ELCA leaders say immigration reform is a federal matter

CHICAGO (ELCA) - Some congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) have growing concerns about the presence of
U.S.immigration officials outside churches before and after services,
making many parishioners afraid to attend worship for fear that they will
be detained or separated from their families.
This concern is expressed in a "Statement of Interest" developed by
the ELCA and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, which is part of a
brief submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court by the U.S. Conference of
Catholic Bishops. The brief was filed as voluntary information in the
State of Arizona vs. United States case to be heard by the Supreme Court
April 25.
"Our church's position, like many other church bodies, is for humane
and comprehensive federal immigration reform," said the Rev. H. Julian
Gordy, bishop of the ELCA Southeastern Synod, Atlanta, and chair of the
ELCA Conference of Bishop's Immigration Ready Bench.
While there isn't much disagreement with the need for reform, the
question, Gordy said, is, "How do we go about reform that is consistent
with our values? The vast majority of church bodies in the United States
have spoken out loudly and clearly on this issue because it is so clearly
based on Scripture."
The ELCA has a long-standing commitment to social justice for people
living in the United States undocumented. The 2011 ELCA Churchwide
Assembly approved a resolution that calls this church, in partnership
with Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, to continue to advocate
for comprehensive U.S. immigration reform and against "harmful laws" such
as Arizona's SB1070, according to the Statement of Interest.
State immigration laws encourage unfair profiling, said Gordy. Local
school teachers in Alabama, for example, are required to determine a
student's immigration status, prohibiting education, he said.
"The intervention of states in federal immigration policy is of deep
concern to Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service," said Eric Sigmon,
director for the service's advocacy office.
"We have worked with ELCA members and other Lutheran leaders to push
back against these kinds of punitive proposals. We hope that the Supreme
Court's decision in this case will offer a clear and convincing message
to states that immigration policy belongs into the hands of the federal
government and to the U.S. Congress and the administration that it is
time to act on immigration reform."
Based in Baltimore, the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service is
one of the United States' leading agencies in welcoming and advocating
for refugees and immigrants. Sigmon said the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops approached the ELCA and the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee
Service to participate in the brief.