Contact: Jason Gedeik, Sojourners, (202) 230-2555, jgedeik@sojo.net

Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform Joins Nationwide Mobilization of Faith Community

Christians Organize En Masse to Lead the Moral Argument for Reform

WASHINGTON, DC – February 10, 2010 — Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CCIR), a national coalition of Christian organizations, churches, and leaders from across the theological and political spectrum, today joined religious leaders from across the theological and ideological spectrum and Members of Congress to kick off a nationwide mobilization for immigration reform. “Together, Not Torn: Families Can’t Wait for Immigration Reform,” includes hundreds of thousands of pro-reform postcards to Members of Congress from people of faith in their states and districts and 100 events across the country during President's Day recess and into early March. The following statement was issued by Rev. Jennifer Kottler, a minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), director of policy and advocacy at Sojourners, and spokeswoman for CCIR, who participated in the campaign launch:

“As the great great granddaughter of a German Evangelical pastor, Rev. John Kottler who left Germany in the 1850s to make a better life for himself in America, I am proud of my immigrant heritage.  I am particularly proud to be speaking along with these faith leaders who are calling our country to it’s best self.

Allowing the current status quo of America’s broken immigration system to continue is morally unacceptable, economically unsustainable, and politically unconscionable. People of faith want immigration reform enacted into law this year.

Contrary to what some would have you believe, the sheer volume of postcards collected during this postcard campaign demonstrates the grassroots passion that individual church members have for this issue.  Indeed there is a strong grassroots movement building in local churches and houses of worship that has caught the attention of leaders and elected officials. The local parish continues to be a safe place where immigrants who are oppressed and marginalized by this broken system can experience the love of God, and the love of community. It is within the faith community that difficult conversations about issues like immigration can be held with civility and respect, and where hearts and minds can be transformed and opened to the suffering of immigrant families being torn apart throughout our nation.

Comprehensive and humane immigration reform is a moral imperative that reflects the highest ideals and teachings of our faith traditions. It is for this very reason that the faith community has mobilized en masse to help lead the moral argument for reforming the immigration system and keeping millions of families together.

We are ready to lead our nation’s return to a place of welcome and opportunity for everyone. Let there be no question of where the faith community stands collectively on this issue: we stand on the side of the widow, the orphan, and the stranger among us.”
 

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Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform is a coalition of Christian organizations, churches, and leaders from across the theological and political spectrum, united in support of comprehensive U.S. immigration reform. We are working together to see fair and humane immigration reform enacted in Congress this year because we share a set of common moral and theological principles that compel us to love, care for, and seek justice for the stranger among us.

To read our Joint Statement of Principles, visit here or visit www.sojo.net/immigration and click “Our Statement.”

Sojourners’ mission is to articulate the biblical call to social justice, inspiring hope and building a movement to transform individuals, communities, the church, and the world. Visit www.sojo.net, and www.GodsPolitics.com