Strangers in our Gates

I don’t really know much about politics. And I sure don’t know anything about immigration law. But frankly, the people whining about all this illegal immigration sound like greedy cranks. If Mexicans or Hispanics work harder and are willing to take less for their work than the average lazy American, then I think we’d be better off. Of course, I’m not advocating breaking the law, and I don’t even know what the law is, by the way. But if a fellow is willing to work hard to provide for his family, and he thinks he can do that in the States, I say let him in.

To speak in crass terms: more competition tends to encourage ingenuity, hard work and it checks inflation. The whole thing also seems like a gross misunderstanding of value. Remember, it’s people (and the work they do) who are valuable. Money is only worth as much as it buys. Money is the yard stick not the object being measured. The thing being measured, the thing of value, is a man or woman and the increase of their labors. That means that every immigrant that does better work than a current resident is more valuable.

And on a more theological level, throughout the Scriptures, God defends and provides for the stranger and the sojourner, and He commands us to do the same.