Christians seek border changes
WASHINGTON -- A new coalition of more than 100 largely evangelical Christian leaders and organizations asked Congress yesterday to pass bills to strengthen border controls but also give illegal immigrants ways to gain legal residency.
The announcement spotlights evangelical leaders' increasingly visible efforts to push for what they say is a more humane policy in keeping with biblical injunctions to show compassion for others.
The new group, Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, includes members such as the Mennonite Church USA and the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, which said it represents millions of Latino evangelicals.
It includes individuals such as Dr. Joel C. Hunter, pastor of Northland, a megachurch in Longwood, Fla., and Sammy Mah, president of World Relief, an aid group affiliated with the National Association of Evangelicals.
The concerns mirror those of many evangelical leaders who have often staked out conservative positions on other social issues or who have avoided politics .
In late March, Dr. Richard Land, the avowedly conservative president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, stood with Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, in supporting routes to legalization for illegal immigrants.
The Rev. Joel Osteen, whose television ministry reaches millions but who steers clear of politics, has also spoken for such changes.
Immigration "for us is a religious issue, a biblical issue," said the Rev. Jim Wallis, president of a liberal evangelical group, Call to Renewal, and a member of the coalition.
"We call it welcoming the stranger," he said.
Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform does not back particular measures, said Katie Barge, a spokeswoman for Faith in Public Life, the organizers of a news conference about the group.
Rather, the coalition calls for bills that would push for border enforcement while improving the guest worker programs and offering chances for illegal immigrants to obtain legal status, an approach similar to bills that Congress is considering.
The group advertised in newspapers here yesterday and plans to expand to other papers and radio.
The coalition is also trying to present at least 200,000 letters to Congress and the White House on immigration, the first 50,000 of which arrived at the news conference.
