Death on the Border

Politicians and pundits who tout simplistic enforcement-only solutions to our nation's complex immigration challenges have some chilling new information to contemplate as the grim body count on the border continues to rise.

The Los Angeles Times reported yesterday that while "some expected tougher immigration policies to deter people from trying to cross the desert" 170 bodies have been found in Tucson (Pima County) already this year -- a number on pace to break a 2007 record. In July alone, 59 people were found dead. The death toll has soared at such a staggering pace that a refrigerated trailer truck has been added to serve as a makeshift morgue at the coroner's office.

As this story vividly documents, enforcement-only approaches to immigration drive desperate immigrants to take more dangerous routes through the Arizona desert. Migrants don't cross borders because it's easy. Most risk death, and will continue to do so, because they are desperate for work and a better life for their family.

This shameful development again reinforces the urgent need for comprehensive immigration reform that brings immigrants out of the shadows, helps keep families together and cracks down on unscrupulous employers who hire and exploit immigrant labor. This isn't "amnesty" as many opponents insist. It's a practical and humane response to an issue that will not disappear with tough talk, cowboy justice or higher fences.

A nation that is serious about safeguarding its core values and highest ideals can't afford to ignore the mounting deaths of men, women and children at its borders. It's time for an honest conversation about immigration that acknowledges both the cruelty and ineffectiveness that characterizes the failed status quo. Politicians who demagogue this issue and spread ugly myths about immigrants may score cheap political points on the campaign trail, but they abdicate their sacred trust as public officials. History will not judge them kindly.

Learning to Play the "Ground Game"

Kim Bobo, the executive director of Interfaith Worker Justice, has an instructive piece up at Religious Dispatches about the effective organizing "ground game" run by the Unitarian Universalist Association during recent actions responding to Arizona's draconian immigration law.

She highlights the UUA's "Standing on the Side of Love" campaign as a model for faith-based activism - some of the only notable denominational organizing muscle on the scene. Bobo points out that the flurry of prayer vigils and demonstrations that were quickly organized in Arizona - events that earned significant media attention - were led by justice groups on the ground, not from institutional church bodies.

The religious community was engaged and integral to most of the local organizing, but the leadership didn't come from denominational structures. Rather, it came largely from immigrant rights and worker justice groups, which invited religious leaders to participate. Although most faith bodies and denominations have very strong statements on immigration reform, those same denominations did not activate people. With one glaring exception - the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). Of the several hundred religious leaders who showed up, only the Unitarian Universalist Association seriously committed staff, money, and organizing talent to the struggle.

It's exciting to think about what could happen if more denominations started developing similar programs. Well-crafted statements and policy positions are important, but the most eloquent words are not enough to affect lasting social change. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. moved a nation with his soaring rhetorical grandeur, but the sweat and blood and block-by-block movement building at the local level played a crucial role in bending the arc of history toward justice.

Stemming the tide of intolerance

Lately the vitriol of anti-Muslim demagogues and anti-immigrant voices has sunk to new depths. Opponents of immigration reform are advocating repeal of birthright citizenship for children of immigrants who are here illegally, and demeaning these children as "anchor babies." In addition to intolerant rhetoric about the Islamic Center near Ground Zero, Muslims are facing a rising tide of bigoted opposition in communities across the country. As Matt Yglesias pointed out yesterday, these two developments are directly linked. Throughout history, he reminds us, economic downturns have led to xenophobia. However, that doesn't mean economic recovery will lead us out of this political climate. Yglesias argues:

... The economic roots of our summer of fear will hopefully prove transitory, but the rise in xenophobia may nonetheless inflict serious and permanent damage. A betrayal, even a fleeting one, of America's commitment to religious freedom could do lasting harm to the country's relationship with a billion Muslims around the world. And while altering the text of the 14th Amendment would be extremely difficult, and is therefore unlikely, the shouting matches now underway still stand to permanently scar our national identity.

Clergy calling for civility and compassion in communities across the country are uniquely positioned to ensure that this damage halts and heals.

Worth reading

Lots of interesting news and commentary around the internet today. A few worth a look:

The Arizona Republic released a poll today showing that a plurality of Arizonans believe the SB 1070 debate has exacerbated racism in the state.

On a semi-related note, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who filed an amicus brief in support of SB 1070, has authorized law enforcement officers to check the immigration status anyone they stop or arrest.

Two insightful takes on the controversy surrounding the Cordoba House Islamic Center in lower Manhattan near ground zero: Will Saletan on the Republican leaders driving it, and Blake Hounshell on the erstwhile Republican leader who can do the most to help stop it.

For a thorough take on the right's bigoted response to Cordoba House and the Muslim community's religious freedom, check out today's Progress Report.

Following the rules

We reported a few weeks ago on the AP stylebook's clear guidelines that journalists should avoid describing undocumented immigrants as "illegals." Looks like Bruce Smith didn't get the memo:

Immigration skirmish brews in quiet SC town

By BRUCE SMITH (AP) - 4 hours ago

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. -- In a quiet Southern bedroom community of gardens and parks across the country from Arizona, another skirmish in the battle over illegal immigration is brewing.
...

Poor and uneducated illegals "come for the American dream," said Villacis, 48, who emigrated from Ecuador four years ago.

There's a reason journalists pursuing balance and accuracy should not be using politically loaded language. We hope the AP catches this and makes a quick correction.

Not in My America

Today, Center for American Progress Action and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) launched the "Not in My America" Campaign. It's a powerful video, reminding us that our American (and religious) values of freedom and justice prompt us to stand up to punitive laws that target particular ethnic communities-- like Arizona's SB-1070-- and say, "We are better than that."

Check it out:

An injunction in Arizona

Since Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed Senate Bill 1070 in April, the faith community's moral witness against this anti-immigrant bill and for comprehensive immigration reform has been consistent and powerful. This afternoon, United States District Court Judge Susan Bolton issued a preliminary injunction against many of the law's most troubling provisions, including:

• Requiring a police officer to make a reasonable attempt to check the immigration status of those they have stopped;

• Forbidding police from releasing anyone they have arrested until that person's immigration status is determined;

• Making it a violation of Arizona law for anyone not a citizen to fail to carry documentation;

• Creating a new state crime for trying to secure work while not a legal resident;

• Allowing police to make warrantless arrests if there is a belief the person has committed an offense that allows them to be removed from the United States.

University of Arizona law professor Gabriel "Jack" Chin told the Arizona Star that the ruling is "virtually a complete win for the United States" and that the "heart of SB1070 has been enjoined." Although the ruling prevents many discriminatory measures from taking effect, an aspect of the law vigorously opposed by faith leaders will still be enacted. Harboring or transporting an immigrant who is in violation of immigration laws will still be unlawful. Giving an undocumented immigrant a ride in a church van, for example, will be illegal. Even hosting undocumented immigrants in worship services or providing them with church-based social services could be outlawed, according to Rev. Jan Olav Flaaten, executive director of the Arizona Ecumenical Council. Jenny Hwang, Director of Advocacy and Policy for the Refugee and Immigration Program at World Relief recently wrote:

Asking for someone's legal status was never a requirement for a church to serve those in need, but because this law makes so many of the activities that churches engage in illegal, many churches will be forced to choose between following what they feel like God has called them to do (serving immigrants in their communities) and disobeying the Arizona law, or obeying the Arizona law and not being able to carry out what they feel is so central to their identity as a faith-based organization.

While today's federal court ruling provides a welcome (if temporary) delay of numerous discriminatory policies, it also leaves in place measures that threaten not only undocumented immigrants, but also those who aid them.

Compassion vs cruelty

The American Family Association's Bryan Fischer has a post on The Hill's Congress Blog today which contains several common, inaccurate arguments against comprehensive immigration reform. It goes even further though, by making an evangelical case for... well, cruelty.

On the matter of how to address the millions of people who are here in violation of America's immigration laws, Fishcer proposes:

We should instead deal with the 12 to 20 million illegals [sic] currently in the country through attrition, by making access to any taxpayer-funded resource -- whether education, welfare or healthcare -- contingent upon proof of legal residency.

Once illegals realize they will be sent home the moment they come to the attention of any government agency or any branch of law enforcement, they will immediately stop being a drain on taxpayer resources and will be the most law-abiding residents we have.

Note how Fischer euphemizes the denial of people's most basic needs by using the clinical-sounding term "attrition." What he's really proposing is inflicting so much suffering on his brothers and sisters that they will return to the poverty and lack of opportunity they came to America to overcome. Although Fischer sprinkles individual Bible verses throughout his essay to support various arguments that few people contest (for example, citing Acts 17:26 to support the right to secure the border), he doesn't offer any Biblical support for his proposal to deny people education, medicine, housing and food - probably because there isn't any. (As an aside, I'd suggest that if Fischer is convinced of the righteousness of his stance, he should stand guard in the hospital doors himself and turn away a mother and her seriously ill children because she can't prove her citizenship.)

And regarding the issue of the families torn apart by deportation, Fischer suggests:

Enforcing our immigration policy need not break up families. The president sent spouses and children along when he deported the Russian spies, and we can do the same with every illegal alien. We do not want to separate husbands from wives, or children from parents, so our policy should be to repatriate entire families together to preserve family integrity.

