Title: ELCA'S Presiding Bishop Asks Clinton to
Support Immigrants
ELCA NEWS SERVICE
October 23, 1997
ELCA'S GEORGE ANDERSON ASKS CLINTON TO SUPPORT
IMMIGRANTS
97-30-085-AH
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. H. George
Anderson, presiding bishop of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, is
writing to President Bill
Clinton and members of Congress, urging them to
support a section of the
Immigration and Nationality Act that will allow
certain undocumented aliens
to become lawful immigrants.
Anderson's letter is on behalf of the
Conference of ELCA Bishops who
heard from Bishop Stephen Bouman that one
congregation lost 11 families
based on the Sept. 23 deadline for the extension
of Section 245(i).
Bouman, bishop of the ELCA's Metropolitan New
York Synod, told the
ELCA bishops Oct. 5 that 11 families have been
forced to leave one of the
synod's newest mission congregations, Cristo
Lutheran Church, Freeport.
"These families are from Ecuador, Dominica, El
Salvador, Honduras, and
Colombia. Their pastor called my office weeping in
frustration," Bouman
said.
"When does our collective resolve take hold?
Is there any way we can
stand with each other in the face of this?" Bouman
asked. The bishops
asked Bouman to assist Anderson in the preparation
of a letter to Clinton.
Anderson's letter will express support of
Section 245(i) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act and its extension
beyond the Oct. 23
deadline. Section 245(i) allows many undocumented
persons who become
eligible for permanent residency to adjust their
status or become lawful
immigrants through a process in the United States.
"Facing expiration of this section at the end
of September, many
immigrants 'unlawfully present' in the United
States since April 1, who
became eligible for visas after Sept. 30, faced a
difficult choice: either
remain in the United States illegally or leave the
country before Sept. 27
to avoid a three-year bar to admissibility," the
letter explains. It goes
on, "If they have been out of legal status for one
year, these immigrants,
many of whom have U.S. citizen families, will be
barred from re-entering
the United States for 10 years. Many people have
had to leave. Many
others face a similar choice in these days before
the Oct. 23 deadline of
the temporary extension of Section 245(i)."
Anderson points to the effect on Cristo
Lutheran Church, the Long
Island congregation that had 27 members forced to
leave the country. Among
them, he said, are an elderly couple from Ecuador
who have been in this
country for 20 years; a pregnant woman from El
Salvador who left her
husband, a U.S. resident, behind; a woman from the
Dominican Republic who
has been in this country for 15 years, left behing
her husband a, U.S.
citizen, and two teenagers who are also U.S.
citizens; and a young man from
Honduras, here for eight years, who left behind
his wife, a resident, and
two small boys, U.S. citizens.
"The experience of this congregation mirrors
the national reality,"
Anderson writes. "None of the 27 departing
members have been on public
assistance except for the elderly couple who
received food stamps and SSI
benefits. All were employed and paid their taxes.
Most are already in the
process of residency but now must complete the
process abroad. Most left
loved ones behind."
The ELCA expressed concern about immigration
issues and the hostile
climate toward the "sojourner among us" at its
Churchwide Assembly in
August.
"Our churches and institutions are being
revitalized by our new
neighbors, even as this nation of immigrants has
always been renewed by its
newcomers," Anderson writes. "We understand that
the issues are complex
and do not yield easy answers. But the extension
and permanent passage of
Section 245(i) is a small, concrete way in which
we can take a humane and
sensible step toward a more just society for all
of us."
[Editors: The text of Bishops Anderson's
letter will be
available Oct. 23 through Brenda Williams,
773/380-2963.]
For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or
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