NHCLC Applauds Senators' Principles and Obama's Efforts to Work with Congress to Fix Broken Immigration System

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, President of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, along with Rev. Danny De Leon, President of the Hispanic Pentecostal Congress and Dr. Angel Marcial, representing the NHCLC, attended President Obama’s press conference on immigration today in Las Vegas, Nev. Yesterday eight bipartisan Senators (Dick Durban, Chuck Schumer, Bob Menendez, Michael Bennet, John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio and Jeff Flake), released principles that would seek to overhaul the legal immigration system as well as create a pathway to citizenship for the nation’s roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants.

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The immigration issue has vexed the United States for a long time. Many difficult and complex choices will have to be made as the government decides how to proceed on this issue. Legislators and their constituents will certainly weigh in with many different points of view.

Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, President of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference and a Principle of the Evangelical Immigration Table, said, "I was present as President Obama laid out a comprehensive solution to America's immigration crisis. His presentation serves as a reconciliatory prescription to a nation torn apart by this debate. I commend him for his courage and call upon all the followers of Christ to pray for our President and Congress as together we marry conviction with compassion. The NHCLC commends and applauds the principals proposed by United States Senators and President Obama's framework, which is committed to finding a solution to the immigration crisis. Additionally, as a member of the Evangelical Immigration Table, the NHCLC stands committed to an outcome that reconciles conviction with compassion, security with integration, all while recognizing the image of God in citizen and immigrant alike. Accordingly, while we continue to engage in prophetic activism, we also continue in our 'I Was a Stranger' prayer challenge <http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=4KLDxdFIkR%2BIdqtc59S9eBlmrLM3a6M7>. For we understand that prayer and activism result in one thing: justice in the name of Jesus!"

Robert Gittelson, President, Conservatives for Comprehensive Immigration Reform and NHCLC Senior Advisor on Immigration, said, "It is encouraging that the bipartisan set of principles released by this important and influential group of Senators is very much in line with the principles that we have long been advocating for them to advance. Their outline is balanced and just. While we acknowledge that the 'devil is in the details,' we are optimistic that these reasonable principles will serve as a fair and broad outline that should hopefully lead to solutions that will once and for all solve the very intractable problems inherent in our broken and antiquated immigration system."

"For us," Gittelson continued, "the bottom line is that we must advance legislation that respects the dignity of every human being, as they were made in God's image, and we are called to love and respect them. This set of principles respects the rule of law, but importantly it represents a huge step forward toward this worthy, moral, and attainable goal."

"We are grateful to see American leaders taking on the complex issue of comprehensive immigration reform. Millions of undocumented people in this country, many through no fault of their own, have been trapped in a marginalized limbo with no clear way out," said, Dr. Carlos Campo, President, Regent University.

Campo concluded, "We urge leaders to make reforms that respect the rule of law and are administered with compassion and dignity for all involved."

In 2008, the NHCLC initiated the National Latino Evangelical Coalition for Immigration Reform. Today, the NHCLC (www.nhclc.org) has expanded that coalition by launching the Hispanic Evangelical Justice Coalition in 2012 as a subsidiary with an expanded agenda in order to do justice in the name of Jesus.

The Hispanic Evangelical Justice Coalition exists to defend and promote respect for the imago Dei, as a foundation for the defense of fundamental human rights. The coalition will focus on the horizontal plane of the cross, the justice platform that includes addressing issues such as immigration reform, human trafficking, poverty alleviation and religious liberty.

About The NHCLC

The National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, the nation's largest Christian Hispanic organization, is the Hispanic Evangelical Association unifying, serving and representing millions in the Hispanic Born Again Community via 40,118 member churches by reconciling the vertical and horizontal of the Christian message through the 7 Directives of Life, Family, Great Commission, Stewardship, Justice, Education and Youth.

SOURCE National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference