Conservative Leaders Call for Immigration Reform

EP News--- Some of the nation’s most influential Evangelical leaders gathered on Capitol Hill in June to bring the evangelical community’s increasingly urgent call for federal immigration reform to the President and leaders in Congress.

During a press conference and meetings with White House and Congress, organized by Conservatives for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, pastors and leaders representing millions of Evangelicals across the country highlighted the need for a just assimilation policy that respects Biblical mandates and protects the rule of law and family values.

“Christian immigration into the United States has brought spiritual renewal. But our interest is in what the Bible teaches about how we treat strangers in the land,” said Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE). “The practical implications of biblical guidelines include treating all people with respect, that we secure the borders, protect families, that we allow adequate visas for guest workers and that we provide a pathway to citizenship for those in the United States.”

Mat Staver, founder and chairman of the Liberty Counsel and dean of Liberty University School of Law, said, “What do you do with the 12 million or more individuals living here in shadows? You combine Leviticus 19, to be compassionate to the alien in your midst, with Romans 13, the rule of law. You can’t deport all of them. It’s not practical, it’s not moral, and I don ‘t believe it’s biblical either.”

“It is time for our representatives in Congress and our president to put aside partisanship and do what is best for the country, and what is best for the country is a just and compassionate immigration policy,” said Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. “I believe this can be done in one piece of legislation which would secure the borders first by laying out agreed-upon metrics that have to be met for securing the border, and when those are met would allow us to move forward with a period of grace during which people can come forward, register and begin a pathway toward earned legal status for those who are guest workers, or citizenship for those who want it and who qualify. This earned pathway would penalize them for having broken the law to come to this country by requiring them to pay taxes and learn English.”

“The issue of comprehensive immigration reform is just about the only public policy issue on which there is great unanimity across the Christian spectrum. Other issues divide the Christian community, right and left. Comprehensive immigration reform unites us,” said Rich Nathan, senior pastor of the Vineyard Church of Columbus. “People in our evangelical churches are out ahead of politicians. What we need is bipartisan support for immigration reform that puts aside cheap political points and resists demagoguery. People want relief, and they want action.”

Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, expressed frustration with federal inaction on immigration reform. “Both the elephant and the donkey are kicking the proverbial soccer ball on immigration, and given the opportunity both teams refuse to score. We can do better.” In contrast, Rodriguez highlighted growing unity in the Evangelical community on the issue of immigration: “In 2006 and 2007, there was a split between the pulpit and the pew. In light of the statements from the NAE and others about just assimilation policies, I think we’re building a lot of support in the pew. The influence of talk radio hosts and others in the media who oppose immigration reform is diminishing in light of the Evangelical leaders who have stood up on the issue.”

“As an educator, I liken what is occurring to Latinos and others in our educational system to what is occurring in the Gulf of Mexico,” said Carlos Campo, president-elect of Regent University. “There is a pipeline that is spewing natural resources, wasting them, and the consequences are grave and long-lasting. We must fix this pipeline and stop these consequences for our youth who are kept out of higher education due to their immigration status.”

Jo Anne Lyon, general superintendent of the Wesleyan Church and founder of World Hope International, said, “We all want a better life for our families and our children. I’ve found families split, with fathers who’ve been deported back and mothers and children left here. This does not conform to our biblical value or our national value of family life.”

“If we don’t have the staying power and the moral conviction to pass immigration reform,” warned Jim Tolle, senior pastor of The Church on the Way in Los Angeles, “we will assist in the creation of a massive subculture and the gap between the haves and the have-nots will be the greatest in American history.”

Following the press conference, leaders met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), Representative Mike Pence (R-IN) and White House senior advisor Valerie Jarrett.

(6/14/2010)

[Back]