--- id: 20151201_more_thoughts_on_citizenship title: BLOG - More Thoughts on Citizenship category: Biblical Life Counsel predicted_narrative_arc: civic-problem-to-practical-mercy sentiment: Convictional emotions: - Compassionate - Discerning - Challenging keypoints: - Dean met two hardworking men who entered the US illegally yet show strong character and love of family - Both fled corruption in Nicaragua and Guatemala that stripped wages and safety - Mass deportation of ~11 million is called unrealistic, costly, and family-separating - A path to citizenship should not penalize those who applied legally and waited years - Readers are urged to think objectively, push for a workable plan, and engage legislators summary: > Dean Rush shares encounters with two undocumented men of strong character who fled corruption in Nicaragua and Guatemala, then asks readers to think beyond partisan reflexes. He rejects mass deportation of roughly eleven million people as unrealistic and family-destroying, insists legal applicants must not be penalized, and points to his earlier citizenship-plan post while inviting improvements and legislative pressure. tags: - blog - human-resources - citizenship - immigration - undocumented - mercy - civic-wisdom - biblical-wisdom - dean-rush sycophancy: 0 truth_score: 7 entropy: 4 sample: false consent: owner_approved agent: blog created: '2015-12-01' updated: '2026-09-09T00:00:00Z' vault_stage: 07_CODEX headwaters: BLOG prefix: BLOG enrich_status: ok enrich_blockers: [] enrich_method: manual pipeline_filename: BLOG_2015-12-01_more-thoughts-on-citizenship.md source_kind: blog_article proposed_topic: Wisdom lane: Wisdom voice: desk active_voice: desk voices: - desk routing_source: carbon corpus_topic: Wisdom content_status: active date: '2015-12-01' share_url: https://deanrush.net/blog/more-thoughts-on-citizenship source_url: https://deanrush.net/blog/more-thoughts-on-citizenship site_category: Human Resources archive_month: 2015-12 description: > Dean humanizes two undocumented workers fleeing corruption, rejects unrealistic mass deportation, and calls for an objective path to citizenship that does not punish those who waited legally. --- # More Thoughts on Citizenship **Author:** Dean Rush **Original post:** [deanrush.net/blog/more-thoughts-on-citizenship](https://deanrush.net/blog/more-thoughts-on-citizenship) **Archive month:** December 2015 · **Site category:** Human Resources > Voice note: Everything under **Dean's article** is Dean's original prose (lightly cleaned of HTML/image artifacts only). Sections marked **Biblical foundations**, **Scholar sidebar**, **Takeaways**, and **First-time learner** are enrichment for Asker / first readers — not Dean speaking. --- ## Biblical foundations (preface) Dean presses readers past partisan reflex toward persons — hardworking men caught between broken home countries and U.S. law — and toward a workable civic response that neither condones illegal entry nor ignores those already here. He does not quote a lead verse in this post; the enrichment below supplies a biblical frame that supports *his* claims of character, justice, mercy, and fairness to legal applicants. | Dean's claim | Scriptural undercarriage | | --- | --- | | See persons, not only entry status | Love the sojourner as yourself (Leviticus 19:33–34); do not oppress the foreigner (Exodus 23:9) | | Corruption and fear drive flight | God hates robbery and wrong (Isaiah 61:8); rulers who devour the poor are judged (Proverbs 28:15; Ezekiel 22:29) | | Law still matters; illegal entry is not condoned | Submit to governing authorities (Romans 13:1–2); yet justice and mercy belong together (Micah 6:8) | | Mass solutions that shatter families need scrutiny | God sets the lonely in families (Psalm 68:6); defend the fatherless and widow (Isaiah 1:17) | | Those who waited legally must not be cheated | Unequal weights are an abomination (Proverbs 20:10); do not withhold what is due (Proverbs 3:27) | --- ## Dean's article ### Two Men seeking Citizenship! ![Statue of Liberty from Dean's original post](https://deanrush.net/Portals/0/images/article/queen-of-liberty-202218__340.jpg) I have recently met two men who disclosed they had illegally entered the US. Frankly, in the past I would have been skeptical of both because of their method of entry. Both men are hard working with great character and deeply love their families. One of them has not seen his family in 4 1/2 years because if he leaves he cannot pay the "Coyotes" to get him back into the US. He works here to support his family and sends 90% of his earnings home. I now realize he is a great man with a huge problem. He would make a great American citizen, but realizes there is little opportunity to solve his dilemma. He knows our laws, studies our constitution, and can discuss our political system more objectively than most Americans. He doesn't have that freedom in his home country due to corruption. He appreciates our system and our government. > **Scholar sidebar — Sojourners with names and faces** > Scripture repeatedly refuses to let "foreigner" become a faceless category. Leviticus 19:33–34 commands Israel to love the sojourner as themselves, remembering their own Egypt. Dean's shift — from skepticism about entry method to recognition of character, family love, and constitutional literacy — matches that biblical move from status label to person. Mercy does not erase law; it refuses to stop seeing the image of God (Genesis 1:27). ### Why Did They Come to America? I have asked both men questions about how they arrived in this country and why they wanted to come. The answer was the same. They indicated they came because of corruption in their home countries (Nicaragua and Guatemala). Apparently, any wage earned there is cut down by the gangs, politicians, and neighborhood thugs who all want a share of the income. The result is living in constant fear and with very little income to support their family. As you read the following few blogs, I ask you to do **two things** that might help in finding a solution for the problem in our country concerning undocumented immigrants: 1. Think objectively and not politically about a workable process to solve the problem. 