Letter to House of Representative: ‘The Time Has Come to Fix Our Broken Immigration System’
WASHINGTON, D.C., OCTOBER 22, 2013 — With debt and budget debates settled for the moment, the Evangelical Immigration Table today sent a letter to Congress urging action on immigration reform this fall.
The letter to each member of the House of Representatives praises the work of two House committees on individual bills to address our broken immigration system, and it encourages bipartisan cooperation around commonsense reform that adheres to the Evangelical Immigration Table’s principles.
The letter comes as a week of events, “Pray4Reform: Gathered Together in Jesus’ Name,” concludes. At more than 400 events and gatherings in more than 40 states, evangelical Christians have prayed for immigrants, for Congress and for reform rooted in biblical teaching. Since May, more than 187,000 people have signed up as #Pray4Reform prayer partners.
And next week, evangelical Christians will join law enforcement and business leaders in Washington, D.C., to meet with members of Congress and urge movement on reform.
The full text of the letter follows:
October 21, 2013
Dear Representative:
The time has come to fix our broken immigration system. We are pleased that the Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees have worked on several bills each addressing a part of the immigration reform puzzle. As leaders of evangelical churches and organizations we write to offer our support and encourage further bipartisan cooperation towards enacting common sense immigration reform.
Evangelical leaders from across the country came together in June 2012 to form the Evangelical Immigration Table. The Table has issued broad principles for reform, which have been endorsed by prominent evangelical pastors, denominational heads, leaders of national parachurch ministries, and university and seminary presidents. We are working across the country to educate and mobilize our fellow evangelical Christians in support of a just and fair bipartisan policy solution to immigration that:
- Respects the God-given dignity of every person,
- Protects the unity of the immediate family,
- Respects the rule of law,
- Guarantees secure national borders,
- Ensures fairness to taxpayers, and
- Establishes a path toward legal status and/or citizenship for those who qualify and who wish to become permanent residents.
We applaud the significant progress toward legislation that would secure our borders, marshal additional resources for border enforcement and internal enforcement, and require the Department of Homeland Security to submit, implement and report on a detailed border security plan. The bills take steps to elevate respect for the rule of law – strengthening E-Verify, establishing a legal guest worker program for agricultural workers, a more workable program for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) visas, and increasing passport and visa security. We are encouraged by reports of other bills being drafted that would address the need for more low skill visas and the legal status of children, adults, and asylees; addressing these needs is vital to fixing all the components of the current system.
The work the House has done on immigration reform thus far is commendable. However, we remain concerned about several provisions of H.R. 2278, The Strengthen and Fortify Enforcement Act (SAFE Act), that could have unintended consequences adversely affecting religious communities, law enforcement agencies, and the people they are called to serve. The SAFE Act, in its current form, criminalizes unlawful presence and includes broad prohibitions on “harboring” undocumented immigrants that could make criminals of the family members of undocumented immigrants and others, including fellow church members, who assist them with everyday activities. This is a significant problem for our pastors, faith leaders and others in our community, who as an extension of their faith, care in tangible ways for the immigrants (regardless of status) within their community. Pastors, faith leaders and others in our communities should not have to decide between following the law and giving water to a thirsty traveler in the desert, providing food to those who are hungry or giving rides to church for those without transportation. While collaboration and communication between federal, state, and local law enforcement is an essential part of effective policing, it must be structured in a way that fosters buy-in from those agencies and does not compromise their rapport and cooperation with immigrant communities.
As you continue to work towards a complete legislative solution for immigration reform, you and your staff are in our prayers. We appreciate the complexity of designing a system that meets our country’s needs and that can meet with broad public acceptance. Through Bible reading, prayer, and public education campaigns we have mobilized a broad base of evangelical support for immigration reform. But while Congress debates reform proposals, immigrant families and workers continue to suffer under our broken system. Now it is time to finish the job. Please prioritize work to finalize immigration reform legislation this year.
May God bless you and your staff in the days ahead.
Sincerely,
The Evangelical Immigration Table
