Immigrants and Immigration: One Law or All – The Law of God and Public Policy

Immigrants and Immigration: One Law or All
The Law of God and Public Policy

Foreigners must abide by the laws of the land.

“You shall have the same rule for the sojourner and for the native, for I am the LORD your God.” Leviticus 24:22

The context of this statute is the death penalty for murder, but the principle was extended to all the laws of the land in ancient Israel. Foreigners were expected to know and obey the Law of God, and they would have been subject to all the procedures of justice should they fail in doing so. No special laws existed to accommodate their unique needs or concerns, and they were exempt from none of the civil laws by which all citizens of Israel lived.

If a foreigner chose to sojourn among the people of ancient Israel, not only must he be prepared to work and support himself, with but a minimal (and temporary) amount of public support, but he must also be familiar with and submissive to the laws of the land.

So how might this principle apply to reforming immigration policy and practice in America?

The Law of God suggests that justice is served when everybody within a nation abides by the same standards of law. This only makes sense. Americans despise “double standards” of any kind, and this is especially true when it comes to matters of law and justice. Americans thus intuitively—because the works of the Law are written on their hearts (Rom. 2:14, 15)—demonstrate agreement with this basic principle of Biblical Law.

With respect to immigration policy, therefore, no special exceptions or exemptions from the law should exist for foreigners living in this country: no double standards. Nor should any American citizens engaged with immigrants or foreigners be allowed to relate to or associate with immigrants or foreigners apart from the framework of American law.

One reason the “immigration problem” exists in America is that certain employers have managed to violate the law of the land with impunity, in particular, those laws relating to minimum wage and income reporting. Personally, I do not believe that minimum wage laws are just or helpful; however, they are the law of the land, and any who circumvent them by hiring illegal aliens at below minimum wage rates should be prosecuted until the laws are changed.

For purposes of fair taxation, employer reports of wages are essential; however, this requirement is routinely ignored by those who choose to pay employees in cash at sub-minimum wage standards.

These practices encourage increased illegal immigration and lawlessness.

Foreigners and those who associate with them who break American laws should be held accountable until the demands of justice are met. This should apply to all foreigners, whether diplomats or drug dealers, vagrants or vacationers, part-time workers or full-time students, as well as to all employers and service-providers. No one living or visiting in this country should be exempt from obedience to American law. All expect the privileges and protections of those laws; all should likewise expect to fulfill the obligations of them.

We will not make progress in immigration reform as long as we continue to treat illegal immigrants as a special class of citizens, if only in that we choose to wink at the violations of American law that are associated with their employment and other benefits.

Justice for all means the same justice under the same laws for all those who visit, live, or work within the jurisdiction of those laws.

Visit our website, www.ailbe.org, and sign up to receive our thrice-weekly devotional, Crosfigell, featuring writers from the period of the Celtic Revival and T. M.’s reflections on Scripture and the Celtic Christian tradition. Does the Law of God still apply today? Order a copy of T. M.’s book, The Ground for Christian Ethics, and study the question for yourself.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T. M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.