Faith leaders ranging from evangelical to Jewish came together Wednesday to launch a nationwide mobilization of people of faith to call for immigration reform that does not tear families apart.

Several faith groups, including the National Association of Evangelicals, Faith in the Public Life, and the Sojourners announced a push today for comprehensive immigration reform, with local events and prayer vigils in February and March.

With an issue like health, deeply personal, but of great public concern, the faith community has a unique and important role to play -- to define and raise the moral issues beneath the policy debate. One major moral issue that has surfaced is how we treat the immigrant in our society as we discuss and debate health-care reform.

Immigration reform is often a sticky issue, especially in the Church. Last year alone, 724,000 illegal immigrants were caught at the border. While this was the lowest since 1973, it nonetheless represents a vast number of people with a desperate desire to enter the United States. The issue of immigration is highly politicized, with opponents of legalizing those who entered the country illegally saying that the economy cannot sustain the influx of undocumented workers, while proponents say that legalization would increase the government's net revenue by $65 billion over the next decade. The issue becomes even more complex, though, for Christians. While many may favor tighter border security and better enforcement of immigration laws, there is also the biblical mandate to care for aliens and strangers within our country. Couple this with Jesus' assertion that whatever we do to the least of these, we do to Him, and immigration becomes a much more human issue, with concerns that go deeper than political leanings.

The Wall Street Journal: It’s been a long, tough year for troubled kosher-meat processor Agriprocessors Inc., and residents of Postville, Iowa, held rallies and prayer vigils to commemorate the event that started it all.

"As proclaimers of God's word, it is our duty to sound a call for justice. It is our privilege to welcome the stranger," Archbishop Jerome Hanus told a packed interfaith service at St. Bridget's Catholic Church. "It is our challenge to bring good news to the poor. This, my friends, is our time. This is our moment. This is our year of favor."

Advertisement

Religious leaders in Des Moines renewed their calls for federal immigration reform Tuesday during a solemn candlelit vigil to observe the one-year anniversary of Postville's immigration raid.

A year after federal agents converged on a northeast Iowa kosher slaughterhouse, arresting nearly 400 workers and upending a town's economy, residents and officials are anxious for the plant to sell and return Postville to a glimpse of its former prosperity.