The National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC) commends and applauds the United States Senate for its bipartisan effort in passing immigration reform legislation Thursday, demonstrating that our elected officials stand capable of exhibiting prophetic courage by reconciling conviction with compassion.

Engaging a biblical narrative as a metaphor, as a result of this historic vote, the immigration cause no longer resides in the "Egypt" of political apathy or the "desert" of inevitable deportation. Thursday, 11 million people stepped into the "Jordan" called reform; just a few steps away lies a land full of secured borders, families, communities and, above all, our most cherished values.

Now the question arises: Can the House of Representatives demonstrate similar courage? Can the House repudiate pathetic political expediency and engage in prophetic legislative deliberation? 

On behalf of the more than 40,100 NHCLC member churches and millions of God-fearing, family-loving Hispanic Americans, we call upon the members of the House to finish the work their congressional colleagues started. As evangelicals, born-again believers and the spiritual heirs to the combined mantles of Billy Graham and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we affirm our conviction that now is the time to reconcile border security with the security of our values, which include faith and family.

At the end of the day, passing immigration reform is not about advancing the agenda of the donkey or the elephant, but rather about living out the agenda of the Lamb.

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