Our Moral Obligation to Grant Asylum to Refugees from Central America

Recently, the Trump administration has done everything it could to make it more difficult to seek asylum in The United States of America.

• Trump’s Deal With Mexico Could Make Asylum Next to Impossible
• Trump Is Attempting to Prevent Most Asylum-Seekers From Having Access to Legal Representation
• The US has made migrants at the border wait months to apply for asylum. Now the dam is breaking.

These actions are morally reprehensible.
To begin with, these people are fleeing truly terrible conditions that include violence, organized crime, extremely low incomes, and truly unbearable living conditions. They did not decide to travel over 2,000 miles on a whim. They are fleeing clear and present danger.

• 10 things you should know about the violence in Central America
• Central America’s Violent Northern Triangle
• Violence drives immigration from Central America

These descriptions of what the refugees are fleeing should be enough to convince anyone with an ounce of compassion to welcome these refugees from Central America with open arms and grant them asylum in The United States of America, especially if they claim to be Christian.

When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. (Leviticus 19:33-34)

Compassion, empathy, and common decency are not the only reasons why we should be welcoming these refugees instead of turning them away. There are numerous sources that provide overwhelming evidence that these refugees are fleeing conditions that were created by actions directly taken by the government of The United States of America over the past 100 years.

• A Century of U.S. Intervention Created the Immigration Crisis
• Here’s How The U.S. Sparked A Refugee Crisis On The Border, In 8 Simple Steps
• How US Foreign Policy Helped Create the Immigration Crisis
• The Violence Central American Migrants Are Fleeing Was Stoked by the US
• US Interventions Have Destabilized Central America

We helped create the issues that caused the refugee crisis. We have a moral obligation to provide those who are fleeing the conditions we created a place of safety where they can live in peace. We have a moral responsibility to make right our wrongs!

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. (Galatians 6:7)