At a pro-immigration reform rally in Columbus, Ohio, yesterday, a mother and her two American-citizen daughters (ages 10 and 5) shared the story the girls' father's ongoing incarceration for re-entering the country illegally. That's a violation of the law, and violating the law needs to have consequences. However, deportation of the entire family crosses the threshold of cruel and unusual punishment. If we're serious about valuing family unity, wouldn't a simpler, cheaper, fairer, more compassionate solution be to hold the father accountable for his actions, while giving him an opportunity to raise his daughters, support his family, earn a wage and contribute to our economy and his community?

That's exactly what moderate and conservative evangelical leaders are calling for, and what prompted Fischer's piece. And the contrast between the measured, compassionate, and practical approach taken by the likes of Leith Anderson (of the NAE) and Matt Staver (of Liberty Counsel) and the cruel one Fischer advocates couldn't be more striking.

Hiding behind distorted data?

Yesterday, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law held an "ethics of immigration reform" hearing, to which they invited faith leaders and advocates from both sides of the issue to offer moral and religious perspectives on various reform proposals. In his opening statement, Representative Lamar Smith (R-Texas) made the dubious claim that people of faith support an enforcement-only approach to immigration, rather than a comprehensive approach, and drew on a methodologically flawed Zogby poll - which we have debunked before - to make his case.

The Zogby poll-- sponsored by the Center for Immigration Studies, whose fellow James R. Edwards spoke at yesterday's hearing to urge delay of any immigration reform based on faulty economic arguments about unemployment-- falls far short of industry standards . The poll relies on an opt-in online panel that is not representative of the general US population and also employs problematically worded questions. A national survey (PDF) released by Public Religion Research Institute in March, and conducted in accordance with the gold standards of polling (a scientific random sample), finds that people of faith from all religious groups support comprehensive immigration reform over enforcement-only policies by two-to-one margins.

The CIS/Zogby poll was also front-and-center in a "Dear Colleague" letter Rep. Lamar Smith sent to all Members of Congress, further circulating misinformation about people of faith's perspectives on the issue. On a day when numerous faith leaders offered powerful testimony in support of comprehensive reform, it was unfortunate to see their opponents deploy faulty data to undermine their arguments.

Sarah Palin supports comprehensive immigration reform?

When Bill O'Reilly asked Sarah Palin what she would do about illegal immigration if she were president, her response sounded an awful lot like an endorsement of comprehensive immigration reform. While she at first fell back on the old "secure the border" card, when pushed about what to do with the complicated situation of people already living in the US illegally, she said,

"Then we won't complicate it anymore, let's keep it simple, and let's say no. If you are here illegally, and, um, if you don't follow the steps that through immigration reform we're going to be able provide and that is, is to somehow allow you to work if you're not going to do that then you will be deported, you will be gone."

As the president illustrated in his speech two weeks ago and as we've discussed in the past, comprehensive immigration reform is not about blanket amnesty. Rather, it is about restoring the rule of law so people can follow steps to citizenship, which Palin herself seems to support. When not allowed the crutch of "securing the border" rhetoric, some opponents of immigration reform just may begin to realize that comprehensive immigration reform isn't so bad after all.

Dispelling the myth of a "black-brown" divide

Catholics, mainline Protestants, Latino and white evangelicals, and Jews have all received extensive media coverage of their work to pass urging passage of comprehensive immigration reform this year. Now another group is gaining attention - African-American Protestants.

A great New York Times story about interfaith support for immigration reform in Houston prominently mentioned black churches, and Time, Associated Baptist Press, and Christian Post have all covered the unprecedented leadership from African-American faith leaders standing alongside racially, politically and theologically diverse leaders to make an urgent call for reform that protects our values and our interests as a nation. Good to see that Christian leaders are taking such a proactive stance to dispel long-assumed myths of a "black-brown" divide on this issue.

Watch your language

Many journalists do a great job covering immigration, but too often I see headlines and stories that make a mistake outlined by the AP Stylebook:

This might seem like a quibble, but it's not. Even if it's not used with deliberate malice, a code word like "illegals" dehumanizes the immigrants to whom it's applied, reducing people created in God's image to nothing more than anthropomorphic crimes. Applying this term consistently, I should be called an "illegal" for having an unpaid parking ticket.

And this isn't the only rhetorical device that degrades the immigration debate. In another example, opponents of comprehensive immigration reform often describe a pathway to earned citizenship as "amnesty," clearly connoting that people who violate immigration law will be granted forgiveness without punishment for their violations, when in fact comprehensive reform would require those who break immigration laws to pay fines (a punishment in both legal and colloquial terms) and fulfill requirements such as studying English and remaining employed in order to become eligible for citizenship. In the context of comprehensive immigration reform, "amnesty" is a profoundly misleading term.

Words matter. When choosing which terms to deploy, especially in contentious debates about issues of great consequence, we'd all do well to consult not only our dictionaries and stylebooks, but also the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule.

A False Sense of Security

In the ongoing debate about immigration, some erstwhile supporters of reform say we must first "secure the border" before we can think about comprehensive reform. In his speech Thursday morning President Obama seemed to bend toward that perspective when he said that there are more "boots on the ground" at the border than at any other time in US history, a reference to his administration's announcement last week that they will be deploying 1200 new troops to the Southwest border as well as seeking funds for two Predator drones to patrol the border.

But the prioritization of border security relies on the belief that crime is an out-of-control problem on the U.S. side of border. This false sentiment is consistently espoused by conservative politicians like Arizona Governor Jan Brewer who recently asserted that

"the majority of the illegal trespassers that are coming into the state of Arizona are under the direction and control of organized drug cartels and they are bringing drugs in."

In fact, according to Politifact, "statistics have consistently shown that immigrants, including illegal immigrants, actually have lower rates of criminal activity and incarceration than do the native-born children of immigrants." Moreover, US border cities have among the lowest rates of violent crime in the country.

The debate pitting border security against comprehensive reform is not only built on a shaky foundation of evidence, but is also a false dichotomy. We cannot secure the border without comprehensive reform, without a way for individuals to legally and fairly enter the system. As C. Stewart Verdery, Jr., former Assistant Secretary of Policy and Planning at the Department of Homeland Security, wrote in a recent report:

"Waiting for an airtight border to solve our immigration problems would be an unrealistic, impractical, and unsuccessful strategy."

We need our politicians, from members of Congress here in Washington and state political leaders like Gov. Brewer, to drop the "secure the border" rhetoric and instead focus on what we know will work: comprehensive immigration reform. Faith leaders have been leading the charge for reform that protects our values and our interests as a country, and this week, they ramped up the pressure and urged Congress to build on the momentum from the President's speech.

Wednesday, Hispanic and African American pastors launched a coalition debunking the myth of the "black-brown divide" and pledging support for immigration across racial and ethnic lines. Thursday, an interfaith delegation delivered a letter to White House officials with almost 600 signatures from faith leaders in support of comprehensive immigration reform and announced a coordinated month of action for reform. The grassroots mobilization, Justice July, will include pulpit swaps between citizen and immigrant clergy, vigils, and acts of civil disobedience.

The faith community isn't backing down on the overwhelming need for reform. They know that the pragmatic and moral solution is a comprehensive one, and not one that relies on faulty logic and calls for militarization along our Southern border.

A "necessary evil"... and why it doesn't have to be that way

The misguided and draconian Arizona immigration law has at least one positive effect: keeping national attention focused on the urgent need for comprehensive reform. It's also a prime example of the moral consequences of federal inaction on the issue.

Unfortunately, many commentators have neglected to connect the dots between tremendous frustration with the federal government's refusal to put forward a viable solution to our broken immigration system and high levels of support for the Arizona law.

A Washington Post poll that came out last week exemplifies this dynamic:

At the same time that a majority of Americans back the Arizona law, most say they support a program allowing illegal immigrants already in the United States the right to live here legally if they pay a fine and meet certain requirements. In the new poll, 57 percent support the option, close to the level in spring 2009 at the 100-day mark of Obama's presidency.

Furthermore, a recent CNN/Opinion Research poll found that while 57 percent of Americans support the Arizona law, 80 percent favor "[c]reating a program that would allow illegal immigrants already living in the United States for a number of years to stay here and apply to legally remain in this country permanently if they had a job and paid back taxes."

When polling shows stronger support for a comprehensive federal solution than for a divisive state solution, you have an important narrative, which is getting missed by most of the mainstream media. The takeaway from this polling should not be that most Americans think laws like Arizona's are the best way to reform our broken immigration system. Rather, Americans desperately want Congress to do its job and fix a dysfunctional system that drives down wages for all workers, separates families, compromises our interests and our values as a nation, and leaves millions vulnerable to exploitation.

As our friend Robby Jones, president of Public Religion Research, has pointed out:

While a recent New York Times poll on the Arizona law showed that a slim majority (51 percent) said the law was "about right," strong majorities also expressed reservations about its consequences: 80 percent said it would lead to immigrant communities not cooperating with the police, and 82 percent said it would probably lead to racial profiling. Reflecting this ambivalence, one person interviewed called it a "necessary evil."

