As Christian missionary, I oppose increasing deficit to deport peaceful migrants

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Few leaders today are willing to stand up against policies that saddle our children and grandchildren with massive debt. As the "big beautiful bill" comes before the U.S. Senate for consideration, Wisconsin's senior U.S. Senator, Ron Johnson, is right to oppose the current version. I spent most of my career as an evangelical missionary in Central America, and now in my retirement I teach English to immigrants through my church. There are some provisions of this bill that I appreciate. As a pro-life Christian, for example, I would be happy to see Planned Parenthood defunded. Yet, there are several problems with the bill overall, which would add $3 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade, in part as an effect of the bill's dramatic spending on immigration enforcement. There's no question that Sen. Johnson is committed to secure borders, as am I. But the reality is that the border is relatively quiet right now, with so few individuals arriving unlawfully that most Border Patrol agents along the U.S.-Mexico border do not interact with a single unlawful crosser in a typical month. While some new resources may be needed, $60 billion for border security is a ton. At a certain point, more walls and Border Patrol staffing start to look more like a government-subsidized jobs program than a real national security strategy.
Similarly, Immigration & Customs Enforcement needs enough funding to detain and deport violent criminals, as President Trump has said is the priority. But with $3.4 billion currently allocated for detention, most currently-detained individuals have not been convicted of any crime, and the greatest increase in detainees has been among those never accused of any crime. This suggests that the funding is not targeting violent criminals but rather sweeping up peaceful individuals who pose no threat. Yet this bill proposes $45 billion in new funding for detention alone.
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That spending doesn't just increase the deficit. It also means detaining hardworking members of our community, including the dairy workers our state depends upon. Many of these individuals entered lawfully. They were sponsored by churches or family members, came through airports and lived and worked legally in our state until the administration terminated their temporary legal protections, making them vulnerable to detention and deportation.
Johnson has rightly affirmed that legal immigrants contribute in important ways to our state's economy, and Trump has also acknowledged the indispensable role of many immigrants in agriculture and other sectors of our economy. But the budget bill would almost certainly lead to many being detained and deported at taxpayers' expense.
When I lived abroad as an American in Costa Rica, I had to navigate that country's rules governing foreigners' presence, and I understand that our country must have such processes as well. But I was never made to feel hunted or harassed, as many immigrants do here today, even those who entered lawfully and have been working lawfully.
Now, as I help hardworking farmworkers and other immigrants learn English here in rural Sheboygan County, I've noticed how our current political climate has instilled fear among the honest, hardworking immigrants I serve. It concerns me deeply. So, while I'm concerned about this bill for fiscal reasons, I'm especially concerned as a Christian. Four out of five of those vulnerable to detention with all this extra money are fellow Christians, as a report from the National Association of Evangelicals and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops documents.
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Some of them — such as Afghan Christians who have recently been threatened with deportation — would be returned to likely martyrdom. This has drawn the concern of leaders at conservative Christian organizations like Focus on the Family, the Family Research Council and the Wisconsin Family Council. I'm thankful for Johnson's independence in speaking out against the fiscal excesses of this bill, and I hope and pray he'll hold his ground. There are existing bipartisan frameworks for immigration reform, such as Republican Representative Maria Salazar's Dignity Act, which would present a much better option, ensuring secure borders without terrorizing law-abiding individuals and indebting out grandchildren.
I pray that Congress will consider these potential solutions. Rev. Thomas Soerens served for three decades with the mission agency of the Christian Reformed Church in North America and now is retired in Oostburg.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Political climate instills fear in honest immigrants | Opinion