Asylum Seekers - Jesus, Mary, and Joseph
Would they have been admitted to the United States?
At the heart of the Christmas story is a tale of refugees, fleeing for their lives and finding asylum in Egypt. Would they be so fortunate today?
An ancient spiritual practice is to read from the Bible and to pay attention to what strikes you in the passage - Lectio Divina - Divine Reading. Here are some things to ponder. If you would like to be part of a miracle, please donate to the Santa Cruz Welcoming Network and other groups supporting asylum seekers.
Matthew 2:13-21
When they [The Magi] had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.
Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”
After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.” So, he got up, took the child and his mother, and went back to the land of Israel.
Exodus 22:21
Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt.
Donald Trump, December 17, 2023
“They let — I think the real number is 15, 16 million people into our country. When they do that, we got a lot of work to do. They’re poisoning the blood of our country,” Trump told the crowd at a rally in New Hampshire. “That’s what they’ve done. They poison mental institutions and prisons all over the world, not just in South America, not just to three or four countries that we think about, but all over the world. They’re coming into our country from Africa, from Asia, all over the world.”
Trump then repeated the use of “poisoning” in a post on his social media website, Truth Social, saying overnight in an all-caps post, that “illegal immigration is poisoning the blood of our nation. They’re coming from prisons, from mental institutions — from all over the world.”
The Biden Administration December 13, 2023
Among the proposals being seriously discussed, according to several people familiar with the private talks, are plans to allow Homeland Security officials to stop migrants from applying for asylum at the U.S. southern border if the number of total crossings exceeds daily capacity of roughly 5,000. Some one-day totals this year have exceeded 10,000.
Also under discussion are proposals to detain people claiming asylum at the border, including families with children, potentially with electronic monitoring systems.
Negotiators are also eyeing ways to allow authorities to quickly remove migrants who have been in the United States for less than two years, even if they are far from the border. But those removals would only extend to people who either have not claimed asylum or were not approved to enter the asylum system, according to one of the people briefed on the negotiations.
The policies resemble ones that President Donald Trump’s Republican administration tried to implement to cut border crossings, but many of them were successfully challenged in court. If Congress were to make them law, it would give immigration advocates very little legal ground to challenge the restrictions for those seeking asylum.
Advocates for immigrants warned of a return to anti-immigrant policies and questioned whether they would even address problems at the border.
Associated Press December 13, 2023
Poison Blood Remarks Boost Trump in Iowa
A lot of likely Republican caucus goers in Iowa like what he's saying, according to a recent Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa Poll.
A poll of 502 likely Republican caucus goers conducted Dec. 2-7 asked whether several statements Trump has made recently on the campaign trail would make them more or less likely to support him — including his contention that immigrants who enter the U.S. illegally are "poisoning the blood" of America.
The poll found that 42% of likely Republican caucus goers are more likely to support Trump for his "poisoning the blood" comments; 28% said they are less likely to support him; and 29% said it does not matter.
The poll, conducted by Selzer & Co., has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
Neighbors Welcoming New Neighbors
For Immediate Release December 22, 2023
The House of Representatives has been holding funding for Ukraine and Israel hostage in exchange for cracking down on migrants at the border. The Biden Administration has already tightened asylum criteria and is proposing to dismantle the current asylum process. People fleeing from persecution, imprisonment, and torture, among other reasons, have a right to seek asylum according to international law.
The all-volunteer Santa Cruz Welcoming Network opposes the proposed elimination of asylum seeker rights by Congress and the Biden administration.
"We have come to know these men, women and children well," said spokesperson Deacon Randy Pozos of Star of the Sea Church in Santa Cruz. "Whether they come from Latin America, Ukraine, Afghanistan, or other places, they are fleeing terrible violence and persecution. LGBTQ+ people are at high risk and our network has been able to help them and others driven from their homes and businesses by drug cartels.”
With around 20 welcoming teams accompanying 78 refugees, including many traumatized children, the all-volunteer Welcoming Network has been in operation for four years in Santa Cruz. Those needing help are not called clients. They are New Neighbors. The Welcoming Network works with community services and fills in the gaps with essentials such as food, clothing, housing, health care, and legal services. Currently, the group is promoting a "Justice Fund" because asylum seekers almost always lose their cases if they don’t have a lawyer. Current free legal assistance programs are overwhelmed.
For background see Asylum Seekers in the Land of Promise on Substack.com by Randy Pozos
Please Donate to the Santa Cruz Welcoming Network and other group supporting asylum seekers. Go to: https://www.santacruzwelcomingnetwork.com/
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlepersons
Many thanks to all of you who have supported me in the first few months of launching the View from 30,000 Feet.
We are in a season of hope - a time of salvation. The light overcomes the dark but only with with love, patience, and finding the Christ Child at the border.
Merry Christmas from the Pozos Family in Santa Cruz, CA.