Too many media outlets are covering this issue in a one-dimensional way... reporting support for the Arizona law without including the important other side of the coin: most of the law's supporters support it because it's the only option they see on the table (a.k.a. a "necessary evil.") Until the President and Congress step up and put some serious muscle into an effort to comprehensively reform the broken system at the federal level, we'll continue to see overinflated levels of support for extreme state legislation.

Checking the Numbers

Numbers USA, an organization whose goal is "lower immigration levels," is encouraging their members to take action to stop passage of comprehensive immigration reform, including putting pressure on clergy who speak out in favor of reform. The action alert they sent Friday included the following:

On Tuesday, leaders from a majority of the country's largest churches held a meeting in Washington announcing their support for a mass illegal alien amnesty. It's a sad fact that most of America's religious leaders hold completely different political views than their members...

...go to your Action Board and send any faxes of protest you'll find there to your religious leaders.

The premise of this call to action--that there is a divide between the pews and the pulpit on support for reform--is false. Recent nationwide polling shows that a broad range of people of faith overwhelmingly support comprehensive immigration reform that includes a pathway to earned citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Public Religion Research Institute's national poll released this spring demonstrates that Catholics, white evangelicals, and white mainline protestants all support comprehensive immigration reform--- including an earned path to citizenship-- by two-to-one margins over an enforcement-only policy. In fact, the poll showed that these three groups favor immigration reform even more than religiously unaffiliated Americans. (The full report is available here.)

Furthermore, PRRI's research demonstrates that a majority of regular worship attendees approve of clergy speaking out on the issue immigration reform from the pulpit, and ¾ of regular attendees approve of clergy speaking about the issue in the media and in other public forums such as community meetings.

Also, Numbers USA's claim that the clergy who spoke out last week support "amnesty" is disingenuous and misleading. What faith leaders mean by comprehensive immigration reform is basically the opposite of "amnesty"--reform would require immigrants who are here illegally to pay fines and any back taxes they may owe, hold jobs, pass background checks, and study English in order to earn citizenship. "Amnesty" might be Numbers USA's buzzword of choice, but it's not a remotely accurate description of the policy.

Numbers USA's false claims and loaded language may motivate their base to attack pastors for standing up for their principles, but we know that clergy leaders won't back down in fighting to keep families together and fix a system that doesn't protect our interests or our values as a nation.

The cost of delay on immigration reform

A recent Time Magazine story about yet another anti-immigrant bill in Arizona caught my eye because it illustrates the deterioration of our immigration system as political leaders in Washington continue to postpone acting on comprehensive reform:

Buoyed by recent public opinion polls suggesting they're on the right track with illegal immigration, Arizona Republicans will likely introduce legislation this fall that would deny birth certificates to children born in Arizona -- and thus American citizens according to the U.S. Constitution -- to parents who are not legal U.S. citizens. The law largely is the brainchild of state senator Russell Pearce, a Republican whose suburban district, Mesa, is considered the conservative bastion of the Phoenix political scene. He is a leading architect of the Arizona law that sparked outrage throughout the country: Senate Bill 1070, which allows law-enforcement officers to ask about someone's immigration status during a traffic stop, detainment or arrest if reasonable suspicion exists -- things like poor English skills, acting nervous or avoiding eye contact during a traffic stop.

But the likely new bill is for the kids. While SB1070 essentially requires of-age migrants to have the proper citizenship paperwork, the potential "anchor baby" bill blocks the next generation from ever being able to obtain it. The idea is to make the citizenship process so difficult that illegal immigrants pull up the anchor and leave.

This new anti-family legislation is consistent with the pattern of anti-immigrant bills cropping up in state capitols across the country -- which will continue to happen until comprehensive immigration reform is passed at the federal level. As Congressional midterms approach, there's a strong temptation to sweep controversial legislation such as immigration reform under the rug until the election is over. But these calculated delays exacerbate the need to address the issue, and leave immigrant families vulnerable to draconian measures across the country.

Not Just Arizona

Since passage of Arizona's controversial anti-immigrant bill in April, Arizonans worried about racial profiling and the spread of fear and anxiety in their communities have been keeping a constant vigil at the Arizona statehouse. Their presence and prayers are a powerful testament to their opposition to the law and a call for Arizona to act on its best values, not its base instincts.

Now, as state legislatures around the country are considering legislation, people of faith are taking a stand and telling their legislators--"not in my state." The Interfaith Immigration Coalition is spearheading a "rolling vigil"--"rolling" from region to region for the next 8 weeks, as people of faith pray together, standing in solidarity with the people of Arizona and reminding Congress that the urgent need for comprehensive reform isn't letting up. In fact, Arizona's draconian law and the possibility of similar legislation cropping up in other states only speaks to the increasing cost of federal inaction.

Given how important the faith voice has been to keeping immigration reform on the political agenda, it's great to see how this "rolling vigil"--the Isaiah 58 Summer-- is getting some positive television coverage in Philadelphia this week:

Hopefully this creative campaign-- and the faith community's constant reminder of why we need to stem the tide of extremist state legislation and pass federal immigration reform-- will make a critical difference.

Worst lead ever

From today's Denver Post:

First lady Michelle Obama came face-to-face with the sometimes-uncomfortable repercussions of the nation's immigration-enforcement policies Wednesday when a second-grader voiced her worries that her mother might be deported. [emphasis added]

Seriously. Having your foot fall asleep is uncomfortable; having your mom taken away is traumatic.

Another anti-immigrant bill on deck in AZ

In addition to instituting racial profiling in Arizona's streets and banning "ethnic studies" courses from public schools, the state legislature is now considering a bill that would further turn public schools into bastions of discrimination. Over at The Daily Beast, Dana Goldstein reports that

A third bill would require [schools] to record and report to the state the number of illegal immigrant children in their student population, along with an estimation of the costs associated with educating those children.

If passed, SB 1097 would compel teachers and administrators to determine the legal status of students and their families, almost certainly discouraging enrollment and parental participation at school. The bill's sponsor is state Senator Russell Pearce, a longtime leader of Arizona's anti-immigration right wing and the legislator who crafted the recent immigration enforcement law.

Here's a not-at-all exhaustive list of reasons why this legislation is ill-conceived:

• It gets a big fat F on the Golden Rule test. It would deter undocumented and mixed-status families from sending their kids to school. Not only does this deny children the opportunities that we all want for our own families, but it pushes our most vulnerable neighbors deeper into the shadows, where they face exploitation and abuse.

• Teachers wear enough hats as it is. Requiring them to become de facto ICE Agents is foolish and unfair.

• Effective teaching requires trust. And the foundation of this trust would be seriously compromised if teachers are forced to grill kids about their immigration status on the first day of school.

• Young children may not even know their immigration status, casting doubt on whether this bill is even intended to measure costs of educating undocumented immigrants, as opposed to creating an anti-immigrant environment in schools.

From my brief tenure as a summer school teacher in Houston, I know that serving the needs of communities with large immigrant populations really is hard. But if we care about our neighbors, we should find ways to meet these challenges with just and practical solutions. Trying to run undocumented immigrants out of our schools shouldn't be on the table.

"We're all Arizonans now."

Today more than 350 pastors and faith leaders from local communities in 36 states released an open letter calling on Governor Jan Brewer and the Arizona legislature to reverse course from the discriminatory anti-immigrant bill they passed last month, which promotes racial profiling against Latinos. It states in part:

We cannot afford to wait for other states to enact such reckless legislation. The religious community must be heard and our message must be clear and united: this law is morally unacceptable and it is time that Congress moves forward with comprehensive immigration reform.

Meanwhile, national media star and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was on the campaign trail this weekend proclaiming "we're all Arizonans now" and calling for other states to follow Arizona's lead by passing similar laws that promote racial profiling. However, diverse faith leaders from real communities across Arizona and the nation have consistently spoken out against the law, and last week an emergency delegation of prominent Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical and Jewish clergy from Arizona met with Sen. McCain to call on him to oppose the Arizona law and resume his leadership in favor of comprehensive immigration reform.

Are they real Arizonans, in Palin's estimation? Or does the multimedia star and former half-term governor of Alaska reserve authentic Arizonan-hood for supporters of discriminatory immigration laws?

VIDEO: Faith leaders discuss meeting with Sen. McCain on immigration

A "media availability," which is kind of like an impromptu press conference, can feel like a stampede -- if it's well-planned. (Ironic, huh?) One minute, there's plenty of space as you move into position near where the spokespeople are set to appear, and in the blink of an eye, you're getting physically jostled, shoved from your spot, and enveloped by a herd of cameramen and interviewers angling to get closest to the arriving speakers.

Our intrepid new team member Nick Sementelli braved these hazards yesterday on Capitol Hill, where he got footage of a media availability FPL arranged for an emergency delegation of Arizona faith leaders outside Sen. McCain's office, following their face-to-face meeting with Sen. McCain. The delegation called on the Senator to oppose Arizona's recently passed anti-immigrant law (S.B. 1070) and support comprehensive immigration reform. (Earlier in the day, the faith leaders meet with other members of Arizona's congressional delegation, and later in the day, they met with high-level officials at the Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, and the White House.) Below is Nick's footage, complete with captions:

Among the journalists surrounding these faith leaders were reporters from the LA Times, ABC News, TIME, Religion News Service and Catholic News Service.

