Faith organization seeks humane immigration reform

By Rob Cullivan

The Gresham Outlook, Jul 31, 2010 (4 Reader comments)

Dennis Alger, pastor of Zion United Church of Christ in Gresham, takes part in a solidarity vigil opposing Arizona’s anti-immigration bill.

Jim Clark / The Outlook

On July 28, a federal judge blocked key portions of Arizona’s SB 1070 law, which requires police to check the immigration status of those they arrest or stop and suspect are in the country illegally.

Supporters contend the law is needed to stem the flow of illegal immigrants who are taxing the nation’s capacity to absorb them, and add that the legislation is a tool police can use against cross-border criminal activities.

Opponents argue the law gives cover to racial profiling of Hispanics by police, scapegoats undocumented workers essential to the economy and means even legal citizens will have to carry identification lest they be suspected of being undocumented.

What is ‘hospitality’?

The law has provoked controversy among religious groups, given the fact that many spiritual traditions, including the Jewish and the Christian, call on believers to welcome migrants and strangers.

A cursory review of various faith-based websites shows many church leaders argue the law violates the spirit of hospitality promoted by such scriptures – although some religious leaders note believers also have a duty to uphold the laws of the country in which they live. On that note, still other commentators point out there’s no explicit guidance from various traditions on how to deal with the subject of modern-day undocumented migrants.

Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, which consists of Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox Christian churches and groups, opposes the Arizona law, and held an hour-long fast and prayer vigil in Portland’s North Park Blocks on July 21. The event was co-sponsored by Augustana Lutheran Church, CAUSA (an immigrant rights group) the Oregon New Sanctuary Movement and the Catholic Archdiocese of Portland Office of Justice and Peace/Respect Life. The event also drew Muslim and Jewish leaders, according to David Leslie, EMO’s executive director.

Among the 100 or so folks participating was the Rev. Dennis Alger, pastor of Zion United Church of Christ in Gresham.

“People of faith … differ enormously on nearly everything,” he says. “However, when we get to basics and see ourselves in these newest immigrants, we cannot miss our commonality. Somewhere along the way, over the last 500 years in this hemisphere, we were almost all immigrants.”

Isaiah 58

Prior to the vigil, EMO released a statement noting it was basing its action on the 58th chapter of Isaiah, in which God calls for a fast to “loosen the chains of injustice” and set the oppressed free.

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