To the Chimes Editors:

I have to respectfully but strongly disagree with Adrew Oxenham’s article about Arizona’s Immigration Law. This law allows police officers in Arizona to check on the citizenship status of an individual or individuals on the basis of “reasonable suspicion.” In other words, this law gives officers the right to stop anybody who has dark skin or black hair. This is called racial profiling, and profiling is not a politically correct term, Mr. Oxenham, it is real. Unfortunately, many innocent Hispanics, including myself, have experienced racial profiling. And this leads me to a question: does the majority of Biola’s community understand what it is like to be discriminated against based on skin tone? As I continue, I urge you to think about this as a side note, because it seems like most of the arguments for this law are either not compassionate or simply ignorant. As Christians, why have we been so quick to judge our neighbors in Mexico but so slow to help? Immigrants are not second class-citizens. They are humans created by God to live freely for His purpose. If Christians in America point their finger at our neighbors in Mexico and tell them to go home, then we are neglecting their cry for help. Loving Mexico does not mean just sympathizing with their country but helping them with food, shelter and work. Jesus said love your neighbor as yourself. How can we say we love others if we do not treat people of Mexico as we would want to be treated?