An emergency delegation for immigration reform

In a story FPL helped generate, Jeanne Cummings reported in Politico yesterday that an "emergency delegation" of faith leaders is coming to Capitol Hill Thursday to persuade John McCain to support immediate action on comprehensive immigration reform - a policy he championed the last time Congress took it up in 2007. Bishop Minerva Carcaño of the Desert Southwest Conference of the United Methodist Church, a member of the delegation and a leading public voice for immigration reform, told Jeanne:

I understand the politics of his race. But the bigger picture is the legacy he can leave. He understands the border, the needs for comprehensive immigration reform, and he understands how to make it happen.

In addition to meeting with Sen. McCain, the delegation will meet with the White House and several Representatives from Arizona to explain how Arizona's new anti-immigrant law makes federal action on comprehensive immigration reform more urgent than ever. As prominent leaders with large constituencies and direct experience with their Arizona immigration crisis, these leaders - including protestant and Catholic bishops, a rabbi, a megachurch pastor and a statewide ecumenical leader -- are compelling messengers with unique political sway. The full roster of the delegation is after the jump.

All press is good press, right?

Normally we're pretty happy when the faith community's work on important issues like immigration reform get noticed in the press (like this great piece from TIME).

However, on occasion the faith communities advocacy attracts attention from some, er, odd quarters.

Take this piece from the hilariously named "Accuracy in Media."

They're none too pleased with faith groups, particularly the Catholic church, advocating for comprehensive immigration reform:

Russell is honest about the motivation behind these efforts, noting that the Catholic Bishops and their agencies, some of which get government money to provide services to illegal aliens, "benefit from immigration by increasing the number of Catholics in the United States."

Yeah, because there is so much money in providing immigrant services, especially for those without papers. Why didn't we think of this earlier?

Quote of the day

As people of faith in Arizona and across this country, we cannot allow the further destruction of the hope and conviction of... young persons and their families. They are our brothers and sisters; and they hold that hope and conviction that justice does have the last word. Our congregations in Arizona are working hard to stand with immigrant families, assuring them of their rights, welcoming them with hospitality, standing against this horrendous new law in Arizona, and continuing to demand comprehensive immigration reform in this country.

-- Bishop Minerva Carcaño, of the Desert Southwest Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Thousands of people across the country will stand in solidarity with the people of Arizona and call for immigration reform this weekend, including thousands of United Methodist Women who Bishop Carcaño will lead in a massive rally and prayer vigil in St. Louis on Saturday.

What's in our souls

Earlier today the LA Times PolitiCal blog posted video of Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) calling for the deportation of American-born children (ie, US citizens) along with their parents if they are undocumented immigrants. The Congressman even went so far as to say "It takes more than just walking across the border to become an American citizen; It's what's in our souls." [emphasis added]

As the grandson of a Polish immigrant, the son of a mother who taught immigrant children in public schools and their parents in night classes, and a resident of a community with many immigrants, I feel comfortable saying that people cross the border because of what's in their souls. Many risk exploitation, arrest, and even death to come to this country for the chance to make a better life for themselves and their families. These immigrants should be respected, not scapegoated. The Constitution grants their American-born children citizenship. That shouldn't (and thankfully can't) be revoked because of how their parents got here. (h/t Steve Benen)

Looking ahead...

The anti-immigrant bill signed by Arizona governor Jan Brewer is spurring faith leaders and grassroots advocates to action nationwide. In communities across the country this weekend - from New York to Kansas to California - thousands of people of faith will attend marches and vigils calling for immediate action in Arizona and Washington. Among these events is a march in Dallas that's expected to draw up to 100,000 supporters of immigration reform promoting the theme "We Are All Arizona."

That's not just a slogan. Similar legislation is being drafted in Utah, and opportunistic politicians elsewhere could follow suit. But the nationwide faith-based movement for practical, moral immigration reform is as energized as ever, and Congress will have no choice but to address their concerns.

"If you are Hispanic in Arizona, you just became a suspect and open to police harassment."

Moments ago Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed Senate bill 1070, the most virulently anti-immigration law in the country. It tasks the state's local law enforcement with checking the citizenship status of anyone suspected of being an illegal immigrant (while doing nothing to ensure that Hispanic descent is not grounds for suspicion), criminalizes assisting undocumented immigrants in such basic ways as giving them rides, and authorizes private citizens to file lawsuits against law enforcement agencies for not enforcing the bill with sufficient vigor. This law will lead to racial profiling, outlaw many forms of ministry to undocumented immigrants, and create a climate of division, suspicion and fear in communities across the state.

Diverse faith leaders in Arizona and across the country have condemned the law in no uncertain terms. Their statements are after the jump.

"A moral imperative" to pass immigration reform

All year clergy and faith groups nationwide have been stepping up their advocacy for just, humane immigration reform in a variety of ways: organizing more than 100 events nationwide such as prayer vigils and public demonstrations, meeting with White House officials and key Members of Congress, and taking part in the March For America on March 21, which brought 200,000 people to the Nation Mall in DC.

Now it looks like their efforts have spurred Congress to action. Roll Call reported this afternoon that "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) agreed during a Tuesday afternoon meeting that a 'moral imperative' exists to move immigration reform in 2010 [ emphasis added]." There will be no shortage of commentary on the political motivation for taking up the issue right now, but it's noteworthy that the moral argument - which the faith community has made with consistency and passion across the country - resonated on Capitol Hill. There's plenty of work left to be done to reform our broken immigration system (for example, defeating the brutal and discriminatory immigration enforcement bill passed by Arizona's state legislature this week), but it's worth pausing for a moment to recognize that the faith community has already made a difference.

A sin, plain and simple

A story in yesterday's New York Times exposed a chilling cruelty our immigration system inflicts upon undocumented immigrants:

For lawyers offering free legal information at large immigration detention centers in remote parts of Texas, the task is difficult enough: coaching hundreds of detainees on how to represent themselves at assembly-line deportation hearings. But the lawyers soon discover a more daunting problem: many detainees are too mentally ill or mentally disabled to understand anything.

The detainees, mostly apprehended in New York and other Northeastern cities, some right from mental hospitals, have often been moved to Texas without medication or medical records, far from relatives and mental health workers who know their histories. Their mental incompetence is routinely ignored by immigration judges and deportation officers, who are under pressure to handle rising caseloads and meet government quotas.

For people who have never dealt with mental illness, it's probably hard to fathom just how wrong this is. Denying severely mentally ill people their medication breaks their tenuous grasp on stability and sanity and plunges them into worlds of unrelenting horror. Shipping these patients to jails halfway across the continent from their doctors and families takes them away from their only links to safety. Kicking them out of the country to fend for themselves puts their lives at serious risk. This is punishment at its cruelest and most unusual.

When I think of the least, the last and the lost, the first people who come to mind are the severely mentally ill. Taking away their lifelines and kicking them out of the country is a sin, plain and simple. Comprehensive immigration might take a while, but we can stop these deportations now.

Inspiration and heartbreak -- A view from the ground at the March For America

The March For America was an inspiring experience. Although FPL and many partners had been preparing for the event for months, the sheer magnitude of it didn't hit home until I actually stood among the hundreds of thousands of people watching powerful speakers call on Congress and the White House to keep their promises on immigration reform.

But the essence of what we were rallying for didn't become clear until midway through the afternoon, when a volunteer carried a wailing five-year-old boy into the press area. Amid this massive crowd, he had lost his parents. He was terrified, inconsolable, sobbing uncontrollably. The young volunteer swayed gently as she held him. We all watched closely, thinking about how we could help. I gave him an apple cinnamon cereal bar. Another volunteer went to the main stage and asked a speaker to make an announcement. Armed SWAT officers spoke into their radios, no doubt alerting others to look for the boy's family.

Then It hit me all of a sudden- the terror, the separation - this is what our immigration system inflicts on immigrant families every day. Except in communities across the country, when little children are separated from their parents, no announcements are made. No army of volunteers fans out to find them. The men with guns come to pull the family apart, instead of bringing them back together.

I wish every intransigent politician could see that five-year-old boy's face. If they understood the suffering that inaction on immigration enables, they would take it up immediately. Practical solutions are on the table, and the moral imperative is clear.

Making a Difference for Immigration Reform

This weekend, tens of thousands of Americans will converge on Washington, DC, for a historic March For America: Change Takes Courage and Faith, a unified demonstration in support of immigration reform from faith groups across the ideological spectrum as well civil rights, immigrant, family and labor groups. Many will gather before the March for an interfaith service, and on Monday faith leaders will meet with high-level White House officials and Members of Congress to advocate for reform of our broken, unjust immigration system that separates families and robs human beings of the dignity each child of God deserves.

And while the demonstrate that the faith community is mobilized like never before on this issue at the national level, there's also a lot going on at the local level. In addition to the scores of prayer vigils and public events across the country over the past few months, religious leaders have met directly with key Members of Congress. A must-read column in Monday's Houston Chronicle recounts a recent meeting between prominent clergy and Senator Cornyn:

When U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and his aides walked into Cardinal Daniel DiNardo's conference room at the Catholic Chancery one afternoon three weeks ago to talk about immigration reform, they were greeted by the archbishop, Lutheran Bishop Michael Rinehart and a dozen rabbis and clergy members from a variety of denominations.

