Jeremiah 29:7— DACA 2019 and English Jews and Catholics, 1700s-1800s

Jeremiah 29:7: “But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”

Perhaps we can learn from history.

The U.S. has roughly 2.3 million DACA recipients. The DA part of DACA means “Deferred Action.” The policy means that the U.S. will defer deportation indefinitely for these young adults who were born outside the U.S.—typically in Mexico and Central American nations. (The CA part of DACA means “Childhood Arrivals.”)

It is quite interesting to compare this group to Jews and Catholics who lived in England in the 1700s and later. 

These two outcast religions faced punishing persecution in much of Europe and beyond. 

England did not allow them to become citizens: But England also recognized them as valuable economic assets, and created privileges that allowed them to work.

That seems to be essentially what many DACA recipients want foremost: a home in the U.S. to lead a productive life.

Jews in England felt so out of place in a hostile world that most avoided any discussion of full citizenship. They didn’t want to rock the boat and make new enemies.

A Jewish convert remarked in 1838, “There are very few of Abraham’s descendants that really concern themselves about the coming of the Messiah and the return to the Land of Israel. I have heard many Jews say that they would prefer continuing to reside in this country.”

Another Jew, David Levi, wrote to his brethren in 1795: “We never enter into the political disputes of the different nations among whom we dwell, but endeavour strictly to abide by the admonition of the prophet Jeremiah, ‘And seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.’

Levi cited Jeremiah 29:7.

England extended full citizenship to Roman Catholics in 1829. Jews were gradually granted citizenship rights from 1835 to 1867. England tolerated Jews and Catholics when others would not.

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Turning to today, the prophet Jeremiah’s injunction rings true: “But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”