Helping Refugees & Sneaking Across International Borders
While helping refugees resettle in the area is stymied, I reflect on my past international border crossings.
Did you know that when I was a missionary I lied to gain access to countries? This was justified by churches, missions organizations, and Christians because of the religious nature of the work. The “greater good” we often told ourselves. Sure, there was plausible deniability in each of those situations, like tourism or humanitarian work, but the main reason why I’m entering the country? I never shared it with the government officials. It was drilled into me not to share it when I started out as a missionary. If I was questioned by any official I had prepared answers. This was especially the case when I worked within and outside China throughout the 2000s, and to a much lesser degree when I worked in Belarus and Nigeria.
I devised a plan to help an individual, from a European country, take advantage of a loophole to enter a country, of which they had been denied entry initially, so we could continue our missions work.
When I travelled to Mexico to do work along the border and in the cities of Saltillo and Monterrey we sometimes gave money to border guards/officials to expedite our processing across the border. We told the team they weren’t bribes, because that would be a sin, but instead we said they were “tips” or a “gift” because we gave it after the fact with the border guards/officials. (I heard this on my first short-term trip to Mexico as a participant, and then went along with it on subsequent trips when I was leading them.)
Sometimes, we just ignored immigration altogether. Some countries have multiple checkpoints when you go through customs, but I was told to ignore the subsequent checkpoints once I had my passport stamped and back in my hand. So I’ve done that in multiple places. If I’m stopped, I then play the “dumb American”.
Does this sound like anything you’ve heard about illegal immigration in America?
Resettling Refugees Blocked Here In Nebraska
On his first day back as President, President Trump signed an Executive Order that suspended admission of all refugees into the United States. Refugees that were headed to the United States at that time after multiple interviews, background checks, health screenings, referrals, and more were turned away. I know this because this past Saturday my family had scheduled to help a refugee family move into their new home in the area. Instead, the Somalian family was not allowed to travel here.
There were 281 refugees with plane tickets in hand ready to come to Nebraska, but now they are not allowed to come here. If the Lincoln Journal Star article is behind a paywall, here is part of Margaret Reist’s article.
Refugees are a talking point in the ongoing immigration debate, and are sometimes lumped into illegal immigration when this is anything but the sort. Even when sourcing parts of this post I found mainstream media outlets mixing up the process with “refugees” and “asylum seekers at the southern border”. If they are getting it wrong, how are we to better inform people?
The process for an individual or family to arrive in the United States as a designated refugee takes, on average, 18 to 24 months. They work their way through the system, legally, to arrive in the United States. Refugees are escaping persecution in their countries due to race, religion, social status, political opinion, nationality, and more.
Here’s a primer on the refugee process.
According to Gallup research, 55% of Americans want there to be less people entering into America to live. While at the same time 64% of Americans think immigration is good for the country.
Despite illegal immigration being a concern amongst a number of Americans, most Americans want to help refugees. When you ask about specific refugees situations, from Afghanistan, Ukraine, and Central America, Americans are overwhelmingly supportive of refugees coming here. The Ipsos poll also found that more Americans want to help refugees than not. (45% to 40%, 15% with no opinion either way.) There is also this YouGov poll that shows 60% support for the “Welcome Corps” federal program, under the Biden administration, which allows private citizens to help sponsor refugees.
It’s no wonder that so many are disappointed by the Trump administration suspending all refugee resettlements here in America. Even amongst those that voted for President Trump, they disagree with this decision.
Loving Our Refugee Neighbors
I started off this post discussing my experiences crossing international borders in not the most forthright ways that have always been supported here. What refugees are going through to come to America is a laborious and thorough vetting process, the complete opposite of what I did. They are clear and honest, want their families to live fully and safely, and want the best for America.
(I think much differently about many of the short-term missions trips I led and participated in a generation ago, the aims and tactics that were involved, but that’s a story for another post.)
One of the clear commands of Christianity is to care for people who are in need. The crux of this plays out in The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) when an expert in the law asks Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” It was an attempt to find a loophole, to exclude people we may not like from God’s command to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Jesus responds with the parable.
“There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off leaving him half-dead. Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him he angled across to the other side. Then a Levite religious man showed up; he also avoided the injured man.
“A Samaritan traveling the road came on him. When he saw the man’s condition, his heart went out to him. He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable. In the morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take good care of him. If it costs any more, put it on my bill—I’ll pay you on my way back.’
“What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?”
“The one who treated him kindly,” the religion scholar responded.
Jesus said, “Go and do the same.” (Luke 10:30-37, The Message)
It’s been disappointing, but not surprising, to see politicians and commentators try and water down Jesus’ command to love our neighbors. It’s also disappointing to see people want the best for refugees but not want them here in America. As already stated, refugees are trying to escape a place where they face violence and persecution. Saying “I’m praying for you” is not the answer.
A grievous moment in American history is from June 1939 when a boat carrying over 900 Jewish refugees is refused in Miami, Florida due to President Franklin Roosevelt and US policy. Over 250 of the individuals on the boat would later die when the boat returned to Europe. Most people look back on that moment and know it was a mistake that sentenced people to death. We like to think we would act differently if that situation happened today, but are we? It’s easy to default to policy or procedure when you don’t want to do something. Part of the reason President Roosevelt did not let the refugees enter America is because it would be “unpopular”. Sound familiar?
I don’t simply want to talk about the idea of loving my neighbor in vague terms as not to offend anyone. I’m not sure what it looks like now to help refugees resettle here, help my neighbors resettle here, but I’ll keep working on it.
If you want to help refugees resettle here in the Omaha area, but aren’t sure where to start, let me know and I can get you connected with the group I’m working with now.
Thanks & Support
Thanks for reading. I had been working on a post about refugees when I read Ben Marsh’s Bluesky post about how missions organizations fund illegal border crossings. (Ben is a fellow C&MA pastor.) It got me thinking about my own experiences, and I weaved that into this post.
I’ve enjoyed Bluesky the past few months and it reminds me of the early Twitter days.
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