According to this commentary at Crosswalk.com, enforcement of our existing immigration laws is not “God honoring” and immigration reform should include some sort of amnesty. The author doesn’t propose a solution — he just says that neither total amnesty, nor total enforcement are good. (Really, shouldn’t you offer some sort of solution, if you’re going to criticize other proposed solutions?)

Despite the lack of “meat” in the author’s argument, I posted a reply with my ideas on how God views illegal immigration. I’ve only begun to think about this issue from a Christian perspective, so I’m totally willing to be convinced otherwise. But for now, this is why I believe God would NOT support illegal immigration.

We welcome aliens into the United States — those who follow the rules and come here legally. Those who break the U.S. immigration laws should be punished or prevented from doing so — that’s why we have laws. Paul instructs us in Romans 13 to obey the governing authorities. Arizona’s SB1070 law simply forces local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration laws. That’s a good thing. You cannot make a biblical case that God wants people to break a nation’s laws in order to migrate into that nation.

Illegal immigration costs the country $13 billion a year. That hurts the legal residents of the country. The government has a responsibility to protect its citizens. Illegal immigration economically hurts Americans (schools, job market), and in the case of Arizona, endangers the safety of citizens living near the border. God told Israel to build a wall around Jerusalem. Why is it not “God honoring” to build a physical & legal “wall” around our border?