The old gray-haired Bapto-Appalachian-American preacher has a friend who is terrified right now. I know because I messaged her after Trump’s unconstitutional royal decree ending birthright citizenship to check on her and her family.
I messaged her because I knew she would be feeling unwanted in her own country. I knew she would be afraid for herself, her husband, and their elementary school-age daughter.
Brother Paul exhorted us to “bear one another’s burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ.” That means her burden is my burden.
I won’t disclose my friend’s identity because I don’t want a bigger target on her than she already has. My friend is the human face of birthright citizenship.
According to the plain language of the 14th Amendment, she is a United States citizen. She is in her thirties and was born here in Georgia. She is as much a citizen as I am.
I don’t have a single ancestor who came to the American colonies after the Revolution. The most recent immigrants on my tree are the Baileys, who came over from County Monaghan, Ireland in 1768. My friend’s parents were undocumented immigrants who were given amnesty under Reagan and subsequently became naturalized citizens.
I am not more of a citizen because my people have been here since colonial times, and I am descended from a half-dozen Revolutionary War soldiers. My friend, who was born at Floyd Medical Center in Rome, Georgia, is no less a citizen because of her parents’ immigration and citizenship status.
Yes, she is proud of her Mexican heritage. She and her family have visited relatives in Mexico, but their home is here in Georgia.
Mexico is a place they visit. It is their heritage, but northwest Georgia is their home. They are as American as you can get.
My friend is a well-educated woman with two first languages. She can effortlessly switch between English and Spanish.
She speaks Spanish with no trace of an American accent, and she speaks perfect North Georgia Appalachian-American English with no trace of a Mexican accent. So does her elementary school-age daughter.
I remember my late friend Dr. Feland Meadows saying, “You haven’t mastered a language until you get the jokes and the puns.” My friend gets the jokes and puns in both languages.
My friend, her husband and her parents work and pay their debts and taxes like the rest of us. They are devout Christians, active in their church.
They are not criminals. They are good neighbors to their neighbors.
Their presence in this country harms no one and benefits many. They aren’t just citizens, they are better citizens than this rogue president and his cronies who demonize them.
Yes, my friend, her husband, and their daughter have dark olive complexion and straight coal-black hair. They look Hispanic because they are. They worry about racial profiling–a familiar experience for my friends of African ancestry, even though most African Americans are descended from people who have been here since colonial times.
My friend and her husband have started carrying their and their daughter’s birth certificates with them at all times.
As far as I can tell, my friend and her family are doing the will of God. They follow the way of Jesus as intentionally as anyone I know.
Jesus said, “Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother” (Matthew 12:50). Jesus also said, “Inasmuch as you have done it to the least of these, my brothers and sisters, you have done it to me” (Matthew 25:40).
When our rogue president painted a target on my friend and her family, he painted a target on Jesus. That’s what Jesus himself said. I’m just quoting Jesus.
According to this rogue president, Jesus of Nazareth is persona non grata in fascist America.
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Lamar Wadsworth is an old gray-haired Bapto-Appalachian-American preacher living near Rockmart GA where he was born and raised. A graduate of Jacksonville State University and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, he has served churches in Alabama, Kentucky, Georgia, and Maryland.
