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Most undocumented immigrants don't qualify for any federal benefits at all—no welfare, no Medicaid, no assistance whatsoever. The only two benefits are that children who are undocumented can go to school and they can receive emergency medical attention. It's really difficult even for a lot of legal immigrants to receive any federal assistance.

Is it fair that illegal immigrants' children are benefiting from an educational system to which their parents are not contributing?

A lot of these young students came to the U.S. undocumented through no fault of their own. They came here because of their parents. Also, when you look at even their kids that are going through school, they are learning English and integrating faster, studies have shown, than previous generations.

At the same time, there should be policies in place that direct federal government funds to state and local communities so that the effects of having immigrants in local communities, which are overwhelming for some, can be addressed. This is something many state governments have asked for, to get the money that the immigrants actually pay and have it funneled into local communities.

How have you seen the immigration debate change in recent years?

We think there is a middle growing. When Congress was debating this issue in 2006 and 2007, all the polls showed that 70 to almost 80 percent of Americans supported some kind of pathway for legal status for the undocumented, if they meet general requirements.

The people who are pro-immigration are not saying, "Let's toss out law enforcement and just have compassion on these immigrants, because that's what we're supposed to do." A lot of them want border security, but at the same time they recognize that it's going to be impossible, unless we reform current immigration laws, to get any sense of a balanced system.

And for a lot of enforcement-only people, there is a growing recognition that deporting everyone is completely unrealistic. There are about three million families right now that have one family member who's a U.S. citizen and one who's an undocumented immigrant. When you talk about deporting 12 million people, there's cause for alarm in that. These are mixed-status families, so you can't just deport everyone.

We tend to talk about the economics or the politics of immigration—which we need to address in public policy—but I think when it comes down to it, regardless of where we stand on policy issues, we need to see having immigrants in our communities as opportunities to bring them to Christ. A lot of them are living in poverty and lack the protection of the rule of law; it leaves them very vulnerable. That vulnerability opens a door for them to hear the gospel. We've seen a lot of churches grow significantly because of their outreach to immigrants, and we see immigrants becoming stronger believers.

So you're seeing American churches grow both in numbers and in spiritual vibrancy because of immigrants?

That's right. When you talk to the Southern Baptist Convention, for example, or the Evangelical Free Church of America, they say that if it weren't for immigrant churches, their denominations would be dying. Immigrants are planting a lot of immigrant churches in different communities.

A lot of immigrants have had to leave family members behind, or they're working really hard but getting underpaid. When they share their testimony of how God is faithful to them, I think it speaks volumes to the way God really works. As Christians, there's no greater testament to God's transformative power and the power of the gospel message to reach all people than to really know immigrants and to see how God moves in them as well as in us.

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Welcoming the Stranger   is available at ChristianBook.com and other book retailers.

Christianity Today also posted a book review of Welcoming the Stranger.

CT also has a special section on immigration.

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May (Web-only) 2009, Vol. 53