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March
20, 2006
VOL.
44, NO. 6Oakland,
CA
Faith leaders
not deterred by
criticism of their immigration campaign
WASHINGTON
(CNS) -- Attacks against an interfaith campaign to shape immigration reform
to address family reunification and other social concerns affirm the importance
of churches working together, said national religious leaders early this
month.
At a March 1 press conference, Washington Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick
said such attacks, including those made by U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo.,
in a recent press release and television commentary, underscore that faith
groups must be vigilant to keep up with how others try to shape the debate
about immigration policy.
Tancredo, who has become a prominent critic of illegal immigration, said
church efforts on the issue misrepresent the religious beliefs of a majority
of churchgoers.
Tancredo, chairman of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus, in
a Feb. 21 press release called leaders of the Catholic, Episcopal, Evangelical
Lutheran, United Methodist and Presbyterian churches who criticized a
House-passed immigration enforcement bill “left-leaning religious
activists” who are misrepresenting the beliefs of “the conservative
majority of churchgoers.”
Rabbi Scott Sperling, director of the Union for Reform Judaism’s
Mid-Atlantic Council, said the idea of passing immigration legislation
that deals only with enforcement is “a simplistic and punitive”
approach that “does violence to the faith community.”
Hundreds of religious institutions and individuals have
signed on to an interfaith statement supporting comprehensive immigration
reform since it was first published in October. It quotes the Torah, the
Bible and the Quran to point out that “our diverse faith traditions
teach us to welcome our brothers and sisters with love and compassion.”
It endorses immigration reform that fixes the problems of the current
system with proposals such as: reducing the years-long backlog of applicants
waiting to immigrate legally; providing a way for at least some of the
11 million immigrants already in the country illegally to “come
out of the shadows”; and offering a work permit program that protects
workers’ rights and safety.
It also calls for border protection policies that are consistent with
humanitarian values and with the need to treat all individuals with respect,
“while allowing authorities to prevent the entry of terrorists and
criminals” and pursue “the legitimate task of implementing
American immigration policy.”
An image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is carried high above the crowd of nearly 100,000 marchers during a march in Chicago to rally against pending immigration legislation.
CNS photo Karen Callaway
