The issue of immigration is divisive and disruptive to American politics. Like many other evangelical Christians, I’ve generally leaned more conservative but have been troubled by President Trump’s rhetoric toward immigrants. My interactions at my church – Saddleback Church, where I served as a youth pastor for several years – have shown me that the tensions around immigration policy are real, sometimes causing strife among friends and even within families. But for my family, the family separation has been quite literal.
My ethnically diverse church home is in many ways a microcosm of California’s 40th congressional district, where it is located. Nearly a quarter of the congressional district’s residents were born outside the U.S. A language other than English is spoken in more than one-third of all households. Republican U.S. Representative Young Kim represents the sentiment of the district well when she campaigns as “a pro-immigration candidate who wants to preserve family-based migration.”
The immigration issue is personal to me. My parents immigrated from Colombia over 35 years ago, seeking asylum at a time when the country was considered the murder capital of the world. They raised three daughters in Orange County, instilling in us a deep Christian faith and a love for this country. After getting scammed by fake lawyers, they tried for decades to secure permanent legal status, staying away from legal troubles and checking in annually with Immigration & Customs Enforcement.
None of that mattered, however, earlier this year at their regular immigration appointment. My mother and father were handcuffed by their wrists and ankles, held separately for three weeks in various detention centers across the country, and only reunited by happenstance when they were assigned to the same plane. They’ve now been deported to Colombia.
The Register and other media have highlighted my parents’ story, undercutting the Trump administration’s rhetoric that they’re deporting “the worst of the worst criminal aliens.” In fact, most immigrants detained pending deportation have not been convicted of any crime, to say nothing of heinous, violent offenses.
That’s why I’m so distraught that, despite appealing family unity rhetoric and alignment on many other policy issues, Rep. Kim voted in favor of the “Big, Beautiful Bill.” She cited tax cuts and fiscal responsibility, without apparent concern for what the bill will do to mixed status families like mine. With an annual immigrant detention budget of $3.4 billion, the Department of Homeland Security had enough space to detain and deport my non-criminal parents. What will they do with the $45 billiontaxpayer dollars allocated for detention in this bill?
The White House has been clear: no one who is unlawfully present should feel safe. Even if they play essential roles in the U.S. economy. Even if they’ve been present for decades and have U.S. citizens children. Even if they entered lawfully from countries such as Haiti, Ukraine or Afghanistan, background-checked individuals who were present lawfully right until, in many cases, the administration abruptly terminated their humanitarian parole – ignoring pleas from Rep. Kim on behalf of Ukrainians and from prominent conservative Christian leaders on behalf of uniquely vulnerable Afghans. A vote for this bill is signing the check to carry out these deportations.
Evangelical Christians like me are often divided over politics, but on this there is surprising unanimity. Lifeway Research finds that while most evangelicals want violent criminals prioritized for deportation, less than one-fifth say the same for immigrants with U.S. citizen spouses or children, those who have been present for five years or longer or those willing to pay a fine as restitution for their violation of an immigration law. Evangelicals don’t want to indebt our children in order to separate families and decimate our churches.
I hope and pray that Rep. Kim will reconsider her support when the “Big, Beautiful Bill” comes back up for a final vote – and that she’ll instead cosponsor the bipartisan Dignity Act, which would ensure that violent criminals are deported and our borders are secured, but would allow non-criminal immigrants – like my parents – to pay a fine and stay lawfully with their families in the country that they love.
Many American families have been divided by politics in recent years. My family was literally divided by the effects of political polarization, as Congress has failed for decades to find the bipartisan consensus necessary to reform a dysfunctional immigration system, ceding power to an administration hostile to immigrants. My prayer is that Rep. Kim and all members of Congress will act now, before other families are separated as mine has been.
Stephanie Gonzalez lives in Orange County and works as a science teacher at a private Christian school.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Immigration policy has divided my family. Congress should act now — before the situation gets worse. )
Also on site :
- Russell Crowe, 61, Debuts a Svelte and Dapper Look at Wimbledon
- Attempts to kill DEI have inadvertently made corporate diversity stronger
- Turning point or pointless turn: Will DR Congo-Rwanda deal bring peace?