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A UMNS Report
By Heather Hahn*
3:00 P.M. EDT August 18, 2011
People from many faith communities participate in a June 25th march to
stop Alabama’s HB56 immigration law. A UMNS photo courtesy of Lyn Cosby.
View in Photo Gallery
The Rev. John Bailey fears that after Sept. 1 the most ordinary acts of ministry in Alabama could violate state law.
Sept. 1 is when Alabama’s new immigration enforcement law is
scheduled to go into effect. Since the Alabama governor signed the law
in June, thousands have participated in prayer vigils and, increasingly,
leaders from different denominations have spoken out against the
measure.
Four Christian leaders — including a United Methodist bishop — as
individuals have joined in a federal lawsuit to try to stop the law.
Both supporters and opponents of the Alabama law, HB56, have called it
the toughest in country.
At issue for many faith leaders is the law’s provision that makes it a crime to knowingly “harbor” or “transport” immigrants who are not lawfully presentin the United States.
Bailey said the law hurts at least five ministries at Asbury United
Methodist Church in Madison, near Huntsville, where he is director of
missions. The congregation, with a weekly attendance of about 3,500,
offers courses in English as a second language, vacation Bible school
and an array of other services that help the poor, which include
immigrants.
His church does not check an individual’s immigration status before offering ministry.
As Bailey reads the law, he could be arrested and his church van
seized if he uses the van to transport families at his church that he
knows may lack proper documentation.
His greatest fear is that the law jeopardizes evangelism and his
ability to follow the biblical mandate to care for the stranger.
“It’s not uncommon for folks who are the alien to be in our community
and in need,” he said. “My call is to minister to those who may need
help finding jobs and may need help finding food, clothing, shelter
(and) the basic needs of life. This law ties my hands and my ability to
minister to them in the way I sense God is calling me to do it.”
John Bailey. A UMNS web-only
photo courtesy of John Bailey.
A ‘message’ law
The Pew Hispanic Center
estimates that 120,000 unauthorized immigrants resided in Alabama as of
March 2010. About 11.2 million unauthorized immigrants live in the
United States, Pew figures show. That represents less than 4 percent of
the total U.S. population of 308.7 million.
Although the Alabama law has not yet taken effect, it is already having an impact, Bailey said.
Attendance has plummeted at a largely Hispanic United Methodist
congregation his church supports. His church is also missing some
people, and he suspects many immigrants — including those who are
legally in the United States — are fleeing the state.
“It’s clearly a law with a message and the message has been received
by Hispanics here that they are not welcome, and they are leaving,”
Bailey said.
Danny Upton, a United Methodist attorney and native Alabaman, expects
that at least some parts of the law will not withstand federal court
scrutiny. Already judges have blocked provisions of other state
immigration laws from taking effect.
Upton is the national program attorney for the United Methodist ministry Justice for Our Neighbors, which provides free, professional legal services at monthly clinics.
“My intuition tells me that the legislators who passed this knew it
was going to be struck down (by courts),” said Upton, a member of Hazel
Green (Ala.) United Methodist Church.“Why would you pass a law that you
know is unconstitutional? Well, it’s all just political theater so you
can point to it later on and say, ‘Look how tough I tried to be on these
undocumented immigrants.’”
Church’s response
More than 150 United Methodist clergy in Alabama signed a June 13 open letter sent to state government officials denouncing the law as unjust.
Bishop William H. Willimon of the North Alabama Annual (regional) Conference joined three other bishops from the state’s Episcopal and Roman Catholic dioceses in a federal court suit to stop the law.
The suit filed Aug. 1 argues that the law, if enforced, does
“irreparable harm” to church members by making it a potential crime to
be a Good Samaritan to an undocumented immigrant.
The Christian leaders’ lawsuit joins other litigation contesting
HB56, including a suit by the U.S. Department of Justice. As it did in a
similar suit last year in Arizona, the Justice Department contends that
the Alabama law pre-empts federal authority to administer and enforce
immigration laws. The lawsuits have been consolidated into one case, and
the first hearing is set for Aug. 24.
Willimon said his objections to the law are “purely ecclesiastical.
“He explained that no conference funds are going toward the suit’s
expenses; an Alabama law firm is providing legal services pro bono.
“I am sure that Christians of goodwill may hold differing opinions
about this law,” he said, “but I became convinced, after numerous
discussions with our pastors and churches involved in mission work, as
well as with legal experts and law-enforcement officials, that this law
is poorly constructed and does more harm than any alleged good.”
Bishop Paul L. Leeland of the Alabama-West Florida Conference did not join in the lawsuit because he is on spiritual leave. He did join Willimon in decrying the law.
“HB56 violates the basic understanding of our Christian faith as the
church is asked to serve in all ways to all people at all times,” Leeland said in a June 15 statement. “It is essential that we manifest the presence of Christ in the community regardless of a person’s status.”
However, the law does have its supporters in the church, Willimon
acknowledged. One of the lawmakers who helped its passage is a retired
United Methodist pastor.
State Rep. Mac Buttram, a Republican from Cullman, campaigned on
enacting immigration reform in 2010 and voted for HB56 this summer.
His hope, he said, is that the law is “to get people who are here
illegally out of the state so we can have more jobs for Alabamans, for
those who want to come here legally.”
Whether unauthorized immigrants are actually taking away jobs is in dispute. Bryan Tolar, president of the Georgia Agribusiness Council, told National Public Radio
about Georgia farmers who have not been able to get their fields
harvested since the recent passage in that state of a tough immigration
law.
Buttram said fears of church leaders about the law are unwarranted.
He said there is still no requirement that churches check people’s
immigration status before providing them with food, clothes or shelter.
To get into trouble, he said, “I would have to know a person is
illegal and act with the intent of harboring them from detention or
prosecution.”
There’s a problem, he said, if a congregation identifies itself as a
sanctuary church for those not lawfully in the United States. “Then I am
saying I am welcoming you and will do whatever I need to do to help you
stay here,” Buttram said.
More than 160 people gather June 28 in Highlands United Methodist Church in Birmingham to share in worship, prayer
and discussion about Alabama’s immigration law. A UMNS
photo by Danette Clifton.
View in Photo Gallery
Who speaks for the church?
Only General Conference, the denomination’s top legislative body, can
speak for The United Methodist Church. The church in its Social
Principles, approved by General Conference, has called on the church and
society “to recognize the gifts, contributions, and struggles of those who are immigrants and to advocate for justice for all.”
The 2008 General Conference also urged the United States to reform immigration laws and make “family
unity, students being able to get an education at an affordable rate,
fair and just treatment of laborers and a reasonable path towards
citizenship a priority.”
The laws in all of these states pose a challenge to the church, said
Laurie Anderson, the new immigration grassroots coordinator for the United Methodist Board of Church and Society.
She is working with congregations to help recent immigrants and people
with deep roots in the United States build relationships.
“We are all God’s children, and we don’t walk around asking for
people’s papers,” she said. “I think if people had those relationships
created, they wouldn’t be so quick to enact these laws that really do
single out an oppressed group.”
*Hahn is a multimedia news reporter for United Methodist News Service.
News media contact: Heather Hahn, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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