the "caravan"

There is a “caravan” of hundreds of people from Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala walking towards Mexico and then further north to the Texas border. The US government cannot pretend that these human beings are going away. You cannot stop desperate people. This immigration issue will not solve itself when people are threatened with military violence, they will still come. Desperate people will not be deterred. You simply cannot say “Go away” and expect them to turn back.

But what if, instead of threatening violence, the USA government said to Mexico, and to the governments of Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala:

• How can we work together to safely transition people? 
• How can we work together to address the security needs of our countries,
  the security needs of these human beings,
  the basic needs of these human beings,
  and everyone’s economic interests in this process?

Simply deciding that people should or will go away is not only ridiculous; it’s unholy. And if violence befalls this “caravan” of thousands of humans, there will only be more people in more caravans who will continue to seek security in other countries.

The very first book in the Bible says that all people are created in God’s image.

And even if there are human efforts to erase those created in God’s image, those efforts will ultimately fail. The more important issue is not keeping people out but addressing the needs of vulnerable people, loving the people God loves.