Hoping to ease the pressure on border cities like El Paso from Venezuelans streaming north the Biden administration came up with a program for 24,000 of them. They would have to have a sponsor in the United States, enter through a port of entry, not just the Rio Grande, and pass security checks.
Looking at the photos of the El Paso processing center reminds me of the ones at Ellis Island more than a century ago. The anxious looks of parents holding their children close in fear of being sent back. Although immigration agents no longer inspect the teeth of intending immigrants like one looks at horses, vetting still takes place.
In the early 60s we admitted thousands of Cubans fleeing Castro. The autocratic regime of Maduro is not much different. His collectivos, enforcers of his destructive policies, are able to randomly select targets for arrest, beatings, and torture. What’s the difference between 2022, 1902, or 1620 when our ancestors fled persecution and poverty?
Prayer for the Day
God of memory, bring to our minds our own history,
Of our ancestors fearfully fleeing persecution and poverty;
Hold us to our words of who we say we are as a Nation,
Welcoming those who will build us into a better society.
Watchful God, you call us to care for the hungry and the poor,
May we not betray your Gospel that we preach.
In the name of the One who reached out to all,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
I had always hoped that his land might become a safe and agreeable asylum to the virtuous and persecuted part of mankind, to whatever nation they might belong.
- George Washington, President, patriot (1732-1799)
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand/A mighty woman with a torch,
whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles….
“Give me your tired, our huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless,
tempest-tost to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Emma Lazarus, from The Newt Colossus (1849-1887)
The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble;
And those who know your name put their trust in you,
For you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
Psalm 9:9-10