2. Be ready to push for implementation of your desired solution. > **Scholar sidebar — Corruption as a push factor** > Dean names gangs, crooked politicians, and thugs skimming wages — the kind of civic predation Scripture condemns (Proverbs 28:15; Ezekiel 22:29; Isaiah 61:8). Understanding *why* people flee does not by itself write U.S. policy; it does forbid lazy caricature. Micah 6:8 still binds the reader: do justice, love mercy, walk humbly — including when the topic is immigration. ### Some Propose to Deport Every Undocumented Individual? People have proposed the solution is to expel 11 million people who are here illegally and it is **unrealistic**. That solution would cost families to be **separated and costly** to administer. I am not advocating we condone the fact that these folks ignored our laws to come. The bottom line it **they are here**. I believe we need to minimize the cost of implementation of a plan to create a path to citizenship. The plan must also **not** penalize all those who have applied legally to become citizens. Many have waited for years to go through the system. **They should not be penalized**. The ideas I proposed in my earlier blog are not original but intended to **simplify the procedure** to help these millions of immigrants become citizens without leaving the country. The plan would **require** future immigrants to enter **legally**. It is intended only to solve the problem of how to handle the people who are already here. I will provide an outline of a suggested solution in Part II of this series. You are invited to participate as follows: ### 1. I have no pride of authorship. ### 2. Suggested improvements welcome. ### 3. Let the legislators know you seek their support. **For specific suggestions and solutions, please read in the previous blog-A Plan for Citizenship** In Him Dean > **Scholar sidebar — Law, mercy, and fair weights** > Dean holds a double edge: he will not condone ignoring the law (Romans 13:1–2), and he will not treat mass family-separating expulsion as wise or workable. Proverbs 20:10 warns against unequal weights — a fitting image for a system that must not cheat those who waited legally while addressing those already present. His invitation — no pride of authorship, welcome improvements, press legislators — is civic discipleship: seek the good of the city (Jeremiah 29:7) without outsourcing conscience to a party line. --- ## Takeaways 1. **Persons before slogans.** Dean lets two undocumented workers' character, family sacrifice, and civic literacy challenge his own prior skepticism. 2. **Corruption drives flight.** Nicaragua and Guatemala are named as places where gangs and crooked power steal wages and safety. 3. **Mass deportation is rejected as unrealistic.** Cost, administration, and family separation make expelling ~11 million an unworkable "solution." 4. **Law still counts.** He does not condone illegal entry; future entry must be legal; legal applicants must not be penalized. 5. **Readers must act.** Think objectively, refine a plan, and tell legislators you want support — not only vent online. --- ## First-time learner ### What is Dean saying in one sentence? See undocumented neighbors as persons with real stories, refuse both lawlessness and unrealistic mass deportation, and work toward a fair path that does not punish those who waited legally. ### Why no single "proof text" in the post? This piece is civic counsel from lived encounter. Scripture still undergirds it: love the sojourner, hate corruption, honor governing authority, keep justice and mercy together, and refuse unequal scales. ### Key verses to read with this post - **Leviticus 19:33–34** — Love the sojourner as yourself. - **Exodus 23:9** — Do not oppress the foreigner. - **Romans 13:1–2** — Governing authority and the law. - **Micah 6:8** — Justice, mercy, humility. - **Proverbs 20:10** — Unequal weights are an abomination. - **Isaiah 1:17** — Seek justice; defend the vulnerable. - **Jeremiah 29:7** — Seek the welfare of the city. ### A simple practice Before you argue immigration online this week: (1) pray Leviticus 19:34 and Romans 13:1 together, (2) write one concrete policy step you could support that is neither "ignore the law" nor "deport everyone," (3) if you have a legislator's contact, send that one step. ### How this feeds Ask Dean Seed material for questions such as: *What does Dean think about undocumented immigrants? Did he propose a citizenship plan?* Answers should keep his published nuance — mercy and legality together — and use scholar notes only as biblical scaffolding, not as a rewrite of his policy preferences.