They were also greeted by about 6,000 postcards piled in stacks on the large conference table around which the group would sit.

The men of the cloth wanted to talk to him about what they see as the biblical and moral imperative of immigration reform. But they also wanted to send a practical political message.

At a time when anger is the currency of the political realm, much of it aimed at illegal immigrants, the religious leaders were saying to Cornyn that they will have his back if he risks becoming a target of that anger by helping craft and pass comprehensive immigration reform.

In addition to demonstrating the faith community's commitment to immigration reform, these leaders showed the role they can play in establishing a civil dialogue. The last time immigration reform came up, the vitriol was nauseating. Republican and Democratic leaders alike surely know that supporting immigration reform in 2010 will open them up to vicious attacks from anti-immigrant groups. If faith leaders speak out publicly to condemn hateful rhetoric, not only will our public dialogue better reflect our values, it'll create a safer political environment for elected officials who want to support reform but are wary of the backlash.

Immoral immigration rhetoric

As the faith community's nationwide push for comprehensive immigration reform gains steam, religious leaders are working to set a civil tone in the debate. Illustrating the need for this, Campus Progress reported that the anti-immigrant group Numbers USA held a strategy conference call with leaders of Tea Party organizations to plot ways to thwart the March 21st March For America, which included some rather troubling rhetoric:

CALLER 1: I would like to speak out on something. I feel the new welfare queen in America today is women coming from Mexico with a bunch of babies. So I feel they're all coming over here and having all these babies, they are the new welfare queen in America.... New people in America today with a lot of babies, 'cause they coming from Mexico having a bunch of babies. And our tax dollars is taking care of them babies, 'cause the mothers are illegal. So to me, we need to speak out about letting them know they're the new welfare queens in America.

CALLER 2: That was well said brother!

MACDONALD [moderator, from Numbers USA]: We will make a note of that. Thank you very much. I appreciate that.

CALLER 3: One piece of information would be, they aren't babies, they're dependents. Don't use babies. It's emotional to them. They have dependents. We have babies. [Emphasis added.]

This wasn't just a couple of cranks blowing off steam. This was a strategy session by national anti-immigration organizers discussing how to effectively deceive the public and dehumanize immigrants. Spreading inflammatory misinformation and calling an immigrant's children less fully human than a citizen's is beyond distasteful - it is immoral. Hopefully immigration reform opponents don't bring it into the public square.

Faith leaders continue to push for immigration reform

As recent media coverage has shown, the faith community is mobilizing nationwide to urge leaders in Washington to act now to repair our broken immigration system. Just yesterday, almost 100 faith leaders marched ten miles from Ellis Island to a immigrant detention center in Elizabeth, New Jersey to call attention to the plight of detainees and call for reform. And in Orlando, prominent clergy gathered to call for a more humane system that keeps families together, gaining tv news coverage that carried their message loud and clear. Have a look:

Over the coming days and weeks, more and more faith leaders across the country will continue lifting up the issue of immigration reform as an urgent moral and political priority. Hopefully our political leaders will hear them, and act to repair a system that tears families apart and keeps millions of people in the shadows.

Faith Action on Immigration Getting Noticed

Together, not Torn: Families Can't Wait for Immigration Reform" got off to a strong start yesterday with a powerful telephone press conference with national leaders and Members of Congress. But the grassroots events that are part of this movement are also pretty inspiring.

Check out this footage from a local event in Grand Junction, CO yesterday. Faith leaders stood alongside business, political, and immigrant leaders to push for immigration reform that keeps our families together and protects the dignity of all workers.

With hundreds of similar events scheduled across the country, soon there's be no denying that just, humane immigration reform is a top priority for people of faith.

Families Can't Wait for Immigration Reform

Today, the faith community officially launched a massive new mobilization around immigration reform. The nationwide effort, "Together, not Torn: Families Can't Wait for Immigration Reform," includes delivering hundreds of thousands of pro-reform postcards from people of faith to Members of Congress and one hundred local events across the country, from Maine to Texas to Washington state.

Evangelical, mainline Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish leaders, along with Members of Congress, kicked off the new initiative this morning on a telephone press conference with journalists.

Check out the full press release here and an audio recording of the call here.

The testimony was moving, from National Association of Evangelicals' Galen Carey's heartwrenching story about the mother in Arizona whose immigration status bars her from seeking justice for her son's death by a drunk driver, to Rev. Jen Kottler's powerful invocation of Scripture, to Rabbi Abie Ingber's impassioned remarks:

"Let us commit today, that this tragedy of injustice in immigration will end; that families will no longer be separated; that fathers and mothers will not cower in darkness fearful of a raid; that men and women of every color in the world will have the opportunity to earn a wage openly, to pay their taxes, to study the English language, to go to school and to pursue citizenship in this great land."

Especially coming on the heels of the report from America's Voice about the importance of immigration reform to politically critical Latino voters, we're hoping that leaders on Capitol Hill are paying close attention to the growing call for reform this year. America's families simply cannot wait.

Immigration reform-- when, and why, it's going to happen

Immigration advocacy group America's Voice has a new report out called "The Power of the Latino Vote," which got some ink today in the media.

Here's a great nugget from the report:

The growth of the Latino electorate is going to be an important factor in an increasing number of congressional races across the country, this year and beyond. Moreover, how both parties handle the issue of comprehensive immigration reform will have a serious impact on Latino political behavior.

I hope our political leaders see how interconnected immigration reform and the economy are-- by bringing 12 million immigrants out of the shadows, we can stabilize wages and increase tax revenue. Plus, it's good for Congressional leaders to be reminded of a key voting bloc's priorities.

Last week, Faith in Public Life, in partnership with the Interfaith Immigration Coalition, co-sponsored a media training for faith leaders focused specifically on immigration reform. Through sitting in on that training and hearing firsthand from pastors in Brooklyn; Phoenix; Danville, VA; Minneapolis, and a host of other places, I realized how powerful the movement for immigration reform really is.

Fixing our broken immigration system makes sense, politically, economically, and morally. And as the pastors, rabbis, bishops, and organizational heads from across the country who were in DC last week reminded me, it's people in these congregations whose lives will be shaped by the decisions our elected officials make. Whether or not they're able to get paid a fair wage, be reunited with their families, integrate into their community... it's all up to our political leaders. And we have a responsibility to keep reminding them to do the right thing, and to do it soon-- families are hurting.

Interfaith immigration advocacy in Houston

In addition to the recent nationwide public events and worship services for immigration I mentioned last week, 300 (!) clergy recently gathered in Houston to release a Houston Interfaith Statement on Humane Immigration Reform and launch a campaign for reform this year. Among their key policy priorities were family unity, detention reform, protection for workers, and creating a legalization process for the undocumented. Several members of the coalition, including prominent Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran and Episcopal clergy, also penned an op-ed in Saturday's Houston Chronicle that articulated their position, addressed common objections to reform, and grounded their beliefs in scripture. The size and diversity of the group befits such a large and diverse city as Houston, and shows the remarkable unifying power of immigration reform in the faith community.

Immigration reform advocates take action nationwide

One of the most tragic results of Haiti's devastating earthquake was the separation of thousands of children from their families. Their plight, which has spurred many faith-based groups to action, reminded me of the children right here in the U.S. who also face the trauma of being separated from their parents by a broken immigration system, as well as the faith groups who work to meet their needs and change the system that harms them. Although immigration reform hasn't gotten much attention lately, faith leaders and advocates are keeping up a nationwide effort to push Congress to pass needed fixes to our broken immigration system this year. Sojourners' Allison Johnson posted at God's Politics about this week's "Day of Witness and Action on Immigration Reform" in Phoenix, which drew 130 Christian leaders from across the country not only to network with each other, but also to connect with local immigrant families affected by our broken system, and hear firsthand about their experiences and needs.

And the exciting event in Phoenix was just one of half a dozen events across the country this week at which faith leaders lifted a public witness for justice for immigrants -- press conferences and prayer vigils were held in congregations and public venues in Denver; Santa Ana, Calif.; Chicago; Memphis; and Miami.

Immigration reform may not be at the top of the political agenda right now, but conventional wisdom in Washington doesn't change the fact that our immigration system separates families, detains people indefinitely in inhumane conditions, exploits workers and keeps millions of people in the shadows across the country. It'll take a broad-based, powerful nationwide effort for immigration reform to send a signal to Congress to act. Be looking for people of faith at the forefront of that movement.

Migration Week -- making immigration reform a moral priority

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops is currently observing "National Migration Week" to lift up immigration reform as a moral issue and a political priority. On a press conference call yesterday that has generated numerous media hits across the country, several bishops and Catholic immigration reform advocates called for action in Washington to pass legislation this year. From the Miami Herald's report on the call:

Stepping up the pressure on President Obama, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on Wednesday urged the administration to make legalization of millions of undocumented immigrants a priority to enhance national security and improve the nation's battered economy...

...Though the Catholic Church has been in favor of immigration reform for years, the announcement of the campaign Wednesday marked the first major new effort by U.S. church leaders to demonstrate commitment to the issue which the White House has indicated may be the next major legislative priority after healthcare reform.

