I simply don't know how to overcome the literal rendering of this verse. The literal, as you point out from Strong's is": "As the native"
And the context of the Old Testament seems to apply to nomads, those who would wander in and wander out. And it applies to those nomads settling in a particular area receiving their rights.
This seems to be saying I have to treat illegal wanderers as if they are natives.
It would seem to mean that Perry was being TOO HARD on the children of illegals who had been born or raised here.
It will require a lot of prayer for me to go that far.
Of course I was born and raised in San Antonio Texas and lived in the area for a half century. I did not grow up in fear of illegal immigrants out of Mexico. Indeed, the culture of South Texas is highly influenced by its Mexican past.
In my years there, I do not recall migrant farm workers out of Mexico disturbing the peace. Ditto for domestic workers, e.g. housekeepers and yardmen. The criminal element was about the same as it was elsewhere and I had no fear walking around in obviously non English speaking neighborhoods.
But the illegal drug runners out of Mexico are a different story altogether - and have become an increasingly dangerous threat.
Sadly, we cannot discern what a person is "up to" simply by looking at him - and so, in my view, the best solution is to make sure everyone coming into this country is accounted for thus allowing us to presume that those who eluded the accounting did so for a reason and send them away. All the other immigrants would be legal and welcomed.
I am a Perry supporter. He is the most pro-God, pro-life, pro-family, experienced governor in the running.
My vote is a religious one at the root. After four years of vacuum or worse, this country desperately needs a leader who kneels before God: