“Migration as Grace”: Brown Public Theologies of Migration

This article proposes the constructive theological principle of “migration as grace”. Throughout Scripture, we see that migration is a locus in which God intervenes and acts graciously on behalf of migrants. Based upon the practice of “telogia en conjunto” (“communal theological reflection”) drawn from Latina/o theology, the essay brings the author’s own constructive theological proposal of “migration as grace” in conversation with other Latina/o theologians, including Jorge Lara-Braud, Justo González, M. Daniel Carroll Rodas, Jacqueline Hidalgo, Efrain Agosto, Rodolfo Galvan Estrada III, Miguel Echevarria, Roberto Mata, Daniel Montañez, and Francisco Zamora Avila. Their theologies address key themes such as creation; exile; new exodus; migration as Scriptural primary narrative arc; and “enemies of the state and citizens of the Kingdom of God.” This essay argues that, since the 1970s, Latina/o theologians and pastors such as those under consideration have seen their own painful yet redemptive migration stories reflected in the Bible, and in turn developed diverse theologies of migration. These theologies, moreover, are part of a larger 500-year tradition of prophetic theological reflection which may be called Brown Theology. This article also draws upon patristic sources to demonstrate that Brown Theologies of migration have a solid foundation in the early church’s self-understanding as a community of sojourners. Finally, this essay places these Brown theological accounts in conversation with contemporary anti-immigrant rhetoric, white Christian nationalism, and recent United States immigration policies.