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TechnoratiWASHINGTON – Usually, conservative evangelicals are not known to support immigration reform. But several prominent leaders of the movement made their case Tuesday evening for new immigration laws, joining a growing number of Christians who refer to the Bible for support in "welcoming the stranger."
(Photo: The Christian Post)Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, urges American evangelicals to engage in the immigration debate and call upon the U.S. government to work on new immigration laws this year. Anderson spoke at the book launching event for Welcoming the Stranger in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, March 31, 2009.
(Photo: The Christian Post)Matthew Soerens, co-author of Welcoming the Stranger, urges American evangelicals to be engaged in the immigration debate at the book's launching event in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, March 31, 2009.
(Photo: The Christian Post)Pastor Derrick Harkins, pastor of the historic black Nineteenth Street Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., speaks at the book launching event for Welcoming the Stranger in Washington,D.C. on Tuesday, March 31, 2009.
The evangelical leaders – including Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals – urged American evangelicals to engage in the immigration debate and call upon the U.S. government to work on new immigration laws this year.
Immigrants, having become the fastest growing evangelical church in the United States, are not “the others,” but they are “us,” the leaders pointed out.
“I get asked a lot, why this issue? Why as Christians and evangelicals, in particular, do we need to care about immigrants and policies in particular,” said Matthew Soerens, co-author of Welcoming the Stranger, at the book’s launch event on Tuesday. “It is because those people we talk about, those immigrants, those aliens, they are us as part of the church.”
Soerens, who works directly with immigrants as a World Relief staff, says he has met many Hispanic, Asian, and African immigrants in his line of work. What he realized was that the church, which the Bible says is the body of Christ, includes a lot of immigrants in the United States.
“Corinthians tells us if one part of the body suffers then the whole body is suffering,” he said. “As Christians, as part of the church, we don’t have a choice but to engage in this issue. And people are suffering, they are living in fear.”
The leaders also referenced the New Testament story in Luke 10 of the Good Samaritan – "a stranger or alien himself" – who stopped to help the Jewish man.
“This and other parables remind us that ‘we are all aliens sent out to help other aliens find a place of safety in this world,’” says a 2006 statement by World Relief in support of comprehensive immigration reform. The statement references Jonathan Robert Nelson’s 2006 remarks for The American Bar Association’s “Fortress America: The State and Future of U.S. Immigration Law and Policy” event.
The leaders also cited verses, such as Deuteronomy 10:18-19, Leviticus 19:33-34, and Exodus 22:21 about showing love and compassion to "aliens," which are often alluded to by Christian immigration reform proponents.
“Immigration policies in the United States have changed a lot of times throughout our history and it is time for immigrant policies to change again,” said NAE president Leith Anderson, who noted at the onset of his remarks that he is the son of an immigrant.
“In terms of what that means, it means fairness, family, it means finance,” he said.
Anderson and other evangelical leaders talked about the inequality in current U.S. immigration laws and criticized how they break up families. He also called on the government to provide adequate finances to implement immigration laws and reduce the “enormous” waiting time for immigrants applying for legal status.
Pastor Derrick Harkins of the historic black Nineteenth Street Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., stated, “We are calling for nothing more than for those persons who are presently immigrants to be able to function and thrive within the context of what is just. We are talking about an earned right to citizenship. We are talking about them operating within the framework of a just set of laws. Continue »
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