We need a miracle to protect the border and Dreamers
Florida is home to 150,000 “Dreamers,” immigrants brought to the United States as children, the third highest of any state. Over the past decade, tens of thousands have been allowed under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy to reside and work lawfully in the United States. They’ve leveraged those opportunities to pursue higher education, find employment in critical sectors of our state’s economy and build families in this state. However, a recent court ruling finding DACA was created illegally has thrown these Dreamers’ lives into uncertainty. Only Congress can resolve this crisis and at this point, it might take nothing short of a miracle.
Concurrently, our country’s borders are facing unprecedented challenges. Recently, the U.S. Border Patrol surpassed 2 million apprehensions for the first time ever. While most who come to the U.S. border are simply looking for economic opportunity or safety, our governmental systems are failing when we lack the capacity to vet those coming in and require years to provide a decision on asylum requests. But reaching the bipartisan consensus necessary to resolve these challenges legislatively would also take a miracle.
Well, as evangelical Christians, we believe in miracles. After all, the first Christmas miracle involved a virgin giving birth. “How can this be?” Mary reasonably asked. But nothing, she learns, is impossible with God.
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We firmly believe, in the authority of Scripture, that God cares deeply about the well-being of our Dreamer neighbors, each of whom he made in his image with inherent dignity. In fact, at the end of the Gospel of Matthew’s narrative of the Christmas story, Jesus himself was carried across a border by His parents, fleeing the threat of persecution by a jealous king.
Our concern for Dreamers is rooted in our faith. As presidents of faith-based universities, it is also deeply personal. Our campuses have been enriched by students, alumni, and even faculty who have benefited from DACA. Within the next couple of years, the U.S. Supreme Court will likely rule on the pending legal challenge to DACA. Given past precedent, they’re likely to end DACA altogether. Dreamers who have been integral members of our campus communities and who have been living and working lawfully under DACA for a decade will have their work authorization revoked.
The effect will be a crisis. But this crisis will affect not only them but their families, employers, and our national economy. By the way, DACA recipients contribute roughly $42 billion annually to the U.S. economy.
Right now, the U.S. House of Representatives has already passed a bipartisan bill to allow Dreamers to pursue citizenship. If the Senate could reach a deal that draws on a framework released by Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) that pairs dramatic investments in border security with a path to citizenship for DACA recipients and other Dreamers, then it would likely quickly pass the House of Representatives and be signed by President Biden.
But time is incredibly tight.
If the Senate defers action on a solution, however, the likely new Speaker of the House has already said he will not pair a Dreamer solution with a border bill. On the other hand, the Democrat-controlled Senate will not pass a border-only bill. Partisan gridlock will mean an unacceptable status quo for Dreamers and the U.S.-Mexico border for a minimum of two years
So we need a miracle. Right now we’re praying Congress makes it a reality. When they do, evangelicals will have their backs. Lifeway Research recently found that 83% of evangelicals support immigration reforms that include both a path to citizenship for Dreamers and border security improvements and 71% say it is vital that Congress pass significant immigration reforms this year.
That may take a miracle, but crazier things have happened at this time of year.
Kent Ingle is the president of Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida. David Hoag is president of Warner University in Lake Wales, Florida.
