November 2019 Prayer Partner Email: 3 Ways You Can Help Immigration Reform Finally Become a Reality
Dear friends,
Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on a case that will ultimately determine whether several hundred thousand individuals brought to the U.S. as children—“Dreamers”—will be able to maintain their work authorization and protections from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Regardless of the high court’s ultimate decision – expected in the first half of 2020 – it’s clear that these young people ultimately need a permanent solution to be passed into law by Congress.
But it’s not just those beneficiaries of the DACA program who need Congress to act. There are millions of other undocumented immigrants who did not qualify for DACA – since they arrived to the U.S. as adults – who also need a permanent legislative way forward. At the Evangelical Immigration Table, we’ve long insisted that this process should neither be amnesty – which would simply dismiss the violation of U.S. law – nor mass deportations, which would lead to the separation of families at a large scale.
We need a better way forward.
That’s why, at a recent gathering in Washington, D.C., we launched an Evangelical Call for Restitution-Based Immigration Reform. This statement elaborates on our longstanding commitment to an earned legalization process for those who are undocumented, who could earn permanent legal status if they pay a fine and meet other appropriate requirements as restitution for their violation of law. As we note, Dreamers who arrived as children, who generally did not make the decision to come to the U.S. but were brought by their parents, should be exempt from the requirement of a fine and have an expedited process to permanent legal status and citizenship.
Now that this statement is public, I’d like to ask you to help us in 3 specific ways:
- Sign the new Evangelical Call for Restitution-Based Immigration Reform yourself, adding your voice to that of hundreds of evangelical denominational executives, Christian college and seminary presidents, pastors and other leaders who have already signed on
- Help us spread the word to others. Reach out to your pastor – or to other pastors in your community whom you know – and ask them to add their name as well. Post about your decision to add your name on social media, including the sign-on link to invite others to join you. Share press coverage that helps explain this concept, such as recent articles from FoxNews.com, Christianity Today, WORLD Radio, CBN News and the Christian Post
- Pray. Our hope is that this statement might gather thousands or even tens of thousands of signatures from evangelical Christians throughout the U.S. and that God might use it to re-start long-stalled Congressional discussions over long-overdue reforms to our nation’s immigration policies.
Most political pundits do not see that as likely in the current hyper-partisan moment, but with God, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26) and He is able to do more than we would be bold enough to ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20)
In Christ,
Leith Anderson
President, National Association of Evangelicals
