Rank-and-file members within the House GOP have instigated a standoff with House leadership to address the longstanding and unresolved issue of immigration reform. As a result, there is renewed pressure on both parties to reach a legislative compromise.
In response, Rev. Dr. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference—a longtime immigration reform advocate who has strongly voiced his support for granting legal residency to Dreamers—has issued an open letter to Congress.
In the letter, Rodriguez urges members of both chambers to reach a bipartisan compromise that ultimately resolves the legal futures of the estimated 800,000 Dreamers that were previously covered by the Obama-era DACA executive order.
The following open letter has been widely circulated to faith leaders, immigration reform advocates, conservatives and progressives alike, as well as to members of Congress including the leadership of both parties:
An Open Letter to Members of the United States Congress:
This letter is written on behalf of many of the nation’s most prominent faith leaders, Hispanic Christian leaders, immigration pragmatists and American patriots. While we hail from many diverse political, ethnic and racial backgrounds, denominations and cultural traditions, we wish to affirm our shared concern and common cause as we all seek compassionate, commonsense immigration reforms from our elected leaders in Washington.
Together, we are heartened by the recent bipartisan progress achieved in the area of prison reform, and we simply ask that you do what’s right once again. We urge this Congress to seize the historic moment in which we find ourselves and come together for the sake of our nation and its people.
Our hope, and indeed our prayer, is that both houses would join with the majority of the American people and push forward with a bipartisan solution that successfully addresses the plight of Dreamers, one that grants them legal residency here in America—the only nation they have ever known as home. There are many forms this legislation could take, and we respectfully leave the details of the negotiation in your capable hands.
We are hopeful that in the coming days, a spirit of bipartisanship would overcome the deadlock that has previously marked this debate, and that both houses would pass legislation that upholds the universal dignity of human life, affirms we are all made in the image of God, and keeps intact the sacred institution of the family.
Respectfully,
Rev. Dr. Samuel Rodriguez
President, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference
Rev. Samuel Rodriguez is president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, executive producer of The Impossible with 20th Century Fox, and bestselling author of Shake Free, which released nationwide on May 22, 2018. He has been named by CNN and Fox News as “the leader of the Hispanic Evangelical movement” and TIME Magazine nominated him among the 100 most influential leaders in America.
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