An Evangelical Call for Bipartisan Immigration Reform

The National Association of Evangelicals, which has all too rarely had something meaningful to say about our national public life in recent years, recently published an ad issuing a helpful call for immigration reform. In the light of the debate created by my recent blogs about the DREAM Act I thought this NAE call worth the attention of my readers. Here is the call itself:

Our national immigration laws have created a moral, economic and political crisis in America. Initiatives to remedy this crisis have led to polarization and name calling in which opponents have misrepresented each others’ positions as open borders and amnesty versus deportations of millions. This false choice has led to an unacceptable political stalemate. As evangelical Christian leaders, we call on Democrats and Republicans to lead our nation toward a bipartisan solution on immigration that:

Respects the God-given dignity of every person
Protects the unity of the immediate family
Respects the rule of law
Guarantees secure national borders
Ensures fairness to taxpayers
Establishes a path toward legal status and/or citizenship for those
who qualify and who wish to become permanent residents

We urge Congress and the President to work this year to pass immigration reform that embodies these key principles and that will make our nation proud.

Signed By:

Leith Anderson, President, National Association of Evangelicals

Jerry Dykstra, Executive Director, Christian Reformed Church of North America

Michael Gerson, Senior Fellow, Hastert Center, Wheaton College

Bill Hamel, President, Evangelical Free Church of America

Joel Hunter, Senior Pastor, Northland-A Church Distributed

Bill Hybels, Senior Pastor, Willow Creek Community Church

Richard Land, President, Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission

Sammy Mah, President and CEO, World Relief

John Perkins, Chairman Emeritus, Christian Community Development Association

Samuel Rodriguez, President, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference

Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman, Liberty Counsel and Dean, Liberty University School of Law

Berten Waggoner, National Director, Vineyard USA

David Wilson, General Secretary, Church of the Nazarene

Organizational affiliations listed for identification purposes only thus they do not represent the stance of the group with which the person is affiliated.