God and the Illegal Alien

Robert W. Heimburger is Associate Chaplain with the Oxford Pastorate, Associate Researcher at the Fundación Universitaria Seminario Bíblico de Colombia, and Editor of IFES Word and World.

• Introduction; Part I. The Immigrant as Alien: 1. How the alien emerged: allegiance, English law, and federal immigration law; 2. Coming near to distant neighbors in God's world; Part II. The Alien as Unlawfully Present: 3. How aliens became illegal: sovereignty, Chinese migration, and federal immigration law; 4. The humble guard: governing immigration under God; Part III. An Unlawfully Present Alien from a Neighboring Country?: 5. How nationals of neighboring countries became illegal aliens: non-discrimination, Mexican migration, and federal immigration law; 6. Justice and mercy among neighbors; Conclusion.

'In the heated debates around 'illegal aliens' several matters cry out for explanation. Where did the term 'alien' arise, and when did it first appear in US law? Why do current immigration laws view foreigners like they do? Such questions require historical awareness and, for the Christian, substantive theological reasoning. Heimburger presents a legal history and offers a rich theology for the government's role in God's economy as 'neighbor'. This is a fresh, needful framework for our times.' M. Daniel Carroll R., Blanchard Professor of Old Testament, Wheaton College, Illinois and author of Christians at the Border: Immigration, the Church, and the Bible