Pastors’
Declaration on Border Security and Immigration Reform
Preamble
In
the course of our history as a nation, challenges and crisis moments have
arisen that required principled leadership and the laying aside of partisan
politics. Such is the need before us in
our day regarding the escalating illegal immigration crisis and the security of
our national borders.
It
is clear and evident that the tangible and present crisis regarding the state
of our national border security and immigration system must be addressed
rapidly, justly and humanely with equal regard to both rule of law and
God-given value of every individual.
Holy Scriptures demand that justice and compassion be balanced with
neither improperly dominant over the other in our hearts and our laws.
Therefore,
we as pastoral leaders called by God to proclaim His truth and acting in the
tradition of our nation’s history to lift our voice in the public square when
there are those societal issues that demand just action by our governing
representatives, do hereby present this statement of general principles and call
on our elected state and national leaders to:
We call on every member of
Step One – Secure our National Borders First
It
is the first business of our government to protect the safety and welfare of
citizens against “enemies foreign and domestic.” The well established fact that
drug cartels, gang members, other criminal elements and now Middle Eastern
operatives linked to Islamic terrorism are freely moving across our southern
border has created an urgent national security crisis.
ACTION NEEDED:
o
All
borders, with specific priority to the southern border of the United States,
must be secured as soon as possible using whatever means necessary to stop all
entry from points other than regulated crossing stations.
o
Fences,
adequately armed U.S. military presence, electronic surveillance, increased
Border Patrol forces, full enforcement of all existing immigration laws and
policy changes protecting citizens as well as law enforcement from persecution,
prosecution or lawsuits when acting to protect life and property are examples
of first steps that need to be implemented.
Step Two – Reform the
Immigration System
·
The
process of entering the country legally is fraught with red tape, fraud,
delays, unacceptable costs, unrealistically low quotas and inhumane treatment
for many if not most people who desire to emigrate to the U.S. temporarily for
education or work, or permanently as citizens.
This system needs to be reformed so people legitimately seeking
temporary or permanent residency in this country are treated with dignity and
respect.
ACTION NEEDED:
o
Government
agencies charged with assessing and processing immigration requests are
severely understaffed and inadequately funded to handle the backlog of
immigration applications. Current
staffing at American embassies charged with assessing and processing
immigration applications should be better trained, better screened and/or
replaced as necessary with uniform standards provided for greater
accountability.
o
Congress
needs to reform immigration laws to address significant backlogs under quotas
for highly skilled immigrants; to establish meaningful quotas for semi and
low-skilled workers as well as enact a temporary worker program so that where
there are proven shortages of U. S. workers, there is a mechanism by which workers
can enter legally while maintaining their family ties to their home countries. Congress also needs to modernize the
verification process by which employers determine who is authorized to work in
the U. S.
Step Three – Implement a just process to legal status for
specified illegal immigrants
·
While
illegal immigrants have violated immigration laws to enter the country or
overstayed their lawfully permitted time, there needs to be a process of
providing those who qualify, are involved in lawful commerce and wish to remain
here a means of doing so either as guest workers or eventually as citizens,
with the proviso that they be required to display proficiency in the English
language and critical facts about our American history, the basis of our constitutional
republic and the duties of citizenship within a reasonable period of time to
qualify for either status.
ACTION NEEDED:
o
Execute
a fixed period of open registration for those here illegally, and provide a
temporary work visa which contains requirement of adequate civil penalties yet
does not require them to return to their country of origin and provides
protection of legal status. Once that registration period has passed, any
violation of immigration laws should result in immediate deportation.
o
Any
person found to have committed crimes against property or person while here, or
with a felony criminal record in his or her home country, should be denied
legal status of any kind and deported.
o
Effectively
enforce laws which prohibit non-citizens from receiving entitlement to non-emergency
government services unless specifically adopted by legislative process at the
state or federal level.
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