Evangelical Immigration Table — Purveyor of Principles or Ravenous Wolves in Sheep's Clothing

By Ronald W. Mortensen on January 31, 2014

The Evangelical Immigration Table has developed its own principles for immigration reform that attempt to "honor both the rule of law (Romans 13) and the call to welcome the stranger (Matthew 25)".

However, a problem arises when the evangelical principles are applied to the following, real-life equation:

Illegal Aliens = Child Identity Theft

This equation is of paramount importance because an estimated 75 percent of illegal aliens use fraudulently obtained Social Security numbers and the numbers of American children are highly prized because they can be used for years without detection. Thus, in Utah alone, it is reliably estimated that 80,000 kids are victims of illegal alien-driven identity theft. The number nationwide is estimated to be in the millions.

Given the breadth of this problem, it is not possible for people of faith to welcome the stranger while ignoring the innocent American children who are the victims of illegal alien, job-related felonies because that does not honor the rule of law.

A child who has her Social Security number used by an illegal alien may have her credit ruined, arrest records attached to her name, be denied social welfare benefits, and have her medical records corrupted with life-threatening consequences. Thus, identity theft is not a victimless crime and the rule of law is not honored when crime is rewarded and the victims are ignored. In fact, that is amnesty.

If the Evangelical Immigration Table were truly committed to honoring the rule of law and welcoming the stranger, it would apply its principles to both sides of the illegal alien-related child identity theft equation.

Unfortunately, the evangelical principles do not do this. In fact, they are disingenuous at best and evil at worst because they attempt to deceive and to hide what appears to be the evangelicals' real goal of granting each and every illegal alien in the United States legal status regardless of family status or crimes committed against innocent American children.

Members of the Evangelical Immigration Table really need to answer the following questions that pertain to each of their principles.

  1. Respect the God-given dignity of every person. Does this include the God-given dignity of every American child who is a victim of illegal alien identity theft? If not, this principle is mean-spirited and nothing more than amnesty for criminal illegal aliens.

  2. Protect the unity of the immediate family. Does this really mean that only illegal aliens who are part of a family unit in the United States will be eligible for legal status and that individuals who are single, who have abandoned their families, or who have left their families in their home countries are not eligible for legal status? If not, this principle has been deliberately written to deceive and that is not in keeping with Christian teachings and values.

  3. Respect the rule of law. Does respect for the rule of law include acknowledging the harm done to innocent American children and making restitution to both them and their families before illegal aliens are granted forgiveness for their felony crimes and legal status? If not, that is amnesty.

  4. Guarantee secure national borders. Do fully secure borders come before any legalization takes place? If not, this principle is designed to deceive and to allow still more "strangers" to enter the United States illegally and to qualify for legal status.

  5. Ensure fairness to taxpayers. Does fairness to taxpayers include the payment of all unpaid income, payroll and other taxes by both illegal aliens and their employers? If not, that is tax amnesty. And does fairness require illegal aliens to reimburse taxpayers for taxpayer-funded welfare benefits that they received but were not entitled to? If not, that is amnesty from welfare fraud.

  6. Establish a path to legal status and/or citizenship for those who qualify and wish to become permanent residents. Do individuals who have committed Social Security fraud, forgery, perjury on I-9 forms, tax fraud, identity theft, and/or other job-related felonies have to acknowledge their crimes, make restitution to their victims, and go to the back of the line in order to qualify for legal status? If not, that is amnesty.

So what do the Evangelical Immigration Table's principles really mean?

The rule of law or amnesty?

Welcome the stranger or sacrifice American children on the altar of immigration reform?

Those who read the evangelicals' principles would do well to remember the Bible's warning: "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves." (Mathew 7:15)