WASHINGTON (ABP) — A group of conservative evangelicals is endorsing immigration reform that secures America's borders and provides a pathway to citizenship for the estimated 12 million people living in the United States illegally.
Religious leaders including Samuel Rodriguez of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, Mathew Staver of the Liberty Council and Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention have signed an open letter denouncing efforts to politicize the immigration debate by labeling any earned pathway toward citizenship as "amnesty."
"Let us be clear — an earned pathway to citizenship is not amnesty," the letters says. "We reject amnesty. And we ask those who label an earned pathway to citizenship as amnesty to stop politicizing this debate needlessly and to honestly acknowledge the difference."
The religious leaders say immigration reform must begin with securing the nation's borders.
"We must first secure our borders before we can implement a broader just assimilation immigration policy," they wrote. "Secure borders are not closed borders. Violent criminals and drug traffickers take advantage of open borders. Such criminals are a threat to everyone in every community, including Latinos who are disproportionately victimized by them."
After securing the borders, the letter calls for a process that allows undocumented but otherwise law-abiding persons living in America to "come out of the shadows." That includes a "program of legalization for undocumented persons in the United States, subject to appropriate penalties, waiting periods, background checks, evidence of moral character, a commitment to full participation in American society through an understanding of the English language, the rights and duties of citizens and the structure of America's government and the embrace of American values."
The leaders say most Americans will not support amnesty for illegal immigrants, but it is impractical to deport undocumented individuals — who by some estimates number as many as 20 million — in the United States.
They propose instead "a just, rational policy" that puts undocumented persons on a path toward earning legal citizenship or acquiring guest-worker status but deports undocumented felons.
Some observers believe evangelical involvement could be an important tipping point in building support for comprehensive immigration reform. The National Association of Evangelicals remained on the sidelines when Republicans in Congress killed President Bush's immigration bill in 2007, but in 2009 the group passed a resolution identifying immigration as a moral issue.
Richard Land
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Land, president of the SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said he hopes to convince Republicans that opposing immigration reform is costing them votes among Hispanic voters who are conservative on issues like abortion and gay marriage but vote for Democrats because of the immigration issue.
"Hispanics are hard-wired to be like us on sanctity of life, marriage and issues of faith," Land told CNN. "I'm concerned about being perceived as being unwelcoming to them."
The Southern Baptist Convention, with a claimed membership of 16 million and the nation's second-largest faith group behind Catholics, passed a resolution in 2006 urging Congress "to address seriously and swiftly the question of how to deal realistically with the immigration crisis."
In 2007 Land said he would endorse immigration reform that lines up with four points in the 2006 resolution. Such reform, he said, would:
— "Ensure the federal government provides for U.S. security 'by controlling and securing our borders;'
— "Enforce immigration laws, including oversight of the hiring practices of private employers;
— "Deal judiciously and 'realistically' with those in the country illegally; and,
— "Allow the people of God to act 'redemptively,' reaching out to meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of all immigrants as they work toward an earned pathway of 'legal status and/or citizenship.'"
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Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.