Last night, a friend sent me a New York Times article about Utah’s recent reaction to Central American migrants. She suggested that this would be a great way for the church to spend some of its endowment/operating reserves. And she’s absolutely right. More on that in a minute.
But first, some quick background: in August 2022, Texas governor Greg Abbott began sending refugee-seekers north, including to Chicago. Chicago set up a number of shelters for refugees, asylees, and other migrants. One was at the Inn of Chicago, located a couple blocks from the meetinghouse I attend. And some of the migrants began coming to our ward. Soon, friends of mine had put together a second-hour Sunday School class in Spanish, as well as English classes after church and on Wednesdays. My wife and I joined them, as some of their kids joined my kids in YM and YW. Within a little time, the mission had assigned a companionship of Spanish-speaking missionaries to our ward.
Over the last nearly two years, we’ve gotten to know dozens of migrants, and become close friends with a large handful. And honestly, the welcome they’ve received from the church in my area has been the church at its best. We’ve fellowshipped migrants. We’ve provided food and clothing. Our written program is in English and Spanish. The missionaries provide translation for Sacrament Meeting, and the youth and primary leaders are doing their darndest to learn at least basic Spanish.
Not that any of this is a huge thing: it’s a basic biblical injunction to care for the poor and the immigrants. The Hebrew Bible contains very clear rules that provide not only for the equal treatment of foreigners among the Israelites, but, in fact, demand extra care: God “loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment,” and commands His people to love the stranger too.
Jesus takes up this call, probably most explicitly where He in parable explains that those on His right hand are there because, among other things, that He “was a stranger, and ye took me in.”
And this focus on loving and serving the strangers in our midst didn’t go away after Jesus’ death. In 2015, the First Presidency announced that it was aiding refugees and encouraged members to do the same. The following year, Pres. Linda K. Burton announced “a relief effort called ‘I Was a Stranger’” to help members serve refugees in their communities.
Which leads us to a significant problem: Utah (and our country in general) is not living up to the ideals espoused by the state’s dominant religion. Instead of welcome, immigrants are being greeted by signs that say “There is no room in shelters. No hotels for you. … Housing is hard to find and expensive. Food banks are at capacity.”[fn1] Utah’s Governor Cox, once supportive of immigrants, has shifted to a hard line against them, announcing that “Utah is not spending any state resources to house or provide other basic services for illegal immigrants or asylum seekers.”[fn2]
Which brings me back to the church. The state of Utah has said plainly, for overtly political reasons, that it won’t help refugees, asylees, and other migrants. And in some ways it can’t—currently, refugees have to wait at least 150 days after arriving before they can get a work permit, and other migrants may or may not be able to obtain legal work, leaving them to exploitative and/or piecemeal under-the-table work that they can find. But this is a failure of the federal government (and a deep failure where both Utah and the country in general are basically at full employment). Meanwhile, migrants have to figure out how to eat, find clothing, and find housing.
And this is where the church can step in. Because you know what the church has? Resources! According to its most recent SEC filing, Ensign Peak Advisors had nearly $55 billion in relatively liquid assets. The church has no publicly-stated goal for that money, and the crisis of displaced persons is absolutely a rainy day that it could direct some of that money toward.
And it could make a real dent for Utah’s migrant population,[fn3] without substantively affecting the church’s overall resources. See, I can envision that church taking, say, 1% of those liquid assets (or about $500 million) and shifting them to an endowment focused on providing housing for migrants. And I can even envision the church never touching the principal, just spending down income. From what I’ve seen, foundations have been earning between 5% and 10% on their investments. At the 5% rate, that would allow the church to spend $25 million in a year. Reach 10%, and that’s $50 million.
That wouldn’t be able to pay rent for each of the 21,000 migrants in Utah. But it doesn’t need to: many migrants are here in family groups, or here with friends. Many of those 21,000 migrants already have housing. And many more will only need temporary housing until they find work, find their own housing, or decide to move elsewhere.
And the church wouldn’t have to administer the money itself. There are charitable organizations in Utah focused on helping refugees and other immigrants. They’re overwhelmed and underresourced, but an influx of money is a great way to fix both problems.
And again, my proposal would be barely noticeable to the church. Allocating 1% of the liquid assets that it currently doesn’t use for anything, and just using income on those assets, won’t affect either the day-to-day operations of the church or its long-term viability.[fn4]
But it will materially help the strangers whom God, Jesus, and our church leaders have expressly charged us with aiding.
[fn1] As an aside, this reminds me of the Christmas story. And the state is playing the role of the bad guys.
[fn2] I have thoughts about this particular flip-flop. And it won’t surprise anybody to hear that they are not complimentary. Because while Utah is sitting there deliberately not spending on migrants, by the end of 2023, my city had spent more than $255 million to help our migrants.
[fn3] Why Utah, rather than, say, Chicago? I mean, it doesn’t have to be either-or, but Utah is where the church is headquartered, it’s where the church has the most contacts, and it’s one place that migrants are starting to move. It absolutely makes sense as a first pass on helping to alleviate the migrant crisis.
[fn4] And heck, allow church members and others to also contribute to the fund if they want to follow the scriptural injunction to support the stranger and believe that the church’s endowment is the best way to do it.
Photo by Nguyen Dang Hoang Nhu on Unsplash