ELCA leaders advocate for immigration reform in support of families

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA) continues to advocate for comprehensive federal immigration
reform as the Senate Judiciary Committee holds hearings on legislation
that calls for reform. A bipartisan group of senators introduced a reform
bill April 17.
In anticipation of the Senate’s bill, Lutheran Immigration and
Refugee Service sponsored a leadership summit April 14-16 that brought
together 40 Lutheran leaders from across the country to Capitol Hill to
support the new legislation.
“I’m proud that Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service could
convene so many skilled and respected leaders at such a critical time at
this year’s Lutheran Immigration Leadership Summit, as the Senate rolls
out history-making immigration legislation. There’s never been a more
important time for us, as Lutherans and Americans, to make our voices
heard,” said Linda Hartke, president and CEO of the service.
Based in Baltimore, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service is one
of the nation's leaders in welcoming and advocating for refugees and
immigrants and works on behalf of the ELCA.
ELCA Vice President Carlos E. Pena attended the summit and said the
event provided him with a better understanding of the “moral, political
and economic crisis our current immigration laws have created in our
country.”
“As a member of the summit, I was able to personally express my
concerns to our elected leaders on Capitol Hill and was encouraged by the
time and attention these (congressional) leaders gave all of us,” said
Pena. “The summit allowed us to advocate for an immigration law that
would include a roadmap to legal status and eventual citizenship and a
law that would keep families together.”
The ELCA supports comprehensive immigration reform that upholds
family unity, respects the God-given dignity of every person and
establishes a clear pathway to legal status and citizenship for
undocumented immigrants. The 2011 ELCA Churchwide Assembly approved
resolutions designed to advocate for comprehensive federal immigration
reform and support of the DREAM Act -- legislation that would provide a
path for citizenship for undocumented immigrant youth -- in partnership
with Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service.
“God calls us to love our neighbor. It is through this biblical call
that we must be hospitable and embrace and welcome those who are aspiring
to become new Americans. As a second-generation citizen, I have strong
feelings in assuring that future generations are afforded the same
welcome my grandparents received,” said Pena.
The Rev. Gerald L. Mansholt, bishop of the ELCA Central States Synod
and a member of the ELCA Conference of Bishops’ Immigration Ready Bench,
also attended the summit and met with congressional leaders. He said both
Republicans and Democrats recognize that “we have a broken and totally
inadequate immigration system, one that causes immense pain and
frustration in the lives of people.”
“We are at an opportune time for this country to adopt a bipartisan
bill on comprehensive immigration reform, and I am encouraged and
cautiously optimistic by what we heard in our visits with members of
Congress and their staff,” Mansholt said in an interview. “We have 11
million people who aspire to be citizens of this land. We are an
immigrant country, an immigrant church, and we welcome with open arms
those who work and contribute to our neighborhoods and communities.”
Kathryn M. Lohre, ELCA director for ecumenical and inter-religious
relations and president of the National Council of Churches, was invited
to the White House in March to meet with President Obama and religious
leaders to discuss the role that faith communities can play in moving
immigration reform forward.
Lohre said that Obama told the group that passing immigration
reform legislation remains his top priority, and he encouraged the
represented faith communities to share in his commitment.
“This is the kairos moment for compassionate, comprehensive
immigration reform. The churches are uniquely called to make the moral
case -- to educate, inspire and galvanize the people in our pews to put
pressure on our elected leaders, and to continue the ministry we have
inherited from Jesus Christ of welcoming the stranger in our midst,”
Lohre said in an interview.
In a follow-up letter to Obama, Lohre said she told the president
that communities of faith continue to pray for him and his leadership on
this issue and also “for and with all those children of God whose lives
hang in the balance until the broken system is repaired and restored.”
“For us as Christians, we lift up first and foremost the need to
protect the unity of families -- as a cornerstone of Biblical life, and
as an American value,” Lohre continued in the letter. “We strongly
believe that family preference categories must be retained at adequate
levels, and that families must be able to reunite within a reasonable
period of time. We also believe that a delicate balance must be struck
between family-based and employment-based visas, so that the latter does
not come at the expense of the former.”
Many of the ELCA’s 10,000 congregations provide critical services to
migrant populations, spread the word of welcome and advocate for fair and
humane immigration reform.