Thread: Religious figures clash over allowing citizenship for illega

Religious figures clash over allowing citizenship for illegals





Tuesday, October 20, 2009



WASHINGTON -- As more than 2,500 immigrants rallied at the Capitol in support of comprehensive immigration reform, Methodist Bishop Minerva Carcano of Arizona told the crowd it could count on her and other religious leaders for support.

"We truly are with you," she said last week as she introduced about a half-dozen Catholic and Protestant clergy members. "And we believe that God is on your side, too."

But just which side God is on has increasingly become the subject of debate as pro-immigration and anti-immigration forces bring dueling religious leaders to the nation's capital to argue over whose cause is the most righteous.

Both sides are claiming the moral high ground in anticipation of possible congressional legislation on immigration.

Reform proponents want legislation to include a path toward citizenship for the nation's 11 million-plus undocumented immigrants, along with tighter security at the borders.

Opponents oppose amnesty programs that would allow illegal immigrants to stay here and become citizens.

So far, immigration supporters have done a better job of attracting Christian and Jewish clergy, immigration opponents acknowledge.

The priests, rabbis and ministers who have dominated the public debate on immigration have come out "almost always on the side of legalization of illegal immigrants and increases in immigration," said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates reduced immigration.

Krikorian and other anti-immigration leaders have begun trying to counter that immigrant-friendly, pro-reform sentiment with public appearances and speeches by religious leaders and scholars who argue that religion should not be used to condone illegal immigration.

Supporters of immigration reform unfairly try to paint anyone who disagrees with them as ignoring the biblical admonition to "love the stranger," said Stephen Steinlight, author of the book "No 'Progress by Pesach': The Jewish Establishment's Usurpation of American-Jewish Opinion on Immigration."

"Immigration reform is not about love," Steinlight, who is Jewish, said at the press club. He is a senior analyst with the Center for Immigration Studies. "It's about exploiting cheap labor, Hispanic identity politics and creating a permanent Democratic majority. (The Bible) does not command us to exploit strangers for profit or political advantage," he said.



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Supporters of immigration reform unfairly try to paint anyone who disagrees with them as ignoring the biblical admonition to "love the stranger," said Stephen Steinlight, author of the book "No 'Progress by Pesach': The Jewish Establishment's Usurpation of American-Jewish Opinion on Immigration."

"Immigration reform is not about love," Steinlight, who is Jewish, said at the press club. He is a senior analyst with the Center for Immigration Studies. "It's about exploiting cheap labor, Hispanic identity politics and creating a permanent Democratic majority. (The Bible) does not command us to exploit strangers for profit or political advantage," he said.

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