As clergy, religious leaders, and people of faith, we write in support of comprehensive and just immigration reform. Our conscience and common humanity lead us to recognize the stranger among us. Defining undocumented workers as felons will divide families and force some people to go further underground as they attempt to provide for their families. Defining faith communities and individuals who help unauthorized immigrants as felons will make felons of us all.

There is hypocrisy evident within the enforcement-only legislation currently passed by the House of Representatives. We are all immigrants. It is clear that such legislation attempts to protect the privilege of earlier immigrant groups at the expense of recent immigrants. Our faiths compels us to act on behalf of the exploited and marginalized of the world, many of whom are willing to risk the trek to America in order to ensure that their families survive harsh political and economic conditions. Sadly, indentured servitude and slave-labor conditions for undocumented immigrants are increasing in the United States.

We agree that America needs to provide secure borders, but it can do so without criminalizing the poor. If we wish to decrease the number of unauthorized immigrants in our country, we should begin by reconsidering American involvement in free-trade agreements, while simultaneously investing justly in the economies of Central and South America. We do well to call for living wages in both our country and in the poorest parts of the world. We can only provide security for ourselves as we care for our neighbors.

To this end, we oppose legislation that makes undocumented status a felony or separates members of families from one another. We support legislation that opens a meaningful pathway to citizenship for those already in the United States. We support legislation that protects all workers, helps local communities, and restores the rule of law, while enhancing national security. We support the restoration of funding to reduce the huge backlog in family-based immigration cases currently in the courts. Such laws will liberate undocumented immigrants from the shadows, helping them come forward and integrate themselves into our communities, while creating an incentive for future immigrants to come to the United States within the legal structures for doing so.

As people of faith, we will choose to live out the principles of compassion and care for all of our neighbors, even in the face of unjust laws. We encourage all people to join us in the task of justice, equity, and respect for those who seek the refuge of these shores.

Signed,

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