Maryland's Dream Act: Border Baby

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Border Baby

BORDER BABY
Gabe, a Border Patrol officer, argues with his superior about a family.

Gabe: Captain, I think you should look at this bunch before we send them away.
Captain: Why?
Gabe: Hard to say. There’s something about them.
Captain: You woke me up for “something about them”? Okay, gimme a run-down.
Gabe: The facts don’t sound too good. I think you should meet them.
Captain: Facts, Gabe! Facts, first and fast.
Gabe: Okay. Young couple with a kid and a donkey. Crossing the border at night. Jose is a handyman. He speaks Hill-billy. He had work at home, but left it because he had a dream. The lady with him is Maria. The kid does not look like Jose, so I asked if it was Jose’s kid. She said no, right off, calm. The kid is young. Maria said his name was “Hey-you.” I ask Jose, “Are you kidding me? Hey-you?” “Hey-Zeus,” he corrects. I made routine inquiries about them, and got a hit right away for Hey-Zeus. He may look young -- he is young -- but he is wanted by the police. Still …
Captain: Gabe! Ignorant peasant day laborer, doesn’t speak the language. Girl has a baby, not his, with a smart-ass name The little bastard's got his own little rap sheet. I do not have to think about this one. Are they offering a bribe?
Gabe: No!
Captain: Services?
Gabe: Captain, it’s not like that! Just meet them!
Captain: This one is real simple, Gabe. Tell Jose to go home. If they try to sneak across the border out in the desert, it’s prison until we get around to deportation -- and extradition for the kid.
Gabe: Boss! I’m telling you, they got a kind of a glow.
Captain: I’m not gonna try to figure this out. Tell them they are not welcome here. They should get lost. I don’t know -- try Egypt, for Chrissake. That’s our law!

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Intro

There are about 12 million immigrants in the United States without legal documentation. Numerous efforts to solve the challenge of illegal immigration have failed. One such effort is the Dream Act. The federal Dream Act addresses the national challenge, but there are other state efforts as well, including the Maryland Dream Act. The Maryland law deals with a very small piece of the overall issue: it would provide in-state tuition rates at community colleges and in-state tuition rates for juniors and seniors at four-year state colleges and universities, to undocumented immigrants who meet a list of conditions. The law passed in April 2011, but opponents of the bill collected signatures to force a referendum on the issue in the 2012 election. Polls in late 2011 indicated that voters were split, but the bill was likely to go down in defeat.

Many of the leaders of the opposition to the Dream Act are conservatives who identify themselves as Christian. My intent to is open and maintain a civil argument among Christians on the issue. It is not my intention to exclude anyone from the debate; I am focusing on a debate among Christians because that’s who I am.

I am convinced that Christians who oppose the Dream Act have overlooked the clear and forceful teaching of Bible and the Church throughout the ages.

The easiest example: nearly everyone makes a mistake in discussions of the Last Judgment as described in Matthew 25. Nearly everyone makes the SAME mistake -- and it’s an interesting one. (See "9 of 10 ...")

So let’s talk.