We need to reform the immigration system in the United States. That needs to be top priority. There should be a system that provides security while showing compassion. There should be a system that controls the entry of foreigners while providing needed workers for the labor force.

We must do away with the current situation which creates demand for workers from other countries while offering no legal way for them to come. We must undermine the coyote system which preys on the most vulnerable in society.

Above all, we need to stop using refugees and migrant workers as scapegoats for the real problems in this system. Focus attention on what is creating the injustices in the system rather than attack those least able to defend themselves. Address the security risks from the wealthy who enter this country, not just the poor. The tourists, businessmen, and international students who provide money for this country somehow escape the discussions about security risks, even though they are much more likely to have the resources to do actual harm to this country and to create organized criminal activity.

More than walls, this country needs an effective immigration system, one that isn’t created just to please one party’s constituency or the other’s. Until proposals for creating such are on the table, recognize that political discussions of immigration will be nothing more than demagoguery. May Christians not fall sway to such.