CONSERVATIVE EVANGELICAL LEADERS TO SENATORS: WILL THERE BE ROOM AT THE INN FOR IMMIGRANT CHILDREN THIS CHRISTMAS?
Conservative Evangelical leaders from multiple Evangelical denominations united on a telephonic press conference today calling on Senate leaders to pass the DREAM Act and give 500,000 youths the Christmas gift of their American Dreams. The telephonic was convened by Conservatives for Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CfCIR) in support of the DREAM Act, bipartisan legislation that enables high-achieving young people – immigrants who have been raised in the U.S, have worked hard in school, and then pursue higher education or serve in the United States Armed Forces – to access a path to legalization and achieve the American Dream.
“The DREAM Act is the most pro-family, pro-military, pro-self-reliance and traditional piece of legislation in years. Opposition to the DREAM act must be interpreted as both politically naïve and morally irreconcilable with any pro-family agenda. By supporting DREAM, Republicans and conservatives stand poised to reconnect with an electorate that continues to distance itself from a party that is perceived now to be anti-Hispanic and anti-immigrant,” said Pastor Samuel Rodriguez, President of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference. “2,000 years ago a little boy was born in the manger because there was no room at the inn. In 2010, here’s the question: Is there room at the inn for immigrant children? Is there room at the inn for the innocent? In the spirit of Christmas and with our hearts open to the boy in the manger, I encourage the Senate to pass the DREAM Act. It would be the greatest Christmas gift these children could possibly receive.”
“I strongly believe in the rule of law. However, law has to be just. It cannot be devoid of compassion or morality, otherwise it is a cold instrument of brute force,” said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel and Dean of the Liberty University School of Law. “Each year I have the pleasure of putting the hood around those who have graduated from the Liberty University School of Law. On one hand, I have the pleasure of being able to see how those three short years open up incredible opportunities for these students. On the other hand are those children who have been in this country for many years without documentation. They love America, but when the time comes for them to choose where they want to go and where God has called them to exercise their God-given talents to help their fellow brothers and sisters, the door to those opportunities is closed…we are not asking that these children walk through that door with any special treatment. We are asking that that door be opened with the DREAM Act.”
Commenting on Republican criticism of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid potentially calling the Senate back after Christmas, Rev. Jerry Dykstra, Executive Director of the Christian Reformed Church in North America said, “Even Jesus, who was a high respecter of the Sabbath, which was the day of complete rest in his culture, said that on the Sabbath we need to do what is right. If doing what is right means working through the Christmas holiday, then we work through the Christmas holiday. I think that we’ve got to set aside partisan politics. We have to deal with the issue before us honestly and quickly, and I think that maneuvering is simply inappropriate.”
Former Hispanic Presidential Campaign coordinator for John McCain and CfCIR cofounder Dr. Juan Hernandez, addressed this point as well: “Members of Congress work for us, the citizens of the United States, and we will be glad to give them Christmas off, we will be glad to give them New Year’s off, but the rest of the days they need to work for us. We have sent them to Congress to work on these difficult issue and they need to do the right thing: Pass the DREAM Act.”
KJ