Electing Citizens and Aliens: a Theology of Migration, Borders, And

Electing Citizens and Aliens: A Theology of Migration, Borders, and Belonging by Justin Parrish Ashworth Date: __________________ Approved: _______________________ Prof. Willie J. Jennings, Supervisor _______________________ Prof. Stanley Hauerwas _______________________ Prof. Edgardo Colón-Emeric _______________________ Prof. Walter D. Mignolo _______________________ Prof. Leo R. Chavez Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Theology in the Divinity School of Duke University 2015 Copyright by Justin Parrish Ashworth 2015 Abstract This work offers a theological reading of and response to migration restrictions in the United States of America, focusing on their instantiation in the U.S.-Mexico border and on the discourses and practices of citizenship and alienage that support these arrangements. Unlike most works in Christian immigration ethics, this work not only highlights the negative effects of migration policies, but also unearths the basic assumptions grounding these policies, all while displaying the racial and theological imaginaries grounding them. The first part of this work argues that the assumption grounding all migration policies is “the preferential option for one’s own people,” that is, the view that citizens not only may but must prefer or prioritize the life of fellow citizens over that of non- citizens. The first chapter draws on French theorist Michel Foucault and decolonial intellectuals to offer a reading of three non-theological arguments for migration restrictions, namely, security, economics, and culture. In short, those who believe the U.S. must have migration restrictions believe that aliens may threaten the security, economy, and culture—that is, the life—of citizens. The second chapter interrogates theological arguments for national borders, the most visible way of restricting migration, showing that ultimately theologians assume and assert the legitimacy of Westphalian nation-state sovereignty. The third chapter offers a theological reading of the concrete effects of border practices on “illegal aliens,” arguing that national borders will continue to exist as long as citizens assume both that “our people” means “fellow citizens,” and also that they may and must prefer and prioritize their life over that of others. The latter assumption is particularly troubling because it implies that the insecurity, poverty, and iii cultural denigration that aliens face—though perhaps saddening—is ultimately just. The central argument of the second, constructive part of this work is that Christians (and others) should not prefer or prioritize fellow citizens over non-citizens. Chapter 4 discusses the nature and task of citizenship in light of the parable of the Merciful Samaritan in Luke’s Gospel, and chapter 5 employs Hispanic theologians to articulate an alternative account of faithful citizenship with undocumented Latina/o migrants. The doctrine of election holds the dissertation together theologically. The first part shows that the preferential option for one’s own people—even when proclaimed by a theologian—is a secularized performance of the doctrine of election: citizens elect themselves for life and belonging, but in so doing they damn the undocumented to death and anxiety. The second part shows that God’s election of the Jews, favor for the poor, and destiny of fellowship for the world sets Christians on a trajectory of border-crossing solidarity that opposes the preferential option for one’s own and de-borders belonging. iv For Tiffany, Tommy, and Tomi — chirping birds v Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii Contents ............................................................................................................................. vi Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Meeting Aliens ................................................................................................................ 1 Three Words on Words ................................................................................................. 16 PART ONE: BORDERING BELONGING ..................................................................... 18 Chapter 1: Choose Life: The Architecture of Migration Restriction ................................ 19 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 19 Arguments for Restriction: Security, Economics, and Culture ..................................... 21 Physical Security ....................................................................................................... 22 Economic Well-being ................................................................................................ 25 Cultural Integrity ....................................................................................................... 28 Summary .................................................................................................................... 30 The Biopolitical Logic of the Arguments: Liberation, Life, and Race ......................... 31 Liberation from Repression and Insecurity ............................................................... 32 The Politics of Sustaining and Cultivating Life ........................................................ 35 The Uses of Race ....................................................................................................... 41 The Racial Logic of the Arguments: Division, Subordination, and Norming .............. 42 The Geopolitics of National Distinctions .................................................................. 43 Subordination and Norming ...................................................................................... 50 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 61 Chapter 2: Electing One’s Own: Sovereignty, Preference, and the Theology of Migration Restriction ......................................................................................................................... 63 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 63 Asserting Sovereignty: Strangers No Longer ............................................................... 66 Grounding Sovereignty: Three Views........................................................................... 74 vi Defining Sovereignty: Imagining Our Own .................................................................. 82 Secularizing Sovereignty: Electing Our Own ............................................................... 87 Conclusion: Assessing Sovereignty .............................................................................. 94 Chapter 3: The Dividing Wall of Hostility: Damning the Undocumented ....................... 99 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 99 The Damnation of Border Practices ............................................................................ 103 The Unseen Deadliness of the Border Apparatus ....................................................... 109 Deterrence, Death, and Violence ............................................................................. 109 Deportation, Detention, Exploitation, and Family Separation ................................ 114 Racialized Anxiety over Exclusion ............................................................................. 119 Two Stories of Belonging ........................................................................................ 123 Anxiety and Reprobation ......................................................................................... 127 The Moralism of Attempts to Make Borders More Humane ...................................... 129 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 132 PART TWO: LIBERATING BELONGING .................................................................. 136 Chapter 4: Samaritan Citizenship: A Political Theology of Neighbor-Love .................. 137 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 137 The Ethics of Proximity in Augustinian Liberalism ................................................... 140 The Merciful Samaritan in Context ............................................................................. 145 Defining Nearness ....................................................................................................... 153 Proximity as Nature? ............................................................................................... 154 Segregated Proximity .............................................................................................. 158 The Nature of Proximity .......................................................................................... 160 Summary of Objections ........................................................................................... 166 Election and the Merciful Samaritan ........................................................................... 167 Predestined for Fellowship .....................................................................................

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