must RSVP to attend. A live video feed will be available.
I read a story about one of the panelists, Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, Jr., of National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, that fired me up (annoying but free reg. req.).
Added to my to-do list was “contact Rodriguez and ask him whether he’s discussed the illegality of illegal immigration with Christ-professing illegal aliens” — particularly in light of Chapter 13 of Paul’s letter to the Romans — but it got bumped down the list by more pressing matters. Looks like I’ll get the chance to ask him face to face.
Missing from the line up is Congressman Tom Tancredo, the toughtest border control advocate in Congress and a patriot not just in name only. And he’s no mere Republican; he’s a true conservative.
In other news, the “will of the people” still means something to local and state governments, thank goodness. Georgia’s governor is no mealy-mouth, ineffectual, open-borders, nation-destroying liberal, I’m glad to say. Perhaps putting citizens first will become a trend. Let’s hope so.
The key to stopping the scourge, however, is forcing illegal-alien-hiring businesses to face the consequences — by suing them under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute. (For example, the Supreme Court may be hearing such a case very soon).
I know I’m hoping against hope that the court will do the right thing, but you never know…
Related post:
Sources:
{ 5 trackbacks }
{ 27 comments }
It’s always telling when a “professing” Christians label themselves by their race or nationality before Christian. Always telling indeed. Normally means God’s law comes second to man’s law and there is sure to be a buffet approach style to picking bible verses to support a cause (pick the ones you like OUT OF CONTEXT and ignore ALL references that prove you have no clue what the bible says). UGH!!!
Another thank you to our great civil rights leaders who dumped God to get man’s approval (and did not read the fine print on the contract they signed).
On the business side…
Haven’t there been some groups that compile list of employers that violate the law and are known to use illegal immigrants?
(See, I didn’t want to get back to civil rights but good grief there is some politician saying that illegal immigration is a civil rights issue…argh…)
Anyway, in America this won’t get resolved because money is involved and money is Americ’a god. It will take a major financial catastrophe to occur (and by then, we will all be in the same boat. Then lets see who really wants to be an American then).
The only way to punish employers would be to require all citizens to carry a unique biometric ID card.
But that would eventually turn into a replacement for all SSN, credit cards, phone cards, tax ID numbers, etc. So we’d each have one number to identify us for everything. And one big, big permanent record.
George Orwell would have only been off by 25 years or so.
And much as illegal immigration may be a hot button issue, turning the USA into a Big Brother state is not the preferred solution, folks!
“Illegal immigration” are the politically correct choice of words used to disguise the actual act, which is: “criminal trespassing”.
PC word tactics have infiltrated and saturated our culture in order to further Godless causes such as; “pro-choice” vs. “pro-murder”, etc., etc.
It is irritating to watch certain religious groups lump legal and illegal immigrants together. Worse still is to watch legal immigrants shunted aside in favor of illegal ones.
My wife is a legal immigrant from Africa, and I am a former missionary for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). When we requested help from the ELCA in getting her visa paperwork processed by the US Embassy, we were ignored. But the ELCA has spent time, money and effort trying to get the McCain-Kennedy amnesty bill passed in Congress. La Shawn, please tell me - is it just me or is there something wrong with this picture?
Maybe those who obey the law are the real sinners in the eyes of the ELCA.
Mwalimu,
You bring up an interesting observation and the answer goes very deep (and then not so deep). There are “professing” Christians, whose “fruits” focus on works (what they can do to please and impress man). They say they do it because they are Christians HOWEVER (huge HOWEVER), one look will show that they almost always ignore the gospel and allow sin just so they can say “we are showing compassion”, “we are feeding the poor”, “we are xxxx” (fill in the blank). Just look at how may of these evangelicals also say nothing about fornication, divorce, adultery, and will keep their mouth shut when in mixed company about Jesus Christ (except to say “Jesus said feed the poor”). Nothing is done for the glory of God or that truly takes care of man’s greatest problem, his depravity. It is all done so they can say look what we did, look at our compassion, look how we care.
Here is a quote from the article La Shawn links to:
“Cizik said Hispanics have the highest rates of conversion to evangelical denominations, and that the movement was conscious of the opportunity presented by the immigration debate to gain converts.”
They are actually no different than the politicians. Polititicans see votes (now or in the future irregardless of the law) and these “evangelicals” see tithers who can help support the mega church. All the same.
I completely agree with your comments about illegal immigration. I do have one question though in regards to Romans 13. I am in NO WAY comparing illegal immigration to the civil rights movement, but i do find a parallel through Romans 13.
