The press is making much of Saul Arellano, a 7-year-old “American citizen” who yesterday lobbied Mexican legislators to lobby the U.S. administration on behalf of his illegal immigrant mother, who is holed up in a Chicago church to avoid her legal deportation for violating this country’s immigration laws. One can’t help but root for the spunky little guy, but I have some questions:
1. What right does Mexico have in this, since it is Mexico that dumps millions of its people here rather than reform its own corrupt house? The boy should lobby here, not there.
2. Why do kids of illegals gain citizenship here? If the parents are illegal, then the children should be, too, so that we don’t face these kinds of dilemmas.
3. Why does this church continue to openly defy duly passed (and basically moral) laws of the United States? There are times when civil disobedience is called for, but this isn’t one of them. This church should lose its tax-exempt status.
About Stan Guthrie
Stan Guthrie is an editor at large for Christianity Today magazine and for the Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview. His latest book is God's Story in 66 Verses. He also is author of All that Jesus Asks: How His Questions Can Teach and Transform Us, Missions in the Third Millennium: 21 Key Trends for the 21st Century, and A Concise Guide to Bible Prophecy. He is co-author of The Sacrament of Evangelism. Besides authoring, writing, and editing books, Stan is a literary agent, bringing together good authors, good books, and good publishers.
Stan writes the monthly Priorities colum for BreakPoint.org. He has appeared on National Public Radio's Tell Me More, WGN's Milt Rosenberg program, and many Christian shows, including The Eric Metaxas Show and Moody Radio's New Day Florida. A licensed minister and an inspirational speaker, he served as moderator for the Christian Book Expo panel discussion, Does the God of Christianity Exist, and What Difference Does It Make?
