“Jesus Anchor Baby, Illegal Immigrant”
We seem to white wash our stories—if we read the text closely, we will read that Jesus, too, was an illegal immigrant and an anchor baby. Mary is an unwed teenage mother. Joseph and Mary are residents in a foreign land. In order to be in compliance with a census, they must travel back to the land of their ancestors. It is not their home land. If it were, then the story would have told of relatives or friends that had no room for them—not the inns. A more profound story would have been for relatives and friends to reject the coming of the Christ child.
But in order for Jesus to be the promised savior he must be born in another country to fulfill the prophecy.
“But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.” [Matthew 2:6]
Jesus is an anchor baby, born in Bethlehem in order to claim the rights and privileges of being the son of David.
Shortly after his birth, King Herod orders the killing of the innocent, all children under the age of two. So Jesus and his parents become fugitives under the law and flee once again this time to Egypt. Jesus is now an illegal immigrant with a criminal record. The crime is sedition, being born a king when there was already a king in the land. The intent of overthrowing a kingdom is a felony.
When Herod is dead, Jesus’ parents return to their own country—not to Bethlehem where Jesus is a legal resident—but to Nazareth, where Jesus grows up as an illegal alien, where he takes the job of carpenter away from other Nazarenes.
Jesus does this and yet we accuse undocumented workers of doing something immoral?
We admire Jesus, the carpenter, but we disdain the undocumented construction worker?
If this story were to have happened in Arizona, Sheriff Arpaio would have sought to arrest Joseph and Mary, throw them into Tent City, where Mary would have had her baby with little medical attention. Jesus would still be an anchor baby because the 14th amendment has not yet been repealed. Joseph and Mary would have been sent to a detainment facility to await ICE decision to deport them. Jesus as an American citizen would be sent to an orphanage.
Or—if the story unfolded a bit closer to the Biblical text—Joseph would have had a dream to flee back into the desert and cross back into Mexico with Mary and newborn Jesus. The trek across the Arizona desert is as treacherous and dangerous as the trek from Bethlehem to Egypt. They would have faced starvation, dehydration, and possible death only to find a wall blocking their way.
If Jesus truly brings good news to the poor, release for the prisoners, sight to the blind and to the oppressed freedom, then Jesus identifies with the struggles for justice that undocumented immigrants cry out to receive. The cry for justice began in their own country where American corporations colluded with the rich to destroy homeland economies forcing thousands upon thousands of the working poor out of jobs. It began in our own country when the School of Americas trained militias to return to their home countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, Columbia, and others to overthrow governments and set up even worse governments where citizens are killed for speaking truth to power. These injustices demand reparation by our United States Government. Ideally, we would close down the School of Americas. We would limit the influence that corporations have in other countries, and we would seek to assist the citizens to rebuild their home countries.
But the least we can do is grant these refugees passage to our country and allow them to make a new way for themselves.
The least we can do is welcome them into our hearts as if they are indeed the Christ Child come to bring glad tidings and healing to the world.
Merry Christmas...
Rev. Fred L. Hammond