How do you justify Rosa Park “disobeying the authorities” by not moving to the back of the bus? There are many other examples of people disobeying the authorities (albeit in a very peaceful manner) during the Civil Rights movement. Surely one can’t say that these people were “sinning” or “going against scripture” when they were just fighting for equal rights. Once again, I am in NO WAY comparing civil rights to illegal immigration. I am just trying to answer a question that has been bugging me since reading that chapter. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance and thanks for having this blog. It really inspires me that there are other black people who feel the same way I do.
Looks like someone is listening.
“WASHINGTON - Immigration agents arrested seven executives and hundreds of employees of a manufacturer of crates and pallets Wednesday as part of a crackdown on employers of illegal workers.”
“‘ICE has no tolerance for corporate officers who harbor illegal aliens for their work force. Today’s nationwide enforcement actions show how we will use all our investigative tools to bring these individuals to justice, no matter how large or small their company,’ said ICE chief Julie Myers.”
It’s about time.
Adrian,
I was going to write the below statement at the bottom of this post:
One note also…. in the case of America’s treament of blacks… America was violating it’s own laws to abuse it’s own citizens.
When stated like that, in a way America’s leadership is willing to abuse it’s own citizens (again, in a different way) and break the law, now for financial gain. Is it civil rights…I don’t know since civil rights is not a biblical concept (especially in regards to unregenrate man because he can never really understand what it would enatil).
I myself don’t justify Rosa Parks disobeying the law or any other laws that were broken. Sitting in the front of the bus and a guarenteed law that unregenrate men will treat each other equally is a fantasy (and a read through all of scripture will show unregenrate man is incapable of such a thing, not to mention a read through the daily news). I see many parts of the civil rights movement that were non biblical. When we take all of scripture into account, we are to obey the laws and authorities placed over us unless they ask that we disobey the Lord. This is so they may have no bad words against you, even when they the perpetrators are wrong, they can only speak good about Christ. To break the law is to do the same as they. Glorify self and ignore God. From a Christian perspective, if we break the law, it should only be to follow the Lord, not to glorify self or man. As long as man is sinful and unregenerate, there is no such thing as equal rights.
The laws are already on the books. Start arresting major employers of illegal aliens and put them in jail. They will soon stop hiring. If they stop hiring , the illegals go home.
Lets export a revolution back to Mexico.
I’ve been suggesting this for a while actually. I’m glad there people who’ve been thinking the same thing.
La Shawn:
There is something basic missing from all the discussions of illegal immigration.
TAXES
There are many who believe that our opressive taxation of businesses impedes development.
Most Americans believe the same, but with electronic record keeping large companies cannot “cheat” on these unfair taxes - they simply “eat it” and pass the costs on to consumers. If they could get away with not paying these taxes, they would.
Many have taken the option of NOT paying these opressive taxes by hiring illegals - an “underground economy”.
In truth, this “underground economy” is world wide.
Many say Euros work less than Americans. Officially, they do. But many work “unoficially” overtime.
In truth, the Government itself is most of the problem - they can’t solve it.
If taxes on businesses were fair, fewer would find an advantage to hire illegals.
Hi Lashawn,
I have been pondering this debate over the last couple of weeks, and I am still torn. After reading your post yesterday, I have a question. I agree that as Christians we are called to obey government authority, but if you believe the government is acting contrary to what God’s word dictates, aren’t we to speak out against it? For example, if I believe that our abortion laws are in direct opposition to God’s law, I will go out and protest, write about it, speak about it in whatever way I can, until something is done. What would have happened if there had been no one sheltering Jews during WWII, or teaching slaves to read during slavery? These people went against the government when they believed the government was wrong. There are some who believe that the war in Iraq is immoral, so they protest and speak out against it. As Christians aren’t we called to act on our convictions? Now do not get me wrong, I do believe it takes a lot of nerve to come into someone else’s country illegally, and then fearlessly tell that country that we MUST grant them amnesty. I think a lot will agree that is absurdity. But in all fairness, there are many legal aliens here, who are protesting because they feel like the government has allowed companies to take advantage of these people, and so these immigrants should receive benefits. Whether or not I agree with that, I believe that Rodriquez and the rest of the clergy are acting on their convictions, and in light of Romans 13, that should be OK.
Some good news today, LaShawn. Sounds like someone is listening to “we the people”. Over 1,000 arrested, including CEO’s who traffic and hire illegals.
I guess if the administration is REALLY SERIOUS about this… they can wait until May 1st (or another protest march) and see what businesses have to close shop for the day cause the parking lots were empty of the daily labor force. Wait, if they were really serious…they would be at the parking lots (day labor sites) NOW. What a concept.
