Hispanic group decries hostile climate for immigrants
Thousands of immigrants and supporters rally on the grounds
of the U.S. Capitol in March 2006. A UMNS file photo by Rick Reinhard.
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By United Methodist News Service
December 19, 2007
In an open letter to United Methodists, a church-related organization
is declaring that a hostile U.S. climate toward immigrants has resulted
in "millions of Latinos and Latinas living in fear, threat and
intimidation."
The letter from
Methodists Associated Representing the Cause of Hispanic Americans––
known as MARCHA––calls upon United Methodists to remember the plight of
immigrants this Christmas and beyond.
Bishop Elias Galvan |
"During this Christmas season, when we remember the Christ child born
to parents journeying in a foreign land for the sake of their survival,
we invite The United Methodist Church to join MARCHA in standing
against the negative and anti-Latino forces and voices around us," the
letter says. "Let us be truly The United Methodist Church."
The letter is signed by retired Bishop Elias Galvan, MARCHA’s interim
chief executive, and the Rev. David Maldonado Jr., president. They cite
several challenges that Latinos are facing in U.S. society—challenges
that are exacerbated by the national debate over immigration.
"Latinos face daily suspicion of their citizenship and rights as
residents of our communities," the letter says. "They are subjected to
racial profiling and suspicion as they seek employment, housing, or
simply driving down the street."
Requiring Latino families "to prove their citizenship in order to
rent a house, to be employed or enroll their children in school" is
nothing less than "legalized racism," in MARCHA’s opinion.
"Latino immigrants are receiving the harshest treatment in recent
history in the long procession of ethnic immigration," the letter
charges. "The issue of undocumentation has released a flood of racial
negativity, harsh treatment, and, more alarming, a marked increase of
hate crimes against Hispanic/ Latino people."
MARCHA is urging United Methodists to oppose this treatment, as well
as anti-immigrant and anti-Latino laws enacted by cities and states, and
to support those subjected to such treatment.
The United Methodist Church, in its Book of Resolutions,
advocates for fair and sensitive treatment of immigrants. A resolution
titled "Immigrants and Refugees: To Love the Sojourner" notes that since
1996, U.S. immigration law and policies "have been moving toward
greater restriction on immigration and less protection of immigrants’
and refugees’ rights. Immigrants are singled out for harsh punishment
under immigration law for minor and even very old criminal violations. …
Immigrants’ rights to due process of the law are increasingly being
circumscribed by nearly all the branches of government, using tactics
ranging from judicial review to detention without bond."
The resolution, readopted in 2004 by the denomination’s legislative
assembly, notes also that "people of faith and good will are needed to
encourage leadership at home and abroad and, especially, in our
churches; and to have the courage to speak up for the newly vulnerable
people put at risk in the rush to provide for our own safety. We must
remember that God’s household is bigger than our own."
Another resolution calls upon United Methodists to practice
hospitality and express commitment to an inclusive church and society
through all the church’s ministries.
News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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Resources
An Open Letter from MARCHA
MARCHA
Immigration: related articles |