Over the period of 2 generations my own family has had a hand in sponsoring 4 families’ applications for U.S. citizenship based on their presence and participation in our own lives and local communities. They were from Mexican, African, and Caribbean origins. We were required to pledge our financial resources to participate in their sponsorship. But because we knew them and cared about them, we knew it really was not a risk at all.
Additionally, our family enjoyed exchange students’ time in our home from Brazil and Germany. It has provided our children and their children a life-long sense of adventure about the world.
I hear many complaints about immigration, more often about immigration policy specifically. I am not opposed to healthy, vitalizing, community-building, economically productive, relationship-enhancing immigration. I enjoy the cultural education I have received and the knowledge and connectedness to the larger world.
But the massively scaled, illegally implemented, irresponsibly unvetted, dubiously intended nature of what our nation has experienced in unboundaried immigration in recent years has imposed serious, and even deadly, consequences on our society, fracturing in some ways trust in the very foundations of civic structure and civil life, in my opinion.
This year of our 250th anniversary as a nation should be one of celebration and moving forward into a bright future. Instead we seem stuck in a bitterly divisive battle over manipulating large numbers of human bodies by some leaders in pursuit of political power over the lives of sincere people, both those wishing to immigrate legally and those who would gladly welcome them and using unscrupulous enticements and means to accomplish their own political goals.
It grieves my heart. But I know God is good and that God will work all things together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
Things may appear unsettling, even dire at times, but I will continue to trust the goodness of God and those who call on the name of the LORD God in Jesus Christ’s name. 4/27/26. CBB
As an aside…..
had previously had conversation with a group of complainers in response to my views on immigration. This was my final observation to them on another social media platform:
“I, like my own parents before me, have actually sponsored immigrant applicants for naturalization. (Both Hispanic and African, oh, and Caribbean ,too) . They have proven their bona fides with integrity and industriousness. I put my resources on the line to demonstrate my faith in them as neighbors and friends. What have you done except post on social media and whine? Grow up and do something that contributes to America instead of sucking off it.”
I have no patience with political complaining and demeaning other people for their personal faith and values if all you’re doing is parking yourself in front of a screen and lobbing insults.
Their response? Cricket chirps.