The campaign consists of a multitude of efforts, such as the launch of a new web site and action alerts, as well as a postcard campaign that will generate hundreds of thousands of messages to Congress. Catholic News Service also noted that

Elsewhere around the country, Catholic, interfaith and nonreligious groups small and large held immigration-related events. They ranged from press conferences, simple prayer services and educational events to a walk from Miami to Washington by four students hoping to bring attention to the situations they and others face.

Recent and ongoing issue campaigns in the faith community (such as the mobilization for healthcare reform) have included a variety of coordinated actions aimed at influencing key legislators across the country, effective media outreach that produces broadcast and print coverage, and strategic timing. The effort to enact comprehensive immigration reform is taking on these characteristics as well.

Skewing the data

Fox & Friends, the morning Fox show, hosted a discussion on Sunday on a recent immigration poll. Joining the host were Kevin Appleby, director of the Office of Migration and Refugee Policy at the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, Roy Beck, executive director of anti-immigration group Numbers USA, and Fr. Jonathan Morris, a regular religion contributor on Fox.

It's good to see Fox paying attention to the role of people of faith in the immigration debate. Unfortunately, the poll in question (sponsored by anti-immigration group Center for Immigration Studies and conducted by Zogby) is fraught with flaws, as Kevin eludes to in the segment.

Public Religion Research president Robby Jones has a helpful rundown of the problems with the poll, including the fact that the poll "is not based on a scientific random sample of Americans but rather on an opt-in online panel survey." The wording of the survey questions is also quite slanted, and problematic, in several places.

Here's Kevin's take:

Immigration reform is a nuanced issue, and Americans certainly hold a variety of views on pathways to citizenship, border protection, family unity, and the host of other sub-issues tied up in immigration reform. But wouldn't be all be benefited by Fox-- and other media outlets-- paying a little more attention to polling methodology to be sure our public dialogue is informed by accurate and valid data?

Home for the Holidays lifts up Iowa immigration stories

Following up on last week's rollout of the "Home for the Holidays" nationwide campaign to support comprehensive immigration reform, a series of events across the country are lifting up the faith community's commitment to pass just, humane policies that keeps families together rather than keeping them apart.

As Allison at Sojourners pointed out at God's Politics today, the initial event in Decorah, Iowa, last weekend received solid news coverage, including a segment on the Iowa City NBC affiliate KWWL and an article in the local newspaper, which reported that

A group of about 100 people gathered in support of immigration reform Sunday afternoon at the high school in Decorah. Although there were not specific immigration reforms suggested as part of the event, the consensus was clear that current immigration policies and practices are seriously broken and in need of reform...

Local stories of immigration were shared, from that of a sixth generation Norwegian American (Marilyn Anderson) to that of Rosa Zamora, who tearfully told of her experience of separation from her children and husband during the Postville raid. Cheuang Kavan, a resident of Decorah since 1985 shared emotional stories of his family being North Vietnam and Laotian refugees...

Events like these can help turn the tide on difficult issues by showing the local consequences of national policies and demonstrating the grassroots will to change them. Through the holiday season and into next year, expect more stories like these.

Home for the holidays

Imagine for a moment that it's Christmas Eve or the first night of Hanukkah. Your family is gathered for an evening of celebration and prayer, but where there ought to be joy there's profound sorrow because Mom isn't there. She's been deported, and an impenetrably byzantine system has barred her from returning, even if she is legally cleared to do so. Not such a happy holiday.

With such situations -- along with the general injustice of our broken immigration system -- in mind, faith groups across the country today launched "Home for the Holidays," a major escalation of their effort to press Congress to pass reform that keeps families together.

The mobilization is innovative and widespread. Tens of thousands of people of faith across the country will send holiday postcards to Congress urging passage of immigration reform that unites families rather than keeping them separated, and faith-based networks are mounting statewide call-in days to Congress in seven states (OH, PA, MN, AR, MO, SC and NC), and large scale events such as prayer services and town halls in AR, IA, OH, and TX.

The campaign is especially timely not only because of the holiday season's poignant reminder of the importance of family togetherness, but also because the White House announced on Friday that it intends to push for comprehensive immigration reform legislation early next year. Here's hoping Congress takes that cue, and that it hears the faith community's message loud and clear.

Immigration back on the front burner

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced today that the Obama administration will push for passage of comprehensive immigration reform legislation early next year, rather than waiting until after the midterm elections. This comes as welcome news for the countless families that are separated by the current system, as well as faith leaders at the forefront of the movement for humane and just immigration policy.

In election years and off years alike, diverse religious organizations work continually for comprehensive immigration reform that protects workers, families and detainees who are exploited, imprisoned and deported by our unjust and inhumane system. A new campaign in this ongoing effort, which will roll out next week, aims to ensure that Congress and the White House keep the issue on the front burner over the holiday season. More on Monday!

Quick hits

A few thoughts coming off the midweek holiday:

• To my grandfather who served at the Battle of the Bulge and my father who served in the Air Force, happy belated Veterans' Day. That goes for all current and former military personnel.

• To religious right fearmongers who claim Muslims should be discriminated against or prohibited from serving in the military in the wake of the Ft. Hood massacre, I'd like to direct your attention to some especially poignant remarks by Colin Powell on Meet the Press last year.

• Kudos to CNN for showing Lou Dobbs the door. It reflects well on the network and is a step forward for civil debate on immigration, which will be especially important in the coming months as congregations across the country mobilize to pass comprehensive reform.

• The LDS Church has endorsed a Salt Lake City ordinance that protects LGBT people from workplace and housing discrimination. What a surprising and uplifting development.

• Faith leaders worldwide have responded to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon's solicitation of their leadership in the fight against climate change.

Faith, "balance," and the moral argument for immigration reform

Today's Arizona Republic had a somewhat skewed but nonetheless fascinating story about the faith community's role in the immigration reform debate.

The story, which to its credit acknowledges that "immigration supporters have done a better job of attracting Christian and Jewish clergy," "balances" a 2,500-person pro-reform rally and Congressional testimony by five religious leaders against a press conference by an anti-immigration think tank, featuring two religious speakers. It doesn't mention the National Association of Evangelicals' recent endorsement of comprehensive immigration reform or the decades-long advocacy of numerous denominations, but it devotes a five-paragraph section to the views of two advocates who may or may not have a religious constituency. In short, it barely scratches the surface of the faith community's broad support for immigration reform, and makes a mountain out of a molehill on the other side.

This imbalance aside, though, it also described the religion dynamic in the immigration reform debate rather well:

The fact that anti-immigration advocates are jumping into the religious debate is evidence that they view their opponents' biblical arguments as especially powerful, said Philip Williams, director of the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Florida.

"To me, it's an indication that they see the power of the moral argument as more persuasive than the legal argument," said Williams, who has done research on the convergence of religion and politics in the Latino community.

Until now, immigration opponents have emphasized that undocumented immigrants are breaking the law and that rules need to be enforced to secure the borders.

"But those who are advocates of immigration reform have focused on the immigrants as human beings, and asked whether we should treat them as criminals or as brothers and sisters who deserve our compassion and understanding," Williams said.

That's a tough argument to counter.

New Report: Immigration activism cresting across the country

If you read this blog, chances are you're well aware that religious organizations and congregations have worked for years to meet the needs of immigrants and reform our broken immigration system. Now, as Congress and the administration focus on tackling healthcare, global warming and other pressing issues, diverse people of faith are stepping up to ensure that immigration reform is not forgotten. A new report released today by the Center For American Progress -- Loving Thy Neighbor: Immigration Reform and Communities of Faith -- details the faith community's widespread efforts to enact just, humane reform.

An excerpt from the executive summary:

This report is a collection of present-day immigrant stories. Unlike the more familiar narrative of oppression in a foreign land, these are stories of faith in the flesh, of people filled with the conviction of their religious beliefs and pushed to act in defense of needy neighbors in their community.

The report also intends to be an antidote to the mistaken belief that ordinary people of faith are not involved in political advocacy or shy from pressing their influence in national debates and policies affecting immigrants. As these stories demonstrate, many efforts sprang up at the grassroots, independent of each other and often without awareness that anyone or any other group was concerned about this issue. People of faith pitched in to help fellow humans whose lives seemed very different from their own, and they were spurred on by a sense of moral outrage at the detentions of undocumented immigrants in their communities.

The stories in this report, and others like it, should play a more prominent role in the public conversation, which too often ignores the brutality and injustice of our immigration system. Because of its role working directly with immigrants and their families, the faith community is in a unique position to speak tell the stories of separated families, unjustly and inhumanely detained immigrants, and victims of workplace exploitation and hate crimes.

The entire report, which includes a map of congregations and religious groups across the country working for just, humane immigration reform is available here.

Keeping immigration on the agenda

There's been a lot of hubbub over health care reform lately--from the great stuff, like the 300,000 people who listened to our call-in and webcast with faith leaders and President Obama, to the not-so-great stuff, like the man who showed up at a townhall meeting with a gun after hearing a sermon about why the President deserved to die.

While health care is a critically important issue, so too is immigration reform. Despite a recent White House meeting on immigration and some hopeful remarks in August by Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, for the most part, immigration reform isn't attracting much attention right now. Also, the White House has indicated that while immigration reform is a priority, it's not likely be taken up until 2010.

