Values In Action: January Brings Renewed Call for Immigration Reform by Faith Communities

America's Voice Blog

Posted 01/28/10 at 01:51pm

Values In Action: January Brings Renewed Call for Immigration Reform by Faith Communities

As Marcello Ballve wrote this week at True/Slant:

One of the most interesting side issues branching out of my tracking of the immigration topic is the role some evangelical Christian groups play in advocating for immigration reform, demanding what they describe as more humane and Christian immigration policies. Socially conservative evangelicals who push on this issue seem the most likely candidates to change minds around this issue within the Christian right.

While particularly notable, it's not just the Evangelical community who are ushering in a new call for real immigration reform, either.

January has seen Catholic nuns, Methodist bishops and Islamic Shura Council directors -- to name a few -- speak out strongly in suppor of immigration reform. That's alongside a pair of clergy summits attended by over a hundred faith leaders apiece, and the beginnings of an avalanche of postcards from people of faith that will arrive in Congressional offices over the next few weeks. Here are some of the biggest headlines from a month filled with communities putting their values in action.

CATHOLICS SEEK 'JUSTICE FOR IMMIGRANTS:' At the beginning of the month, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops relaunched their Justice for Immigrants campaign. During a national telephonic press conference, USCCB Director of Migration Policy and Public Affairs J. Kevin Appleby explained to reporters that the Catholic Church sees immigration reform as top legislative priority and expects to hold President Obama to his assurances that the issue is "in the queue for 2010," as the Miami Herald reported.

The press conference featured bishops from Salt Lake and Albany, as well as nuns who described the connection between their work with immigrant families in their communities and the need for national reform. The Salt Lake Tribune quoted Sister Mary Harwood of Cleveland:

"In the end, to stand with those who are frightened, alone or in danger; to educate, to speak with and for, and to pray -- this is the message of the gospel and the work of the church."

But Catholic advocates won't be satisfied with educating the public and politicians unless it leads to reform. As Appleby said on the press call, "We are in this to win."

TRUCKLOADS OF POSTCARDS: Since December, Catholic churches have been circulating Justice for Immigrants postcards for parishioners to sign. The Interfaith Immigration Coalition has also been conducting a nationwide postcard campaign with support from an impressive range of denominations and faith traditions, as the Billings Gazette reports:

Postcards were collected from members of various denominations and groups in Montana, including United Church of Christ, Unitarian Universalist, Quakers, Catholics, Billings’ Global Village shop, YesWeCan Billings, the Peace and Justice Forum and Not in Our Town.

These postcards were delivered to the local offices of Montana Senators Jon Tester and Max Baucus, as well as Representative Danny Rehberg. Similar deliveries will take place throughout the next few weeks, confronting members of Congress with bagfuls of evidence that their constituents see immigration reform as a crucial moral priority. With over a million postcards in circulation from Justice For Immigrants alone, these deliveries should be quite a sight come February.

CASA GRANDE, BIG TENT: About 200 clergy and faith leaders from the state of Arizona -- which Bishop Minerva Carcaño described as "ground zero" in the immigration debate -- convened in Casa Grande over the weekend to call for reform. Clergy attending the conference hailed from the Desert Southwest Conference of the United Methodist Church, Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson, the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona, the Grand Canyon Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Southwest Conference of the United Church of Christ. From the Arizona Republic article covering the conference:

Miriam Mendiola, 34, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, described to the crowd how she was shackled before and after giving birth in December. The woman said she was arrested and jailed in October after she was caught using a stolen Social Security number to work at a clothing store.

She said she was not allowed to hold her baby until the day after giving birth. Mendiola was released from jail on Dec. 25 and is now facing deportation proceedings.

After Mendiola spoke, the Rev. Jan Olav Flaaten, executive director of the Arizona Ecumenical Council, said to the gathering, "I don't know about you, but I don't want to live in a country where we treat people that way."

EVANGELICAL AWAKENING: On Tuesday, events in six cities marked an Evangelical Witness for Immigration Reform, organized by the Christian Community Development Coalition. The centerpiece event, in Phoenix, drew over 120 Evangelical leaders from across the country for a day of "Education, Witness and Action" at which they discussed the Biblical foundation for compassion toward immigrants, ate with undocumented families and held a witness at a civic center park.

In Denver, over 225 Evangelicals held a vigil to pray for guidance and moral leadership, and to lament that the Evangelical tradition has been relatively late in joining other denominations and faith traditions to speak out for reform. As Jeff Johnsen, executive director of Mile High Ministries, put it:

"We have been slow to hear and respond to the spirit’s call to seek justice for our immigrant brothers and sisters, who live in fear of rejection and deportation."

But yesterday's events proved that the Evangelical community is committed to taking on the issue. The mandate to show compassion towards immigrants and reform unjust laws strikes a chord with all faith traditions, as Shakeel Syed, executive director of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, said at an interfaith vigil in Orange County yesterday, as reported in the Orange County Register:

"This issue transcends race and faith. From the gold diggers in the 19th century ... to the governor in the 20th century, we are a state of immigrants. We are the state of California."

You might be forgiven for wondering if faith groups can sustain such a high level of activity -- but if anything, with postcard events and interfaith vigils in the works, February could be an even bigger month than January. Across denominations, people of faith are calling for their legislators to step up to the occasion and take moral leadership to restore justice and reunite families. John Gehring, writing in the Washington Post, put it best:

While anti-immigrant zealots at well-financed organizations make debunking the pernicious myths about immigrants a full-time job, the faith community is mobilized like never before to push for comprehensive reform…Politicians who pride themselves on standing up for the family and defending American values, your test is coming soon.