Obama Wins Unlikely Allies in Immigration

[willigetgc?]

At a time when the prospects for immigration overhaul seem most dim, supporters have unleashed a secret weapon: a group of influential evangelical Christian leaders.

Normally on the opposite side of political issues backed by the Obama White House, these leaders are aligning with the president ....

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/19/us/politics/19evangelicals.html?_r=1

[Edison99]

So what ?!
At a time when the prospects for immigration overhaul seem most dim, supporters have unleashed a secret weapon: a group of influential evangelical Christian leaders.

Normally on the opposite side of political issues backed by the Obama White House, these leaders are aligning with the president ....

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/19/us/politics/19evangelicals.html?_r=1

[gc28262]

At a time when the prospects for immigration overhaul seem most dim, supporters have unleashed a secret weapon: a group of influential evangelical Christian leaders.

Normally on the opposite side of political issues backed by the Obama White House, these leaders are aligning with the president ....

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/19/us/politics/19evangelicals.html?_r=1

As far as I know more humane treatment of immigrants and CIR is supported by most Christian groups. Not sure these evangelicals are a "new" addition to immigration supporters.

[gc28262]

Catholic, LDS reps to attend immigration summit | The Salt Lake Tribune (http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/49954743-76/immigration-church-law-lake.html.csp)

Dee Rowland of the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City and Scott Parker, chairman of the Salt Lake LDS Public Affairs Council, will join other faith leaders Tuesday at the governor’s immigration summit.

“I’m glad that there will be this opportunity to sit at a table together and talk about positive solutions,” Rowland, the diocese’s government liaison, said Monday. “We feel the appropriate place for immigration reform is at the federal level. We hope Utahns will unite to see that that happens.”

Bishop John C. Wester, leader of the state’s nearly 300,000 Catholics and an ardent spokesman for his church’s push for comprehensive immigration reform, is out of town.

The Catholic Church cares about immigration reform because “it is a moral issue and a human issue,” Wester, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, said at a May 1 rally in Salt Lake City. “It’s not about human beings breaking the law, but the law breaking human beings.”

Wester also has spoken out against Arizona’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants and has urged Utah lawmakers not to follow the Grand Canyon State’s path.

Utah’s predominant religion, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has not taken a stance on Arizona’s approach or other specific immigration-reform proposals.

On Monday, the Salt Lake City-based faith, which has members on both sides of the debate, repeated its call for “careful reflection and civil discourse [on the issue],” spokesman Scott Trotter said.

Elected officials have “the primary responsibility to find solutions in the best interests of all whose lives will be impacted by their actions,” Trotter said. “Finding a successful resolution will require the best thinking and good will of all across the political spectrum, the highest levels of statesmanship and the strongest desire to do what is best for all of God’s children.”
Mormons on opposing sides of the issue draw on their faith’s doctrines or practices to buoy their positions.

Russell Pearce, the Arizona senator who proposed that state’s tough immigration law, is LDS and hails from Mesa, a stronghold of Mormonism.

Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem, who also is LDS, hopes to bring a similar law to Utah. Sandstrom agrees with Pearce — that the church’s 12th Article of Faith points toward rigorous enforcement of immigration laws. That article says Mormons believe in “obeying, honoring and sustaining the law.”

On the opposite side are Latter-day Saints who argue for a more complex and humane approach to immigration. They point to church teachings about taking care of one’s family, being hospitable to the stranger and building the kingdom of God.

In January 2008, Marlin Jensen, a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, was assigned by LDS President Thomas S. Monson to urge Utah legislators to use “compassion” in their immigration legislation.

A year ago, Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Protestant leaders gathered in an east-side Salt Lake City church to pray, preach, plead and lament the passage of Utah’s immigration law, SB81. It was unclear late Monday how many of these leaders have been invited to the governor’s summit.