WASHINGTON, D.C. (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson,
presiding bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA),
Chicago, and Ralston H. Deffenbaugh, Jr., president, Lutheran
Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), Baltimore, and 53 ELCA
synod bishops, sent a statement March 27 to U.S. Senators,
calling for fair and just immigration reform. The issue is to be
debated the week of March 27 in the Senate, and the statement
will appear in the March 28 issue of "Roll Call" -- the newspaper
of the U.S. Capitol.
LIRS is a cooperative agency of the ELCA, the Lutheran
Church-Missouri Synod, and the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America.
"We are compelled by the spirit of Christian solidarity that
transcends borders and by the life of Jesus, himself a refugee as
a young child, to call on you to oppose immigration reform
legislation as currently proposed," Hanson and Deffenbaugh said
in an introductory letter sent to the Senators along with the
statement.
The statement was written out of concern for language in the
legislation currently under consideration in the Senate which
would criminalize pastors, service workers and faith-based
volunteers who provide humanitarian aid to undocumented
immigrants. The statement also opposed language that would
"[criminally] punish immigrants who seek only to work or remain
with their families with sentences of up to two years."
Those endorsing the statement requested specific changes to
the legislation currently under consideration:
+ oppose the criminalization of the church, its ministers and its
members, who provide humanitarian aid to undocumented immigrants
+ oppose provisions which criminalize undocumented presence
+ provide a path to permanence for individuals currently residing
and working in the United States as well as their families
+ ensure basic constitutional due process rights in the
enforcement of our laws
+ include in the legislation the bipartisan "Agricultural Job
Opportunities Act" for farm workers -- a measure negotiated by
growers, agricultural employers and farm workers -- to create an
"earned adjustment" program enabling some undocumented farm
workers and H-2A guest workers to obtain temporary immigration
status with the possibility of permanence, which revises the
existing H-2A worker program
"As members of a church with immigrants, and with roots in
immigrant churches in a nation of immigrants," the statement
said, "we urge the Congress to make these corrections to the
bill, or to reject it."
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The full statement is at
http://www.ELCA.org/advocacy/immad0306-5.pdf on the ELCA Web
site.
Information about Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service
is at http://www.lirs.org on the Web.
* Annie Lynsen is director for advocacy communications,
grassroots and network development, ELCA Washington (D.C.)
Office.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
