The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has joined a coalition of business, faith, law enforcement, education and national security organizations allied to push Congress to enact compassionate and effective immigration reforms in 2022.
CBF is among several new additions to the Alliance for a New Immigration Consensus since its launch in March to advocate for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients, or Dreamers, Temporary Protected Status holders, migrant workers and a secure southern border.
Stephen Reeves
“Our communities desperately need common-sense immigration solutions for Dreamers, TPS recipients and farm workers, especially when many of them are deemed essential workers,” said Stephen Reeves, director of advocacy for the Fellowship. “The uncertainty of their immigration status poses a severe risk to the spiritual, emotional, educational and economic stability of our communities.”
Other groups signing on to ANIC’s cause recently include Catholic Charities USA, the California Farm Bureau Federation, Border Perspective, FWD.us, the National Roofing Contractors Association, and State Business Executives. Among other faith-based groups in the coalition are the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, the Episcopal Church, World Relief, and Bethany Christian Services.
ANIC said its growth to 40 members comes at a critical moment in the nation’s immigration policy debate, especially with the nearing of the 2022 midterm elections and the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals July 6 hearing on DACA. The policy, which grants residency and work status to immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, has most recently been challenged by nine Republican-dominated states.
The coalition advocates for passage of federal legislation to preempt the threats such challenges pose to immigrants and their American employers. “Since March, ANIC members have held hundreds of congressional meetings and educational events involving the voices of voters, job creators, religious leaders, farmers and ranchers and more from states across the country,” according to a news release.
ANIC noted that most Americans also support the coalition’s aims. A February poll published by the National Immigration Forum found eight in 10 voters “want common-sense solutions in 2022, before the midterm elections, that include border security, an opportunity to earn legal status and citizenship for undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children, and a legal, reliable workforce for America’s farmers and ranchers.”
Reeves said ANIC’s strategy of holding meetings on Capitol Hill, press briefings, webinars and sending letters to Congress makes the coalition a good fit for CBF, which itself advocates for immigrants through its collaboration with Fellowship Southwest.
“That is why CBF is proud to join ANIC and partner with other organizations who can also see the writing on the wall: If we do not act now, we will further increase the instability in our communities and restrain the growth potential of our country,” he said.
It was with a sense of urgency that FWD.us, a nonprofit immigration and criminal justice advocacy group, joined ANIC.
Todd Shulte
“Our failed immigration system has not been meaningfully updated in more than three decades. This ongoing congressional inaction has resulted in devastating consequences for immigrants and their families, our workforce and economy, and all those that rely on these people who are integral pillars within our communities,” FWD.us President Todd Schulte said.
He added that court challenges to policies like DACA exemplify the weakness in the system. “Our nation’s immigrants deserve better. That means creating an orderly, humane immigration system that works for immigrants and our nation, not against us.”
Congress currently has an opportunity to strengthen the U.S. economy by clearing the way for migrants to live and work in the United States without fear of deportation, said Duane Musser, vice president of government relations for the National Roofing Contractors Association.
Duane Musser
“Millions of Dreamers are rising up to fill essential jobs and meet this economic demand. But due to the DACA program standing on shaky legal grounds and uncertainty facing individuals with Temporary Protected Status, America’s economy could face a new wave of crippling workforce shortages,” Musser said. “Policies that secure our borders while delivering clear and thoughtful immigration reforms are critical and must be solved by Congress this year to protect and advance America’s economic momentum.”
ANIC’s growth will only add to that energy, said Daniel Garza, president of The Libre Initiative, one of the coalition’s founding groups.
“The growth in our movement reflects the strength of American voters who urgently want common sense legal immigration and border security passed this year. It’s not a red or blue issue,” Garza said. “It’s a movement by the people who want America’s immigration system working effectively to strengthen our national security, grow our economy and contribute to our communities.”
Related articles:
At 10-year anniversary, the Dreamers sometimes feel like they’re in a nightmare