The New York Times recently reported that "as many as 7,000 migrants from Central America are on their way to the United States"...motivated by the position of newly elected President Biden regarding border security.
Although the Biden administration had signaled them---"not yet"---they began their journey anyway.
Yesterday Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) said in a statement that construction on the US-Mexico border wall will stop by the end of Tuesday. His district is on that border.
He said, "This is a promising step..."
Ironically, a new survey finds that 60% of likely voters want Biden to stop the caravan.
Be informed, not misled
Coming to America.
The New York Times is reporting that the caravan has been halted for the moment.
Quoting the Director-General of the Guatemalan Migration Institute the Times writes, "Fortunately, our security forces managed to contain this pitched battle. We managed to calm everything in a very complicated situation. We're talking about national security here."
The Times talks about the plight of these people, how Trump denied them entrance by working out arrangements with both Guatemala and Mexico.
They also note that President Biden has pledged to ease asylum rules.
I've spent a good amount of time in Central America, including Guatemala and Honduras, starting and building Christian churches---about 20-some in Guatemala, a dozen or so in Honduras---I know the people because I stayed with them---sometimes in their village homes with dirt floors.
There are hundreds of legitimate reasons why they want to come to America. I love those people.
But if Biden and his far-left radical administration are successful in essentially eliminating our borders, there will be no America to come to.
The Times claims this is "a test of the regional resolve to control migration."
It's much more than that.
The test.
This is a test to see if America can survive Joe Biden, his pen, and the radical group he has gathered around himself in his administration.
People closer to Biden and his agenda than I say, "With the stroke of a pen, President Biden made this country less safe. It's pure politics over public safety."
After Biden's Executive Orders were issued, former Trump administration officials said that the border wall was necessary to reduce immigration numbers.
Although Biden quoted people on the border as telling him the wall was unnecessary, those people on the border say otherwise.
That includes Mark Morgan, former Customs and Border Protection Commissioner, who said:
"Look, I know what our team told the transition team. I know the facts and data and analysis that was provided. I know what they told them and gave them that showed that the wall works."
Morgan added that he believes the current administration did not speak to experts with the Border Patrol about the policies that should remain, including the wall. He also noted the unfortunate Biden executive orders ending the Migrant Protection Protocol (MPP), also known as the "Remain in Mexico" program.
So this is a test of integrity. Is the left so committed to their open borders agenda that they are willing to mislead and lie about the information the transition team received?
Apparently yes.
A Rasmussen Survey out yesterday found that by a 2 to 1 margin voters want the migrant caravan stopped at the border.
A full 60% of likely US voters say our government should stop the caravan at the border. That's double the 30% of voters who believe they should be able to enter the US illegally so each case can be heard.
But ultimately, this is a test of worldviews.
Is borders and national sovereignty biblical?
In an article I wrote in this column back in 2014, I talked about how Scripture is twisted to conform to a leftist worldview, rather than a biblical world view.
This is an overview of part of what we wrote then. There are a number of other columns about this subject on our website including the biblical teaching on borders and national sovereignty.
Jeb Bush, who was wanting to be president at the time, had said allowing illegal immigration is an "act of love."
And Jim Wallis, the founder of Sojourners, had written an op-ed in the Los Angles Times titled, "It's time for a moral religious conversation about immigration reform---not just a political one."
I agreed then, and I agree now.
But in regard to immigration, who is my neighbor? The left has a hard time putting any Scripture in context---and they don't like to read on.
In this case, when we "read on," we discover who the stranger really is: "The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God."
However, the command to love the stranger is not open ended.
The Hebrew language of the Old Testament uses three words to describe strangers, aliens and immigrants. Two of these words---nekhar and zar---refer to foreigners whose allegiance remained with their native country.
These people were denied the benefits of citizenship in Israel and were not in view in Leviticus 19:34.
On the other hand, the Hebrew word "ger" often translated "sojourner" or "stranger" as in Leviticus 19:34, is a person who has immigrated to Israel legally with the intention of becoming a citizen. Israel was instructed to treat these immigrates as if they were "native" born, granting them the benefits of citizenship.
Legal controlled immigration is God's model. Open borders are not.
Because of their misuse of the word's "stranger" and "sojourner," the left, including the so-called religious left and the open borders advocates, teach that Jesus in Matthew 25 is teaching that we should care for the least of these as a parallel to the command to "love our neighbor."
They conclude that Jesus taught that America must accept all who cross our borders, regardless of circumstances or legality.
He isn't teaching that at all. He's actually speaking about a judgment at the end of the future tribulation period in which Jesus separates the "sheep from the goats."
To suggest that America has a biblical or moral mandate to accept any and all who cross our borders is twisting Scripture.
Certainly, we are instructed to love our neighbor---but we are not the state. We are individuals.
The Bible is very clear about what the role of the state is to be.
- Provide social order (Judges 17:6).
- Preserve human dignity (Genesis 4:9-15).
- Protect peace (Jeremiah 9:27, I Timothy 2:2).
- Promote justice (Psalm 82:2-4; Daniel 4:27).
- Punish evil, praise goodness (Romans 13: 3-7, I Peter 2:13-14).
I would encourage you to read this entire article and others on this site on the subject.
We need to get real about the matter of immigration and the biblical response. Some who misquote Scripture do so to advance a political career, rather than practice the teaching of Jesus.
Scriptures that appear to advance the left-wing agenda are most often taken out of context, and used to expand government, suppress liberty, and erode personal freedoms while advancing the left-wing radical agenda to remake America under the guise of "progress."
You've heard it before, but it bears repeating:
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same."
Ronald Reagan
Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Prayerful.