ELCA NEWS SERVICE

November 3, 2011  

ELCA bishops call state immigration laws 'shortsighted'
11-133-MRC

     CHICAGO (ELCA) - Nearly 60 of 65 synod bishops of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) expressed their concern over new state
immigration laws in Nov. 2 letters to President Barack Obama and members
of Congress. In their letter, the synod bishops asked that both Congress
and the administration work together on a complete federal overhaul of
the U.S. immigration system and offered provisions for what the reform
should entail.
     The synod bishops said federal reform should restore trust in
communities and include:
+ An earned pathway to lawful permanent residency and eventual U.S.
citizenship for immigrants and their families who learn English and pay
back taxes.
+ Expeditious reunification of families and protection against separating
families.
+ Expansion of legal avenues for workers to allow immigrants to migrate
to the United States in a safe and legal manner.
+ Decreased use of immigration detention, improvement in detention
conditions with increased access to medical assistance, pastoral care and
legal council and the increased use of community-based programs that
assist immigrants who do need to be incarcerated.
+ Improved border policies that treat all individuals with respect and
allow the U.S. government to focus on individuals involved in the
trafficking of people, drugs, weapons or other dangerous people seeking
entry.
+ Increased programs and resources to help immigrants participate fully
in U.S. social and civic life.
     "The fair treatment of immigrants is a core religious value and
welcoming the stranger is welcoming a child of God," wrote the synod
bishops.
     Six U.S. states have passed immigration laws that are "shortsighted
and misguided," the synod bishops wrote. Because this church values
family unity, justice, equity, compassion and the humane treatment of all
people, the synod bishops said they are concerned that the individual
immigration laws of each state "damage the social fabric of our
communities."
     "We are particularly troubled by the laws which would criminalize
churches, church ministries and church members that serve all people who
need assistance - regardless of their immigration status," they wrote.
     "The ELCA believes and teaches that all people are created in the
image of God and are beloved of God. In our scriptures, we are instructed
to care for the stranger and to love the immigrant living among us," they
wrote, adding that the ELCA carries out social ministry programs,
initiates programs to aid all God's people and partners with Lutheran
Immigration and Refugee Service.
     Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service is one of the nation's
leading agencies in welcoming and advocating for refugees and immigrants.
Based in Baltimore, it works on behalf of the ELCA, The Lutheran Church-
Missouri Synod and the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
     The letters to the president and Congress were initiated by Bishop
H. Julian Gordy of the ELCA Southeastern Synod, Atlanta, and Bishop
Michael W. Rinehart of the ELCA Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod, Houston.
     "I am overjoyed that so many of our leaders are willing to speak
boldly for immigrants," said Rinehart.
     "This is a key moral issue of our day. Are we going to welcome the
stranger or are we not? Will we be the city on the hill or a mean-
spirited gated-country for the elite? Will our laws make immigration
impossible through exorbitant fees, racist quotas and decade-long waiting
periods? I hope not. The America most of us know and love has open arms
for huddled masses yearning to breathe free," said Rinehart.
     Gordy said he's grateful that "our church has spoken clearly on
behalf of immigrants living among us, both in this letter, signed by a
large majority of our bishops and in the actions of our Churchwide
Assembly in August. It is appropriate that the church, which counts
migrants like Abraham and Sarah, Moses and Miriam and the wandering
Hebrews as its spiritual ancestors and the migrant infant Jesus as it's
Lord, speak against and resist these unhelpful state laws, passed in the
absence of comprehensive immigration reform."
     "Since the passing of anti-immigration legislation in Alabama and
Georgia, two of the states in the synod I serve, undocumented and
documented immigrants are leaving our communities and our congregations
to move to more immigrant friendly states," Gordy said. "This exodus does
harm to our communities, farms and businesses. Such state laws do not
succeed in addressing our immigration crisis. They do, however, succeed
in fostering a spirit of hostility, suspicion and ethnic discrimination
in our communities. Our immigrant church must speak out and resist these
laws."
     The ELCA synod bishops' letters follow two Nov. 1 letters sent to
the president and members of Congress by ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark S.
Hanson, who serves on Obama's advisory council on Faith-based and
Neighborhood Partnerships.
     The 2011 ELCA Churchwide Assembly voted to "declare its support of
and encouragement for all efforts to prevent the enactment of punitive
and unjust federal and state laws that target immigrants." This action
also calls for leaders of this church to support comprehensive U.S.
immigration reform and the DREAM Act (the Development, Relief and
Education for Alien Minors Act), legislation that would provide a path
for citizenship for undocumented high school graduates.
     The churchwide assembly is the ELCA's highest legislative authority
serving on behalf of the ELCA's 4.2 million members.
     The full text of the synod bishops' letters is available at
http://www.ELCA.org/immigration.
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United
States, with 4.2 million members in 10,000 congregations across the 50
states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work.
Our hands," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in
Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's
roots are in the writings of the German church reformer, Martin Luther.


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