There is almost unrelenting press in the more conservative media about the influx of illegal immigration across our southern border:

Question for you junior Bereans. What is the most important significance of this image (or any of the illegal border crossing images you’ve seen)? I’ll give you a few days and then opine with my own thoughts (which I’ll post here in an edit). And please be gracious in your comments–I’m looking more for your deeper thoughts in what this means rather than any visceral reaction. Let’s hear your thoughts!

EDIT Update 4/6/22

Many of you have some great thoughts on the human tragedy that is ongoing, the desperation that drives them on, and the hope for a better life. Several of you, as I expected, focused on the illegal immigration more broadly, and what that says about our country and future. All of you had some validity to your points, so who am I to say what the most important significance is of the issue? Well, I’m the guy that gets to edit the post, so that’s what! The benefits of being your host! 🙂

The bigger issue for me is that for a blog on Christian Political Economy, these images more broadly strike at the heart of the modern progressive worldview that says that the United States is an immoral nation, systemically racist, where white privilege dominates and the system attempts to subjugate everybody who is not part of that privileged system. Blacks and browns are especially supposed to be victimized by this systemic oppression, yet the immigration problem is driven precisely by hordes of blacks and browns trying to get into this oppressive system! The cognitive dissonance in this reality for the progressive mind is something impressive–to be told that America is the worst place to be for people of color and yet people of color flock overwhelmingly to one country. There is one beacon that shines brighter than anywhere else. And that is the good ole U.S.A.

Of course our country needs to be better, just as each of us needs to be better–we all need to love our neighbor much better than we do. But the reality as illustrated in this photo is that there is still no better place for oppressed people to come, of any color, than this country. And it is not because of universal healthcare or government checks, even though many of these people will draw on those resources. It is because in America they have hope of building a better life, through their own hard work. Illegal immigration is difficult, for many of the reasons some of you commented on. But let’s not miss the main message they are communicating–the United States is the best place on earth for them to have a better future. And that is the country this Berean loves, and we all ought to celebrate, even while committing to continually make it better.