A woman bishop, a president, and a solution to the migrant and refugee crisis
By Robert Fontana
You may have never knowingly met men and women who are living in the United States without documentation, but you have certainly benefited from their presence. As Episcopal bishop Mariann Edgar Budde reminded the newly elected president on inauguration day, these are…
“…the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meat packing plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals. They may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, and temples.”[1]
There is no accurate method for determining the precise number of people who are unauthorized immigrants. In 2022, the Office of Homeland Security estimated the number to be about 11 million.[2]
Keep in mind that the wealth of this nation is built on the backs of these hardworking, good and humble people. And the MAGA world led by Trump, many who are farmers, ranchers, contractors, hospital managers, CEOs and CFO’s of companies, and also ordinary citizens who directly benefit from the labor of migrants, have embraced the Trump scapegoating of them as “rapists, murderers, and criminals.” A few may be, but the vast majority of them are not!
(See: https://www.factcheck.org/2018/06/is-illegal-immigration-linked-to-more-or-less-crime/)
Bishop Mariann pleaded with the new President: rather than treat them as criminals, could he honor their dignity and show them mercy:
Let me make one final plea, Mr. President,…I ask you to have mercy…on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands, to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger for we were all once strangers in this land. May God grant us the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, to speak the truth to one another in love, and walk humbly with each other and our God for the good of all people. The good of all people in this nation and the world.[3]
I completely agree with Bishop Mariann. However, I don’t think she went far enough. Rather than simply asking for mercy for migrants and refugees, Bishop Mariann ought to have proposed a solution that would benefit the country and probably give President Trump a new constituency of supporters: citizenship for all migrants and refugees who seek it and have no criminal record.
While in the seminary in 1976, I was part of a community of students who welcomed refugees from Vietnam, one who became my roommate. Lori and I helped resettle refugees from Cambodia in the 1980’s. The individuals we helped, and the thousands helped by non-profits across the country became good citizens, excellent employees, owners of small businesses, and taxpayers. The same happened after the passage of the Immigration and Reform Act of 1986 under President Reagan, giving men and women living in the US without documentation a path towards citizenship under certain conditions. Did some commit crimes? YES, but very few. Did most settle in, they and their children quickly integrating into American life? A resounding YES!
With Biden’s executive action on June 4, 2025, the southern border was tightened up and essentially closed. Border and migration tension have intensified under Trump. Now is the time to change direction. Stop deporting migrants and refugees who are here doing the grunt work that few native-born Americans want to do.
Lori and I and two of our daughters have worked on the border. We have seen firsthand the young, hardworking, resilient, courageous, creative, and intelligent men and women, many with their children, who have made the long journey from their home country to the USA. Their home countries are losing the best and the brightest, their greatest assets and talents, their youth, to migration.
The US is not being “overrun” by these migrants, we are benefiting from them! In giving the undocumented migrants and refugees a path to citizenship, Trump would succeed in keeping the harvest picked; the elderly and infirm well cared for; meat cut, packaged, and sent to stores; and small migrant-owned businesses continuing to serve the local community. After these welcomed migrants become citizens, they will remember at the next election which party cared for them and acted on their behalf.
Mass deportation of migrants and refugees is not the answer to their undocumented status. Citizenship is. Citizenship is in the US’s self-interest. It is also the just and Christian thing to do. It is how the Gospel mandate to welcome the stranger, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the sick could be implemented nation-wide.
[1] https://carmenmccain.com/2025/01/22/transcript-of-bishop-mariann-budes-sermon-during-the-2025-us-inaugural-prayer-service/
[2] https://ohss.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2024-06/2024_0418_ohss_estimates-of-the-unauthorized-immigrant-population-residing-in-the-united-states-january-2018%25E2%2580%2593january-2022.pdf
[3] https://carmenmccain.com/2025/01/22/transcript-of-bishop-mariann-budes-sermon-during-the-2025-us-inaugural-prayer-service/
