Immigrants, refugees and minority populations

"O contending peoples and kindreds of the earth! Set your faces towards unity, and let the radiance of its light shine upon you. Gather ye together, and for the sake of God resolve to root out whatever is the source of contention amongst you. Then will the effulgence of the world's great Luminary envelop the whole earth, and its inhabitants become the citizens of one city, and the occupants of one and the same throne...There can be no doubt whatever that the peoples of the world, of whatever race or religion, derive their inspiration from one heavenly Source, and are subjects of one God. " -Baha'u'llah

During this past year, a passion has grown inside of me regarding the plight of immigrants, refugees, and minority populations. While this is an issue all over the world, my experience has tied me emotionally to the immigration debate in the U.S. A few nights ago I was watching the republican debate and the subject of immigration reform came up. One of the candidates was speaking on his belief that all illegal immigrants should be shipped back to Mexico, a giant Berlin type wall should be built along the border, and English should be the exclusive language because it is what ties a country together, establishes a common identity, blah blah blah. I am in the process of reading 'The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich', and so it was interesting hearing this man speak at this time. The implicit ideas of national and racial purity, common ancestry, common culture, and common history being a barrier to racial diversity curiously resembled some of the warped writings of Hitler including

"The state is a racial organism"; "Nature... puts living creatures on this globe and watches the free play of forces. She then confers the master's right on her favorite child, the strongest in courage and industry...The stronger must dominate and not blend with the weaker, thus sacrificing his own greatness..."

As a Baha'i, I understand that racial diversity is one of the most important assets that we have as humans. Having immigrants, minorities, and refugees among us represents a golden opportunity to love our neighbor, to expand and enrich our perceptions and cultural life, and by reaching out and integrating our efforts, hastening the inevitable realization of the unity of humankind and true human justice in the eyes of God. While I am sure this man claims he is a Christian, he is conveniently overlooking the injunction to love thy neighbor; probably because all the literal neighbors in his posh suburb look the same as him. The prejudice of immigrants in the U.S. has absolutely no justification no matter how you look at it.

From a biblical point of view:

Throughout the Bible, especially the New Testament, a common theme is the salvation of all human kind, thereby bringing all people into the spiritual body of Christ. Here are just a few examples.
"In the last days, the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of mountains, and will be raised above the hills; and all the nations will stream to it..." Isaiah 2:2

"And not for the nation only, but that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad" John 11:52

"For through the grace given to me I say to every man among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think...For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another, and since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let each exercise them accordingly" Romans 12:3-6

From an economic point of view:

A common argument against Mexican immigrants is that they push down wages of American workers, especially among high school dropouts. The evidence for this argument is inconclusive, and, in fact, there is a growing body of evidence against it. According to the 2000 census, immigrants made up 28 percent of workers without a high school education and 13 percent of total workers. George Borjas of Harvard University conducted a study comparing wage trends between groups with different education and work experience. By comparing groups with a large proportion of immigrants to groups with few immigrants, he concluded that, between 1980 and 2000, immigration caused wages to be 3 percent lower than they would have been. For high school dropouts, wages were 8 percent lower. Critics of immigration use this to support their case. They overlook what Borjas reports about immigrants' affect on investment. Firms who use cheaper immigrant labor use that surplus to invest more, creating more jobs in the process. Adjusted for capital stock, overall wages are unaffected and the loss of wages for high school dropouts is only 5 percent. Gianmarco Ottaviano of the University of Bologna and Giovanni Peri of the University of California-Davis point out that these findings should be adjusted, further considering that immigrants and natives often work in different types of jobs.
Immigrants are often found doing construction, gardening and housework, while low-skilled natives often do logging and mining. Taking this into account, they conclude that immigrants' affect on the wages of high school dropouts is virtually nil.

From a national/Cultural point of view.

I won't say much on this, but one thing I will say is that God did not make nations, humans did. Recent science has shown that all humans originated in Africa. No group of people can claim to have ultimate inheritance of any piece of land. Of course there is a natural need for political jurisdiction of certain areas by local authorities, proper documentation of the ebb and flow of population, property rights, and all the other good stuff of civil society, but that does not give anybody the right to restrict the movement of others who are only looking to find a better life for their families.

In conclusion, I am entirly convinced that it is necessary for all of us to shift a paradigm however implicit, that views diversity as a weakness, a deviation from some kind of over-romanticized cultural or national identity. By reaching out to all people, no matter how different they might seem to us, we can create a unified world which is much greater than the sum of its parts.