Beyond Welcome: Centering Immigrants in Our Christian Response to Immigration

González (The God Who Sees: Immigrants, The Bible, and the Journey To Belong) emigrated from Guatemala as a child and now advocates for immigrants. Combining her strong storytelling skills with her background, she has written a book that challenges readers to rethink their understanding of immigrants. She mixes personal stories and those of others with an examination of familiar biblical passages viewed from a unique perspective. For instance, she presents Joseph (Genesis 37–50) as one who largely identifies with Egyptians and who administrates over a system that exploits those suffering during a period of famine. Her book is divided into three parts: “Words and Myths,” “The Bible and Belonging,” and “Dignity and Departures.” The first part focuses on challenges related to expectations for assimilation but potential loss of personal identity, the second on scriptural support for the stranger and the immigrant, and the third on issues related to the plight of immigrants in the United States.