Immigration

WASHINGTON – Eight years ago, Hispanics were just glad to be in America. Today, they're pushing for upward mobility and for the ears on Capitol Hill.

"We are now making our voices heard," said the Rev. Luis Cortes, Jr., who heads Esperanza, the largest Hispanic evangelical network in the country. "Now we come and we feel indignant when political leaders don't address us or when they address us and don't understand our position."

Their efforts seem to be making headway as President Barack Obama said on Friday that he is committed to passing comprehensive immigration reform. more >>

LONDON – The head of the World Council of Churches has called upon Christians to live out the core message in Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan and treat others as their neighbors.

The Rev. Dr. Samuel Kobia was speaking at the opening of the WCC’s conference on the response of churches to racism and other forms of discrimination and exclusion.

Pointing to the unprecedented gains of anti-immigration parties in the recent European Parliament election, Kobia warned that racism was “still alive” in the world. more >>

An array of activists and community leaders launched a national campaign Wednesday to support President Obama before his slated meeting with Congressional leaders next week to push forward immigration reform legislation.

Leaders partaking in the Reform Immigration FOR America campaign represent labor unions, business coalitions, civil rights and religious groups, and pro-immigrant advocacy organizations.

“At the end of the day this is not a political issue but rather one of a moral and spiritual imperative,” said Rev. Sam Rodriguez, Jr., president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference. more >>

To mark the one year anniversary of the Postville raid – the largest immigration raid in U.S. history at the time – proponents of immigration reform renewed their calls for new laws that protect workers and family unity.

Faith leaders joined with labor spokesmen to remind the public of the dire consequences that immigration raids have on communities. They recalled the hundreds of workers who were arrested and their children who had no one to care for them after the massive raid at a meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, last year.

Speakers during the media call on Monday sponsored by Justice for Immigrants and the Interfaith Immigration Coalition urged lawmakers to quickly move on creating new immigration laws. more >>

Several Hispanic organizations, including some Christian groups, spoke out this week about whether illegal immigrants should participate in the 2010 U.S. census.

The debate intensified when leaders of the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian (CONLAMIC) urged illegal immigrants to boycott the census unless Congress passes immigration reform legislation. The leaders claim information obtained by the census will be used by “anti-immigrant forces” to the disadvantage of undocumented Latinos in the country.

“Our church leaders have witnessed misuse of otherwise benign Census population data by state and local public officials in their efforts to pass and enact laws that assist in the perpetration of civil rights violations and abuses against undocumented workers and families,” expressed the Rev. Miguel Rivera, president of CONLAMIC, in a statement this week. more >>