It may not be in the limelight, but religious advocates aren't letting it slip off the radar. The faith community is pushing Members of Congress and the Obama administration to pass just and humane immigration reform this year. Fixing the broken system just can't wait--children are torn from their parents because of an endless mess of red tape and wage theft is on the rise. We aren't honoring the dignity and humanity of immigrant men, women, and children.

There is important national-level work going on, like a recent letter signed by hundreds of groups (including faith-based ones) calling on the Obama administration to terminate the 287(g) program, which allows for enforcement of federal immigration laws by local police. (These groups are calling attention to the ways the program has led to civil rights violations and racial profiling.)

Grassroots faith leaders are stepping up to the plate in their local communities. On Sunday, August 30, people of faith gathered in Cincinnati to discuss the urgent need for health care reform, and they heard from an immigrant whose daughter didn't even recognize him by the time they were reunited, after a series of bureaucratic ordeals. On Thursday, people of faith will hold a town hall meeting in Greensboro, NC, calling for immigration reform. In Dallas on August 23, faith and community leaders gathered for an immigration reform dialogue--here's a clip of some TV news coverage of the event. And in the Chicago suburbs last week, the faith community held a touching vigil to support immigrant families and call for reform.

The principled and dedicated work of faith leaders across the country is ensuring that immigration reform doesn't get put on the back burner. Too much is at stake--too many families are being separated, too many immigrants are suffering in an inhumane detention system, and too many are losing their wages or their health care. We're called to do more for our brothers and sisters, both neighbors and strangers.

Keeping families together

The immigration reform movement incorporates many moral arguments: welcoming the stranger, promoting the common good, economic justice, humane treatment, etc. Our friends at America's Voice are promoting another important one right now -- keeping families together. Today they're launching a letter-writing campaign to urge members of Congress to enact immigration reform that, among other things, keeps parents from being separated from their children by deportation. (In the past several years, over 100,000 immigrant parents of citizen children have been removed from the US.) The video below provides a compelling explanation of the need for reform that keeps families together. The voice-over is by our friend Derrick Harkins.

To join their campaign and send a letter to your representative, click here. Children of immigrants are petitioning the government to keep their families together. Let's back them up!

New ally for immigration reform

The faith-based movement for comprehensive immigration reform is gaining momentum lately, with numerous events in Hispanic evangelical churches across the country, and outspoken leadership from Cardinal George of Chicago. The cause gained a key new ally this week in National Association of Evangelicals President Leith Anderson, who spoke in favor of comprehensive reform for the first time and called for legislative action this year.

This is a great development for the ever-widening coalition for reform, as well as for the evangelical church. For the immigration reform movement, gaining the president of the NAE as a partner calling for action this year builds momentum that decision-makers will notice, at a time when they might be inclined to put it on the back burner. For the NAE, it represents a continuing commitment to the broader agenda championed by former VP for government affairs Rich Cizik and affirmed by the leaders who joined the Whole Gospel Agenda statement calling for the NAE to continue on this course.

As immigrants face escalating challenges, it's an especially timely development.

Visiting the "least of these"

Christians with a bent for social justice often point to the 25th chapter of Matthew as being particularly inspiring. In verses 34-45, Jesus says that, among other things, we serve God by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and visiting those in prison.

When economic times are harsh (particularly for minorities) and immigration reform has been cast aside, America's immigrants certainly are treated like the "least of these." Fortunately, as the Chicago Tribune reported yesterday, a new Illinois law will allow clergy more access to imprisoned immigrants at the door of deportation, shining "more light on prison conditions faced by that population" and allowing faithful visitors to act in the spirit of Matthew 25.

The Access to Religious Ministry Act "will ensure detained immigrants inside state and county jails housing those caught in federal raids the same access to clergy as those imprisoned for other crimes," the article says. The Tribune also reports that, right now, clergy visits for jailed immigrants are "restricted to two hours or less per month" leaving clergy not only little time to minister to detainees, but also "less time to attend to complaints about mistreatment during incarceration."

What's doubly exciting about this bill is that it was initiated by area nuns who recognized this great need -- a great example of faith in action. Hopefully, other states will follow suit and continue to affirm the right of every person to receive comfort and counsel.

National Survey of Latino Protestants: Immigration and the 2008 Election

The National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, in partnership with the Jesse Miranda Center for Hispanic Leadership, Faith in Public Life, America’s Voice Education Fund, and Dr. Gastón Espinosa, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Claremont McKenna College and Claremont Graduate University sponsored a national survey of Latino Protestant registered voters to assess their views on immigration and the 2008 election. This growing voting bloc provided crucial support for George W. Bush in 2004 and was widely viewed as a key emerging constituency for the Republican Party in elections to come.

This survey finds that Latino Protestants have shifted their support to the Democratic presidential candidate by a wide margin in 2008 and immigration is a key factor in influencing their vote. However, Latino Protestants are as likely to associate negative rhetoric on immigration with both parties as they are with only Republicans – indicating that Democrats have not distinguished themselves as champions for immigration reform.

Full findings available here.

Faith community responds to "important moment" on immigration

Quite a week for immigration activists in the faith community. Religious groups across the country took action to affirm the dignity of immigrants and call for just and compassionate solutions from their government and fellow citizens.

Responding to the May raid at a kosher meat plant in Postville, Iowa, marchers put feet to their faith in the name of justice for immigrant laborers. Not content to simply symbolize change, Jewish rabbis from several Midwestern states used the march to publicize plans making the moral treatment of immigrant workers part of new standards for kosher food certification.

We Believe Colorado stood with Denver city leaders to urge voters to say no to an initiative that would require police to conduct racial profiling against Latinos. Working together, they provided a blueprint for healthy church-state cooperation.

Catholic leaders gathered in the nation's capital to appeal for sweeping changes in immigration policy. Comparing devastating raids to the havoc of a hurricane, they called the current approach what it is: unacceptable.

These leaders, like other people of faith, see the urgency of addressing this issue in an election year. From the NCR article:

“This is an important moment,” said Kevin Appleby, director of the U.S. bishops’ Office of Migration and Refugee Policy. “America could become more restrictive, belying our history as nation of immigrants.”

Journalists and lawmakers are becoming increasingly aware of the faith community's courageous efforts. In fact, as people of faith step out, opinion leaders are adding their voices to the call for a just immigration policy. Hopefully, candidates for national and local office will also take notice and follow and make humane treatment of immigrants a top priority.

"Fair and Humane" Immigration Policy

Throughout American history, immigrants facing economic hardship, exploitation and nativism alongside the opportunity for a better life than was available in their countries of origin have found solace and support in the faith community, and today is no different.

This week, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Catholic Charities USA and Catholic Relief Services cosponsored "Renewing Hope, Seeking Justice" to call for fairer, more humane immigration policy. Based on news reports, conference leaders are balancing an appropriately critical description of our current situation and calls for political solutions. Especially encouraging is Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony's call to make immigration reform a top political issue in the campaign.

When families are broken up, people are being rounded up like cattle in and detained in inhuman conditions, and immigrants are getting locked up for months on end before being deported, we're dealing with more than a law-and-order issue, we're dealing with a moral one. It's good to see the Catholic church continuing its tradition of engaging it.

We Believe Colorado: Defeating Discrimination in Denver

We Believe Colorado, a diverse interfaith coalition of religious leaders working to change the values debate, is mobilizing the Denver faith community to defeat Denver Initiated Question 100--a ballot initiative that, if passed, would require police to impound the cars of unlicensed drivers "suspected of being an illegal alien." As We Believe Colorado and other immigrants’ rights advocates point out, the measure, which will be on the Denver primary ballot on August 12, all but mandates racial profiling and acts as a divisive force in the community.

At a July 28 press conference co-coordinated by FPL, Muslim, Christian and Jewish leaders from Latino, white and black backgrounds stood as one to say that the Denver faith community opposes discrimination and racial profiling, and that they're mobilizing their congregations to defeat Initiated Question 100. It's a great example of the faith community taking action in the public square for the common good.

What's Important to Christian Latin@s?

h/t CrossLeft.

Reacting to recent visits by Sens. McCain and Obama to the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy community in the U.S., Kety Esquivel of The Sanctuary and CrossLeft, talks about the spectrum of concerns among Christian Latin@s, including health care, immigration, and education.

View The Sanctuary's Candidate Questionnaire.

Changing the tone on immigration

Alien. Illegal immigrant. Undocumented worker. Human being.

When we talk about immigration, which phrase is most often left out?

More than perhaps any other issue, immigration can devolve into back-and-forth rhetoric that denies the humanity of its subjects, casting them as faceless, nameless problems rather than people with real hopes and fears. In a debate that often references what language people speak, we allow the language of immigration to become undignified and un-dignifying.

Fortunately, affirming humanity continues to be a top priority for people of faith looking to shape immigration policy. A courageous group of Iowa faith leaders, for example, recently called for a more humane policy by discussing "basic human decency" and expressing the need to respond to "God’s call to feed the hungry, cloth the naked and visit the imprisoned," according to Christian Post's Ethan Cole.

