| Bishops of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the president of
Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) today voiced
grave concern over Thursday’s Senate compromise on
immigration reform legislation. The Lutheran leaders
objected to the plan’s severe cuts to the family-sponsored
immigration system and its failure to present a fair and
workable plan. “LIRS has long supported comprehensive immigration reform,
but reform must protect family unity, secure the rights of
immigrants, treat immigrant workers with dignity, and
provide a path to permanence for those who are
undocumented,” said LIRS President Ralston H. Deffenbaugh
Jr. “Yesterday’s compromise falls far short of those
objectives. It proposes an untested merit-based system that
values immigrants who have financial resources and
education, but devalues family relationships.”
“Our country can’t tell people who have been waiting
patiently in line for visas that we are now rewriting the
rules and effectively forcing them to start from scratch,”
said Deffenbaugh. The plan would retroactively set a May
2005 cut-off date for many categories of family visa
applications. Those who applied after the cut-off would have
to requalify under a new, still-undefined points-based
system.
“This bill would make it far more difficult for family
members to reunite in the United States in the future,” said
the Rev. Gerald H. Mansholt, the Kansas City, Kan.-based
bishop of the ELCA Central States Synod. The proposal would
all but eliminate visas for adult children and siblings who
are seeking to join their U.S. citizen and permanent
resident relatives, and would greatly reduce the number of
visas available for parents of adult children. “Our
family-based immigration system has been the cornerstone of
U.S. immigration law for decades, and we should not lightly
abandon it in response to political pressures,” said Bishop
Mansholt.
“Our nation is founded on strong families that stand at the
center of our communities,” said the Rev. H. Gerard Knoche,
bishop of the ELCA Delaware-Maryland Synod from his office
in Baltimore. “This proposal turns away from that
long-standing tradition and from the Christian principle
that we should welcome the stranger in our homes and
families.”
“This proposal is very problematic,” said the Rev. Paul
Stumme-Diers, bishop of the ELCA Greater Milwaukee Synod.
“The family is the first community for us as human beings,
and is the strongest building block for creating stable,
productive societies.”
“We commend the Senate and administration for their hard
work on immigration reform, but we urge them to redouble
their efforts to develop truly comprehensive reform that
better serves families and the common good,” continued
Deffenbaugh. “We are committed to working with legislators
who value the importance of family, and who are willing to
do the hard work to improve this bill, but LIRS will oppose
a plan that fails to meet the needs of American families.”
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