My heart in writing this is to promote compassion, grace, and understanding towards our immigrant brothers and sisters. Our immigrant brothers and sisters who are human beings, all who are created in the image of God.
“Why can’t they just come here the right way?” I hear so many people voice this statement about immigrants. I want to point out that I have never met a person who has said this statement who has had to experience the difficulties faced by most immigrants and refugees. “Why can’t they just come here the right way?” It is such an easy sentence to say, but it is such a complicated question that is filled with all kinds of complexities. Such an easy sentence to say, when you have never been in the shoes of an immigrant or refugee. Such an easy sentence to say, when you were born and raised here in the United States. Such an easy sentence to say, when you don’t know what many immigrants go through just to survive and provide for their family.
My wife and I have worked with immigrants and refugees for over 25 years, mostly with immigrants who came here legally. Please note that I said legally. I have personally watched the incredible heartache of what families have to go through to come here legally.
Regardless of whether families come here legally or not, what a majority of immigrants must go through just to get here is something that most of us cannot comprehend. Either way it comes with great risk because it is often extremely dangerous to escape one dangerous or problematic country and travel to the next. Traveling for months at a time, sleeping in forests, being robbed, adducted, raped, or even killed. Not only that, but so many of these families are paying thousands of dollars per person to come here which can be a heavy burden for families who are escaping their situation.
Coming the right way is by far the most difficult. The number of barriers to come the right way can be overwhelming and daunting, restricting most families from ever having a chance to come here. The answer to why some people choose not to come the “right way” is this. It is because the “right way” is impossible for so many. The “right way” often comes with great sacrifice to families. Often this means being separated from loved ones for years at a time. The “right way” can be extremely costly. Refugees and asylum seekers must not only pay for their travel, but also must pay for legal fees, often putting families in debt. The “right way” can be an extremely long process. A process that can take years and years, often leaving families stuck in impossible situations, where escaping, fleeing, and surviving is the only option.
I could tell story after story of immigrants and refugees who had to face incredible trauma and anguish to come here legally, often traveling in unthinkable conditions.
I know so many families that the only way to escape their situation and to get to America the right way was to separate their families. For example, the father first gets himself here legally, applies for citizenship, which takes years, and then applies for his children, spouse, or other family members to come to the US. I have witnessed family after family separated from each other for years at a time.
In one case, I knew a husband who hadn’t seen his wife in thirteen years. Thirteen! Yes, most of us cannot even imagine having to be separated from our spouse for that long.
I have witnessed a father and mother being separated from their children for 7 years. I witnessed the father fall to the ground, break down and cry uncontrollably right in front of me because of the barriers put in front of his legal process. They missed their children growing up. Their most precious years.
In another case, a man who came here legally applied for his son to come. When that time came, the son got stuck at the border because of politics, got kidnapped into a gang and the son literally lost his mind because of the torture and trauma that he endured. I witnessed the father weeping when he got the news. It was truly heart-wrenching. I met with that young man when he finally arrived in the US. He was a broken human being.
I have met refugees who were born into refugee camps or raised in refugee camps as children, having to wait up to 20 years to be accepted into the United States. Twenty years. I have met people who hadn’t experienced life outside of a refugee camp before coming to America, again, waiting to come here the right way.
The right way is difficult. Yes of course, many come here without valid reasons, other than wanting to get to America, but so many face dire situations and circumstances. So many families cannot afford to wait. If war or violence breaks out, or maybe their governments can’t provide basic necessities, such as food and water, sometimes they cannot wait to come here the right way.
Maybe the situation is about Christian persecution. A family comes to Christ and they face prison, torture, and even death. I have met so many Christians who have fled here because of persecution. Do we really want to deny these families? In all of these situations, these people are trying to protect their families, and I believe most of us would at least consider doing the same.
We of course are not advocating for illegal immigration, nor are we equipped to help solve the immigration issues that have been ongoing for decades. If it were up to us, we would make a more accessible legal pathway to come to the United States in an effort to slow down illegal immigration. What Melissa and I do know is this. There is a desperate need to show love, grace, and compassion to all people who are in these desperate circumstances.
Historically, people have been fleeing their desperate circumstances since the world began. The list is as long as the beginning of time. All people fleeing countries and entering other countries out of desperation.
It is always wise and compassionate to put ourselves into the shoes of others. My prayer is that we all have compassion and understanding for these families and may we be reminded that these families are made in the beautiful image of God. Thank you friends.
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