Conservative Evangelicals Hop on the Immigration Bandwagon! and A Series of Interviews on Immigration with People Like You!

Hi everyone,

Today we have an article summary from CNN (here's the URL: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/05/10/immigration.evangelicals/), another summary from Newsweek (http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thegaggle/archive/2010/05/11/evangelical-campaign-for-immigration-reform-faces-key-obstacle-grassroots.aspx), and a series of opinion interviews conducted by the H.I.I. staff! Enjoy!

Many Republicans have rallied in support of the Arizona immigration bill, including conservative fanatics who attended the “Tea Party” at which Sarah Palin was the keynote speaker. However, a growing segment of the Republican base—conservative Christian evangelicals—are voicing their disapproval of the bill and hoping that it will spur federal immigration reform which incorporates a “path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.”

The “path to citizenship” is not without strings: immigrants must take civics courses, pay fines, undergo background checks, and learn English before being granted citizenship. They stress the importance of strengthening border security as an additional component to any immigration reform bill. However, this reform package is far less stringent than their extremist counterparts’ plan which demands that Latinos be sent to their home countries and forced to start the citizenship process over from square one.

This groups stresses that immigration reform is in line with Biblical texts, which admonish adherents to care for the foreigners within their land, and the poor and needy. They cite Jesus’ treatment of the Samaritan as evidence.
4 key conservative Christian players are attempting to write a position paper which represents the group’s views. They are Richard Land (head of Southern Baptist Convention’s policy wing), Mathew Staver (Dean of the law school at Liberty University, which Jerry Falwell founded), Reverend Samuel Rodriguez (an influential evangelical Hispanic minister), and Rick Tyler (former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s spokesman and head of his organization).

These four are attempting to win over both the Christian community (Focus on the Family, Family Research Council) and the hard right (Sarah Palin, Marco Rubio). From there, they will move on to attempting to persuade President Obama to make immigration reform a priority on his agenda.



Today (May 11th), the National Association of Evangelicals launched a new official campaign for comprehensive immigration reform. This development is important because the lack of support by the NAE back in 2007 (when congress last discussed immigration) was a major detriment to the reform. However, not all evangelicals share such noble views toward immigration. According to a poll in 2006, approximately 63% of Evangelicals are convinced that immigrants threaten "traditional American customs and values," and 64% expressed that immigrants "are a burden because they take our jobs, housing and health care."

So, in summary, the Evangelical community has jumped on the bandwagon-but surely not without causing great unrest.

AND! Interviews with Everett citizens regarding immigration reform!

There’s no surprise that this new law divided the country into three separate groups: those for it, those against it, and those who just don’t care. All over the internet and in person, people aren’t afraid to share their opinions on the new law. “It’s obviously an unjust law but where is the surprise? A lot of laws take a person’s rights away. This isn’t anything different,” says one observer, Garrett Gebhart of Everett, WA. However, there are also people who can’t seem to choose a side. “I think the Arizona bill sends a message to illegals that they need to get their paperwork to be here legally, or go home,” states Kaylena Fromong on the subject. “But, at the same time, I think some people's only option is to come here illegally first, then file later.”



Some people are completely outraged by this law. Especially those related to immigrants. “It’s a racist law and complete bulls**t,” says Felipe Romo of Mexican descent. “The last government that required citizens to carry documentation around, with the consequence of going to jail, was the Nazi party of Germany.” People also seem to have a hard time remembering that Arizona used to be part of Mexico, meaning there is bound to be a considerable part of population being of Mexican descent, which makes this law even more disturbing.



It seems that people have no trouble stating their opinions, even those for the bill. The law came into effect after a prominent white rancher male was murdered near the border with Mexico, sending the entire state into a frenzy and blaming a possible illegal immigrant for the death. “I’m disgusted and outraged at the history and current condition of violation of human rights that this country has partaken in. I love being an American and I wouldn't trade it for anything, but the volatile nature of this country is making me physically ill,” Shannon Barbre voices her opinion on Facebook, many people agreeing with her and sharing their own opinions. American’s divided by opinions, but one thing’s for sure, this law is going to stick around or it’s going to be removed due to violation of constitutional rights.

Whatever happens in the end, somebody’s always going to be angry about it.