I just received the following in an email from Sojourners / Call to Renewal. I agree with it 100%. In fact, I’m very excited about something I’ve just gotten involved in to help poor immigrant families in New York City. I can’t say yet exactly what it is, because the initiative hasn’t yet launched publicly. It will be something that is outside my comfort zone a bit. However, over the new year’s break I prayed that God would give me a specific ministry to the poor in which I could use my skills and position as a law professor, and a chance to be on the policy committee of this immigration initiative just sort of came to me.
From Call to Renewal:
With Congress on the verge of rewriting our nation’s immigration laws, too many of the loudest voices on the issue are politicians and pundits who seek to scapegoat immigrant workers , falsely blaming them for many of our nation’s social and economic problems.
As Christians called by scripture to welcome and care for the strangers among us, we must seize this moment and raise our voices in a debate that is too often tainted by prejudice and fear.
Tell your representative to fix our broken immigration system with reform that is fair and compassionate.
From the law in Leviticus to the words of Jesus, our faith is very clear about our obligations to the “strangers” and “aliens” in our midst . That’s why Christian leaders from across the theological and political spectrum are coming together to support immigration reform that lives up to our moral and theological principles.
It is entirely possible to protect our borders while establishing a viable, humane, and realistic immigration system, one that is consistent with our American values and increases national security while protecting the livelihood of Americans.
But we must act now in order for our voices to be heard – legislation has just been introduced in the House of Representatives, and we have a very short window in which to act.
Stand up for comprehensive immigration reform by sending a message to Congress today.
Specifically, we must demand that any immigration legislation includes:
Border enforcement and protection initiatives that are consistent with humanitarian values;
Reforms in our family-based immigration system that help to safely reunite separated families;
An opportunity for all immigrant workers and their families already in the U.S. to come out of the shadows to pursue an earned legal status, leading up to citizenship; and
A viable guest worker program that creates avenues for workers and their families to enter our country and work in a safe, legal, and orderly manner.
Tell Congress: immigration reform must be fair and compassionate.With so many immigrant families living in poverty, we must acknowledge that discussion of immigration cannot be separated from our understanding of poverty – and is thus central to achieving the vision for overcoming poverty found in Sojourners/Call to Renewal’s Covenant for a New America.
That’s why we’re hard at work advocating for comprehensive immigration reform – organizing a broad coalition of Christian leaders to raise up a prophetic voice in the media on this important issue, and developing a toolkit for grassroots advocacy.
I hope you’ll join us as we seek to respond to Jesus’ words: “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40).