We're hearing positive rhetoric from the presidential candidates too. God-o-meter points out a new McCain ad which refers to Latino immigrants as "God's children." The San Diego Union-Tribune relays Sen. Obama's words in a recent speech:

“They're counting on us to stop the hateful rhetoric that is filling our airwaves – rhetoric that poisons our political discourse, degrades our democracy and has no place in this great nation,” Obama said. “They're counting on us to rise above fear and demagoguery and pettiness and partisanship and finally enact comprehensive immigration reform.”

This improved tone is finally starting to eclipse the hateful rhetoric surrounding comprehensive immigration reform and presidential primary ads that blamed immigrants for everything from economic hardship to terrorism. McCain and Obama should be encouraged to continue down a path of reason and compassion in the hopes that others, from thought leaders to everyday folks, will follow suit.

Christians React to an Immigration Raid

Fearing the return of I.C.E agents, hundreds of Christian immigrants wait at St. Bridget's Catholic Church in Postville, Iowa for any word on their missing family members.

Friday news wrap: an unfolding story

It was interesting to watch a chain reaction of immigration stories this week. Monday's Chicago Tribune reported that Adalberto United Methodist Church in Chicago will provide sanctuary to an undocumented immigrant, just as it did for Elvira Arellano last year, and like clockwork, Glenn Beck had Adalberto pastor Walter Coleman on for a ritual of disrespect on Tuesday. Wednesday FPL caught wind of an ADL/La Raza/Southern Poverty Law Center web site documenting hate speech by, among others, Glenn Beck, and before we could even blog about it, Beck's show had a guest comparing those organizations to the KKK.

By Friday, the Dallas Morning News and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch were catching on to the web site.

All told, it was a perfect demonstration of why so many Latino voters are moving away from the GOP, which was alluded to, ironically, in Monday's Chicago Tribune.

Standing up to hate speech

If you have cable, you've probably noticed an unsavory element of the punditocracy using hyperbole, incorrect analysis and code words to demonize immigrants. Routinely, you'll hear Lou Dobbs or Glenn Beck referring to immigrants as “invaders” coming across our borders, coming to undermine American values, bringing with them crime and disease, stealing "our" jobs. What’s worse, the so-called experts that show up on these shows to drum up fears and stoke the fires of prejudice are often not experts, but nicely dressed extremists heading fringe group organizations, many funded by neo-nazi, white supremacy groups.

Seeing a need to stand up to hate and set the record straight, National Council of La Raza and the Anti-Defamation League have launched a new website calling out the talking heads on their hate-filled talking points. The website offers commentary from real experts (lawyers from the Southern Poverty Law Center) and educates by giving people the real facts on immigration. The press is taking notice -- hopefully the higher-ups at CNN will too.

Religious right favors amnesty

Today's Washington Times breaks the story that Paul Weyrich and other Religious Right leaders are calling for amnesty, not for undocumented immigrants, but for Border Patrol agents who shoot them:

In a letter that was delivered today to the White House, 31 major conservative petitioners joined a campaign led by Rep. Duncan Hunter, California Republican and presidential candidate, asking President Bush to pardon [Border Patrol agents] Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean before Thanksgiving...

The letter comes on the heels of the arrest of admitted drug smuggler Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila on charges of trafficking marijuana while he was profiting from the federal immunity deal as the star witness in the shooting case against the agents.

"History has proven that the mere words and deeds of a president can change the course of history and profoundly affect both the tone and direction of the nation's moral character for generations to come," said the letter signed by 31 petitioners, mostly from Christian conservative groups and national-security organizations.

What the statement and the article neglect to mention is that Ramos and Compean are in prison for shooting the unarmed Aldrete-Davila in the behind as he fled from them, and then covered it up.

Faith leaders call for immigration reform this thanksgiving season

Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, a coalition of Christian organizations, churches, and leaders from across the theological and political spectrum, united in support of responsible immigration reform, will release a report "A House Divided: Why Americans of Faith Are Concerned About Undocumented Immigrants." This report documents the increasing prevalence of the un-Christian treatment of immigrants. It focuses on three areas of humanitarian concern for the faith community, including the increases in hate speech and hate groups linked to the anti-immigrant movement, the upswing of harshly anti-immigrant local and state ordinances and the impact of raids on immigrant families living in our country’s shadows.

Speakers include: Rev. Jim Wallis, Founder and CEO of Sojourners; with the Most Reverend John Wester, Bishop of Salt Lake City, Chairman, United States Catholic Conference of Bishops Committee on Migration; and Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, President of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference; and James Winkler, General Secretary of the United Methodist Church, General Board of Church & Society

The moral case for changing immigration rhetoric and policy

Our allies at Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform just released a troubling, instructive report on the moral crisis of immigration in America.

Most interesting is the report's assessment of the public debate:

It is clear that the anti-immigrant effort is very successful at several of its most critical goals: moving public opinion, generating activism, effecting public policy, and hiding its origins. But the speech that they incite is disturbingly reminiscent of a part of America’s past we thought we had moved beyond. All of us, Christians and non-Christians alike, must stand up and reclaim our national dialogue. If the media will not make everyone aware of how extreme our national conversation has become, then we have the obligation to stand in the gap and do it for them.

It's worth reading in its entirety.

Dispatches from the field: A prayer for immigrants in Colorado

As I have been traveling around the states organizing religious coalitions to speak out on progressive values and issues in the 2008 election, I have found a tremendous wealth of intellectual clarity and moral passion for this work. Butch Montoya's letter below that he just sent out to his pastor's network, H.S. Power and Light ministries in Colorado, is a good example of that. His letter calls all of us in the faith community to speak out against the bigotry in the immigration debate, and was written in response to a very good NYT Editorial that exposes the use of the word "illegal" as code for racism and hatred in this debate. It's worth reading, and as Butch suggests, praying about as we consider how we can draw on our spiritual traditions to help civilize this debate a little . .

Hello,

Please take some time to prayerfully read the following New York Times editorial. Prayerfully because I feel it is essential that we understand the true ramifications of the immigration debate which has taken on a dreadful and hateful tone.

As Christians, we follow the values and beliefs that we can substantiate through scripture and Biblical teaching. Yet, it is so easy for us to ignore the teachings of Christ when they do not fit the political or social mold we have created for ourselves.

We proclaim to stand for justice and righteousness, to stand against injustice and against the evils of the day, yet we find it easy and more convenient to allow emotion, hate, racism, and bigotry lead the discussion on immigration.

DC Rally for Immigration Equality

“Si Se Puede!” was the common theme at the rally on June 2nd at the Nation’s Capitol – a rally for compassionate, humane and comprehensive immigration reform. The rally, sponsored by the National Capital Immigrant Coalition drew a mostly-Latino/a crowd of at least a thousand activists on a hot Saturday afternoon.

New Sanctuary Movement vs. O'Reilly

Rev. Dr. Donna Schaper of Judson Memorial Church in NYC talks with Bill O'Reilly about The New Sanctuary Movement. As way to model the religious law of compassion, sanctuary churches around the country protect immigrants who are about to be forcibly deported and split rom their families. Here's more about The New Sanctuary Movement and Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.

Get to know: New Sanctuary Movement

In the early 1980's, thousands of Central American refugees poured into the United States, fleeing life-threatening repression and extensive human rights violations by their governments. With immigration as a top political issue and the demagogues stumping across the country, the Sanctuary Movement is coming back.

Faith and Congressional Leaders Unite for Comprehensive Immigration Reform

This morning in Washington, Faith in Public Life initiated and organized a press conference featuring national evangelical leaders and leading bi-partisan Senators and Representatives to call for moral comprehensive immigration reform. See below for exclusive video of the event!

Speakers included Rev. Sam Rodriguez, Executive Director of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, Dr. Richard Land, President of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, Senators Kennedy, Menendez, Graham and Salazar, and Reps. Gutierrez and Flake.

Below is part 3 of 6. See inside the post for all the day's great video!

Faith in Public LIVE Dr. Nazir Khaja and Islamoyankee: Islamophobia Rising, Part 6

Remember last month's exchange on Islamophobia and challenges facing the American Muslim community internally? Our writers are back to build on that conversation and break new ground. Dr. Nazir Khaja of the Islamic Information Service and FPL board member and blogger Islamoyankee of Islamicate will take on this subject and more throughout this week!

Click below for the latest post...

Part 6: Islamoyankee on the Reformation vs. Renaissance

Guest Worker Programs: An Intersection of Immigration and the Dignity of Labor

On Wednesday, July 19, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce held a hearing to discuss a public policy that intersects two issues important to people of faith. Guest worker programs implicate both immigration and the dignity of labor. For more on immigration and labor beyond this blog entry, check out Faith in Public Life's Resource Pages on Immigration and Just Wages.

First Ever Progressive Faith Blog Con!

It's an exciting time to be a blogger interested in faith and progressive politics. There are more of us every day (we'll be featuring some of the best here at FPL), and national leaders in our community are becoming more and more aware of how important blogs can be in spreading the good news about their work. With all that energy in the cyber-air, it's almost providential that we get to announce that the first ever Progressive Faith Blog Con is on its way.

Welcome to Blogging Faith

Welcome to Faith in Public Life’s corner of the blogosphere! We’re glad to join the hundreds of bloggers out there in this growing and exciting community. Like any responsible new neighbor, we’ll try to make a good first impression, keep the yard looking tidy, and not make TOO much noise.

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