Editor,
Intolerance is courageous?
I grieved to read Rev. Mary Woods’ letter “Donald Trump shows courage in illegal immigrant comments.” As director of the NM Faith Coalition for Immigrant Justice, I dread ministers promoting intolerant messages so disconnected from Christianity.
The heart of Rev. Woods’ message — that recent events have ignited discussion around racism bringing us to a crossroads — holds truth. Our country has skirted race for too long, and the imperative to address it is now. For someone experienced with racism to justify supposed “protective racism” is counterintuitive.
A biblical perspective: What Jesus calls the greatest commandments in Matthew — to love God and love your neighbor as yourself — introduces Luke’s story of the Good Samaritan. Jesus calls us to love those we’re taught to fear: the woman at the well, and Moses, “the first wetback” according to Rev. Vasquez-Levy, Pacific School of Religion president. The biblical pillars were mostly immigrant.
A safety perspective: A report by the American Immigration Council notes the unauthorized immigrant population tripled from 3.5 to 11.2 million from 1990-2013; over the same period, FBI data indicates a 48 percent decline in violent crime. Moreover, “roughly 1.6 percent of immigrant males age 18-39 are incarcerated, compared to 3.3 percent of the native-born. This disparity in incarceration rates has existed for decades.”
The presumed “Sanctuary cities” that extremists like Trump accuse of sheltering “killers and rapists” do not prevent ICE from deporting immigrants. Most “Sanctuary cities” offer limited protection, prohibiting law enforcement from asking immigration status because doing so decreases immigrant willingness to report crime, aid investigations and come forward as victims.
An economic perspective: The Partnership for a New American Economy found that immigrants started 28 percent of new U.S. businesses in 2011, though they account for only 13 percent of the population. Disproportionately more New Mexico business owners (12.6 percent) are immigrants (10 percent of the state’s population). A new study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that in 2012, unauthorized immigrants paid more than $66 million in state and local taxes in NM, and nearly $11 billion nationwide.
A human perspective: Having worked in immigrant-based Protestant churches in El Paso and Albuquerque, I know dozens of law-abiding, unauthorized immigrants. Overall, they’re more generous, scrupulous and engaged than many US citizens I know. Confronted with violence and poverty, often tied to US foreign policy, is it surprising that they leave home?
To counter a misstatement in Rev. Woods’ article, unauthorized immigrants are ineligible for Medicare, non-emergency Medicaid and virtually all public benefits. Do some falsify documents? Yes. Are some “criminal elements?” Yes. They are a minority. The decrease in funding for benefits that Woods mentions occurred while money spent on immigration enforcement increased to $18 billion in 2013.
Furthermore, our “runaway immigration” is at net zero. It’s time to leave the mantra of “political correctness.” Rather than moving towards intolerance, isn’t it time we move towards honest communication and relationship building with our neighbors? As a pastor friend says, “Any time we build a wall, Jesus is on the other side.”
Sincerely,
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Justin Remer-Thamert
Daily Lobo reader
