Immigration policy is one of the hot topics on the political agenda these days. The Senate begins debate next week on a variety of proposals to reform current immigration policies and practices. Among the difficult issues faced by the senators will be that of finding ways to deal with the problems and opportunities associated with illegal immigration.

One provision of a proposed bill would criminalize certain forms of assistance to illegal immigrants. There are different interpretations of exactly what that means. The Catholic bishops, for instance, argue that it could make illegal the kind of humanitarian aid many churches provide at shelters and soup kitchens, while others say that the provision is aimed at the traffickers of illegal aliens who ruthlessly exploit desperate men and women.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has weighed in on the matter saying , “It is certainly not in keeping with my understanding of the Scriptures, because this bill would literally criminalize the Good Samaritan and probably even Jesus himself.” (Read all about it) And here is a different interpretation of the issue: Read all about it.

I don’t know much about the details of proposed legislation. I do know that the devil often dwells therein. But political posturing aside (and there’s plenty to go around on all sides of the issue), Senator Clinton has a point. Sort of.

Her choice of proof texts is a bit faulty, but there is a biblical principle in what she says. To be sure, it is the Samaritan who offers aid to the mugging victim who most resembles an “illegal” in the parable. Except that he wasn’t. There was no love lost between Jew and Samaritan but there were no legal issues involved in Jews traveling through Samaria (as Jesus himself often did) or Samaritans traveling through Judah (as the good Samaritan was). And as for Jesus, try as they might, the Scribes and Pharisees never could get a convincing case against Jesus based on civil law. Pontius Pilate said as much when he washed his hands and sent Jesus rather than Barabbas to the cross.

If I were Ms. Clinton’s speech writer, I would have chosen Deuteronomy 10:14-18 to make her point:

To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. Yet the LORD set his affection on your forefathers and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations, as it is today. Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt. Fear the LORD your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. He is your praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes. Your forefathers who went down into Egypt were seventy in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.

Or perhaps the law of gleaning in Deuteronomy 24:

Immigration policy is a tough issue. Our Beaver Valley was shaped and formed by immigrants - from the Scotch Irish of the late Eighteenth Century to the Eastern Europeans who brought all sorts of change during that last great wave of immigration at the beginning of the Twentieth Century.

Immigration itself is neither good nor bad, but our policies and practices can be. I need to learn more, because if the devil can be found in the details, so can the justice of God.

Senator Clinton, I think you may have picked the wrong passage, but I think you’ve said something we need to consider. Park People, followers of Christ and citizens who vote, I think we need to consider this when we judge the members of congress who represent us:

Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this.

God’s justice always trumps partisan politics. What do you think?