By Manny Vazquez, M.S., LMFT, Son of an Immigrant who came to the U.S. with nothing

Monday, August 31, 2026

It has always bothered me when American citizens refer to the undocumented population as “illegals.” They do this on platforms like X and Facebook, and I often respond that those who are undocumented are people deserving of human dignity, and and that they are not “illegals.” Most of the time I get no response; today, a person doubled down on their assertion that undocumented people are “illegals.”

I fully realize that I may be biased because in the early 1960s, my Dad, Manuel Sr., basically walked across the U.S./Mexico border with the clothes on his back. Dad, who’s in Heaven now, did not come here to lie, cheat, and steal from the U.S. government. He came to work, and he worked hard all of his life here in the U.S. In my view, Dad was my hero, and it bothers me that there some self-righteous Americans who would say he was an “illegal” when he came to to the U.S. to follow his dream of building a good life for his future Family. Suffice it to say that Dad eventually became a U.S. citizen, and as such, he loved his country.

My Blessed LORD has called me to lead. With that in mind, my goal is to one day run for office. I’m still not quite sure what office that will be, but I’m thinking Congress would be a good place to start, and in particular, the House of Representatives. One of the policies that I intend to pursue is immigration reform.

This blog, then, is my policy statement on U.S. immigration reform. I intend to document my stance on this and many other policies in my blogs, so that there will be no ambiguity of where I stand when I run for office. I will not be a politician who changes his stance on things more than most people change their socks and underwear. I know what I have always believed to be right, what is and will always be consistent with the Word of God.

In the case of immigration, the problem is that we have laws in this country that many people have been unwilling to enforce for many years. So, we waffle back and forth about enforcing the law when it comes to undocumented people. The big problem is that immigrants come here, most of them to work hard and to earn a living, pay their taxes, yes, pay their taxes, and be blessed to live in a country where they are free, and we are inconsistent about whether we want them to stay or leave.

So then, we get a Presidential Administration like the Trump Administration that wants to enforce the Law, which is their purview, by the way, as we are a Nation of Laws. If we do not enforce the laws on the books, this country will descend into great chaos, and pretty soon, you don’t have a country, you have anarchy.

Here’s the thing when you’re dealing with illegal immigration, though, many people, in their hatred of the undocumented people, are glad when ICE mistreats them in enforcing the law. I also know that many ICE agents are compassionate people who strive to not hurt people but who are simply doing their job. But just like there are bad cops, bad doctors, and yes, bad therapists, there are bad ICE agents who are out to hurt people.

As a member of Congress, I will fight for immigration reform. Here is my basic policy that I will push for, if elected: I will work to pass laws that proclaim that undocumented people be treated with respect and dignity, and I want those undocumented immigrants who have been working hard, and have been paying their taxes, and who love this country, to be properly vetted and be given a path to citizenship, just like my Dad was given, and not only how he was given, but how many of our citizens have been given.

Many people would call this policy amnesty; I call it an acknowledgment that you can’t just round up millions of people who now have roots in the U.S., and in many cases, have children who were born to them in the U.S., and whom they are now raising as best they can. My assertion is that most of these people are working hard, and they contribute to our society in innumerable ways. It angers me when idiots online put these people down for no other reason than they came to the U.S. to seek a better life, and while they broke the law to do it, for the most part, they honor all of our other laws.

I will give a more sufficient answer as to why I believe my policy on immigration is the way to go. In the Bible, our Blessed Holy Spirit often talked about the “foreigner” in our midst. In Leviticus 19:33-34, the Word of God states the following:

“When a foreigner lives with you in your land, you must not oppress  him. You must regard the foreigner who lives with you as the native-born among you. You are to love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt; I am Yahweh your God.” (from the Holman Christian Standard Bible [HCSB] version of the Holy Scriptures)

I’m sure there are people who would say that this command was given to Israel and not to us, but if you understand anything about the Word of God, you would understand that while the Bible was not necessarily written to us, it was most definitely written for us, something I have asserted before in my blogs. So, the principle here in this section of Scripture is true, whether the nation is Israel or any other nation.

As a result of how undocumented people are often treated by Americans who are less than compassionate, there is a Truth about undocumented people that those same Americans would bristle about. Many undocumented people are poor, many times food insecure, struggling to make ends meet, but lovers of our nation and lovers of God. They fit the classic definition of the “poor in spirit” that our Blessed Holy Spirit describes in great detail in the Word of God. And here is the kicker in all this, in case you’re still not convinced that my policy is a good one. In Matthew 5:3, our LORD Jesus, in his famous Sermon on the Mount, said the following:

“The poor in spirit are blessed,

for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.” (from the HCSB version of the Holy Bible)

I have always said it, if Christ says something, then it is so. I’m sure most people who are citizens of this great country have never considered that many undocumented immigrants are by definition, poor in spirit, and as such, they own the Kingdom of Heaven, according to what our LORD says in this all important verse of Scripture. I must point out that this verse in Matthew is the very first thing Jesus said in his famous Sermon on the Mount, meaning that it was the most important thing he said in the whole sermon.

Now, dear Christian, do you still ally yourself with American citizens who would treat undocumented people (the “foreigners” in our midst) as second class people of the Kingdom of God, when these immigrants actually own the Kingdom? Be careful how you answer that question because if you answer it incorrectly, don’t be surprised if our LORD excludes you from His Kingdom in the future. Amen and Amen.