Nueva declaración de CCIR - New CCIR Declaration

• español

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.

We call for an end to the unproductive, divisive, and fear-driven anti-immigrant rhetoric in the media, which has often castigated all immigrants, regardless of citizenship status, and derailed attempts at true reform. As Christian leaders who share the biblical values named below, we commit to fostering civil dialogue on immigration in our churches and in our communities. We call on President Barack Obama to provide the leadership necessary to move from the hateful rhetoric that has often characterized this national debate to action that will fix our broken immigration system. We look forward to working alongside the president to lead a new national conversation on immigration policy that reflects the best of our moral and civic values.

We stand together in calling on President Obama and Congress to make humane and holistic immigration reform a top priority in 2009.

Our shared principles include the following:

·    We believe all people, regardless of national origin or citizenship status, are made in the “image of God” and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect (Genesis 1:26-27, 9:6).

·    We believe there is an undeniable responsibility to love and show compassion for the stranger among us (Deuteronomy 10:18-19, Leviticus 19:33-34, Matthew 25:31-46).

·    We believe that immigrants are our neighbors, both literally and figuratively, and we are to love our neighbors as ourselves and show mercy to neighbors in need (Leviticus 19:18, Mark 12:31, Luke 10:25-37).

·    We believe in the rule of law, but we also believe that we are to oppose unjust laws and systems that harm and oppress people made in God’s image, especially the vulnerable (Isaiah 10:1-4, Jeremiah 7:1-7, Acts 5:29, Romans 13:1-7).

We recognize that the current U.S. immigration system is broken and reform is necessary. The biblical principles above compel us to support immigration reform legislation that includes the following elements:

·    Enforcement initiatives that are consistent with humanitarian values;

·    Reforms in our family-based immigration system that reduce waiting times for separated families to be reunited;

·    A process for all immigrant workers and their families already in the U.S. to earn citizenship upon satisfaction of specific criteria;

·    An expansion of legal avenues for workers and families to enter our country and work in a safe and legal manner with their rights and due process fully protected;

·    Examining solutions to address the root causes of migration, such as economic disparities between sending and receiving nations.