Ralph Reed, Chairman of the Faith & Freedom Coalition, writes of what policy changes he thinks are in order for our immigration system and how they can be informed by biblical principles.
America has always been a nation of immigrants. Their religiosity, high birth rates and work ethic settled a continent, built railroads, populated our cities, filled our houses of worship and grew our economy.
Between 1840 and 1860, 1.7 million Irish endured an inhumane trans-Atlantic passage, though nothing compared with that of slaves brought here against their will. Italians, Greeks and Russian Jews fled poverty and pogroms in the late 19th century. Cubans risked a watery death on rickety craft to escape Fidel Castro. In our own time Mexicans, Indians, Koreans and others come to the USA for the same reason: They hunger to be free.