Holy Redeemer Lutheran Church

     Why shouldn't they come? Why shouldn't they be welcomed with open arms? Why shouldn't they be included in the fabric of America? Call me naïve if you want, but I just don't understand why.

     Immigration has poured onto the front pages of our newspapers and it fills the evening news of our televisions. It is the big story of this particular point in time. Yes, the war still continues. Yes, the Bush Administration is till the most corrupt administration in the history of our country. Yes, Barry Bonds moves inexorably toward overtaking Babe Ruth. But, at this point in time immigration is what has captured the imagination (and lack of imagination) of the American people.

     Thousands march. Nay, hundreds of thousands march! Across the breadth of this land immigrants and their supporters have taken to the streets to say "We want a change!" It's not hard to understand why. You don't have to be a liberal to know what is wanted. Conservatives can understand the arguments also. They might both reach different conclusions, but both can understand the arguments (if they look at things with an open mind).

     Let's start with the economy. If companies stopped hiring immigrants (either documented or undocumented) they would stop coming. It is a matter of supply and demand. If an immigrant could not find a better job in the United States than he or she could find at home, they would stay at home. But, and this is a huge but, our economy needs the workers. What would happen to the grape crops, the tobacco crops, the sweet potato crops, the tomato crops, the Christmas tree farms and a hundred other farm labor issues without immigrant workers? Who would clean our hotel rooms? Who would pick up the brooms and the dust rags of janitors? The list goes on and on. The bottom line is that our economy would go a long ways toward collapsing without immigrant workers.

     Let's look at the tax base - income tax, local taxes, Social Security. What would be the hit to the bottom line of American income if immigrants no longer paid income taxes (taxes that they don't get refunds on the way others of us do)? What would happen to the economy of California without the 4 million undocumented workers who contribute to our local tax base as they buy groceries, gas, clothing, jewelry and other items? What would happen to the economy of California if all immigrants stopped buying these things? I don't know about you, but whenever I fill out a form on the internet and put down a number I am immediately told whether that is a good number or not. I can't be convinced that the same is not possible in our Social Security system. In fact, SS numbers used by undocumented workers are flagged, with the money placed into a suspense account. But, employers are not notified and (in general) workers are not questioned. Wonder why? Think no further than that it amounts to 3 to 4 Billion (with a B) yearly, and our government wants the money more than it wants to find a worker using a suspicious Social Security number.

     Let's look at the charge that "they are taking our jobs". What a crock! When was the last time that the American public was scrambling to be hired to work in the fields -- with little water, few bathroom breaks, and sunstroke the order of the day? What a crock! When was the last time that there was a huge push to be able to go into office buildings at night to empty trash cans and bush a broom? What a crock! When was the last time that we were clamoring to be able to clean 4 hotel rooms an hour, for a 10 hour shift, at minimum wage? What a crock. They're not taking out jobs. They're taking jobs that we don't want, even in a down-turned economy!

     Let's face it, our country has set up an economic system that is in need of more workers than we have working age citizens - or in need of more workers that we have working age citizens who are willing to work at particular jobs. Rather than keeping people out, we should be actively recruiting peopled to come and work. We should be smoothing the way by offering papers for entry and an easy route to citizenship if people want to live here.

     Rather than arguing about documented and undocumented workers, we should be working to fully establish God's Sabbath Economic, where all workers are engaged in a sustainable livelihood and where all people are accorded a sustainable life.

     When we do we can stop arguing about lines that are arbitrarily drawn upon a map and about who should be allowed on which side of the arbitrary lines. Then we can get on to some important business.