La Shawn,
We’ve made it easier and better for people to come here illegally than it is for them to come here legally. Perhaps one solution is to figure out a way to make the process of coming here legally a lot smoother.
Seahawk, Right on! But that seems to be the solution to everything, doesn’t it? Healthcare costs, ask big brother to solve it, fast food, guns, drugs, ask big brother, he’ll protect you. It’s at a point now that everybody has some new law they’d like to see on the books, nobody ever thinks about repealing laws, and we wonder where our freedom is going.
La Shawn,
Supposedley Chertoff will be making remarks shortly (all the stations are on stand by)at a press conference on the departments new stance to enforce the law…
we shall see !!
RE: “I’m glad to read any news story with the words “illegal immigration†and “arrests†in it”
The open borders lobby is now out to redefine the English language. On a local L.A. radio station Nativo Lopez, a prominent California legislator stated that the word illegal, as applied to “undocumented migrants”, was a disparaging term on the same level as n***** and k***.
First of all, I am against illegal immigration and I am not a Christian. Keep church and state separated.
Second, I am for guest-worker programs. I disagree with U.S. citizens who argue that illegal immigrants “steal our jobs away.” I can tell you that there are so many pathetic U.S. citizens who think that cleaning toilets, picking produce, and flipping burgers are so beneath them; these “jobs” are honorable and honest, and if U.S. citizens are so proud of being American and want to contribute to the economy, then they should accept these jobs no matter how “demeaning” they are. My father is a legal immigrant from the Philippines, a staunch Republican, and at 84, continues to work as a janitor and doesn’t have any intention to retire soon.
Third, let’s finish building that wall at the southern border. I say that good fences make good neighbors. What good is a country without borders or territorial limitations?
I can’t forget how this president went to Mexico City and announced to Latin America that there are jobs no American will do.
Anyway you slice it, that is dusting off the welcome mat and begging illegals to invade.
Bet your job they are coming… by the truckload.
Lost in the immigration noise is the answer to the question ..
What does it mean to be a US citizen ?
Some of those arrested already released…
Confused?? Yes
http://www.khou.com/news/local/houstonmetro/stories/khou060419_cd_immigration.5102fc8f.html
Why are all these diseases that we thought had been eradicated, now coming back?
Bubonic plague, mumps, TB etc….
It’s not global warming.
Sincerely, Maxine
If we get rid of 10 million workers and 20 million consumers the American economy will be much better off.
This anti-immigration hysteria is the Smoot Hawley of 2006.
What I would like to see is a program to turn them into Americans faster. Teach them English. Teach the Constitution etc.
BTW I don’t think you can eliminate sin by the rule of law. It has been tried so many times you would think by now it would be as discredited by now. However, like communism this stupid idea hangs on. Religion seemsto make people stupid on this question. BTW Jesus was no fan of eliminating sin by rule of law. You think Christians will ever catch on?
Doubtful.
Frank Z,
American companies do have a way of dealing with oppresive taxation. It is called outsourcing.
So what would the response to the current wave of anti-immigraton do? Well the jobs and taxes that they represent will go to the crooks in Mexican government instead of the crooks in American government. Or perhaps we will be enriching our Chinese enemies.
This may or may not be a net plus.
At one time Republicans claimed to understand economic forces better than the Democrats. I’ve given up on that one.
This program currently espoused will be as effective as the War On Unpatented Drugs.
If this passes it will be another hit on the American economy just as the housing bubble is beginning to burst.
Morality always trumps economy. In the end causing more immorality. Do they still teach alcohol prohibition in schools?
Well nothing stops Republican Socialism when it gets the bit in its teeth. You only need to look at drug prohibition: a price support mechanism for criminals.
This is kind of like unionism and the minimum wage. The government as protector of labor against the free market.
And as long as I’m ranting on the subject:
Pot is an anti-anxiety drug. Safer than alcohol, cheaper than prescription medicines for the same problem.
Can any one tell me why the drug and alcohol companies are in the forefront of the war on drugs? Or is that too hard a question?
And how does this relate to immigration? We are subsidising through our Government Cocaine Price Support and Gang Finance Program the constant testing of our borders. The criminals will be moving people one day and drugs the next.
You want to stop it? Make the people and drugs legal. Because no government is powerful enough to defeat market forces. Evidently the fall of the Soviet Union has left no lasting impression on Americans.
Oh, well.
And once the fence is up? That will leave 3,000 miles of border with no fences. Canada will be next. Followed by an Atlantic Wall. Say. Didn’t the Austrian corporal have one of those too?
Socialism always leads to the same ugly ends.
Republican Socialism. The RIGHT kind. Feh.
Comments on this entry are closed.