Atlanta-area evangelical leaders on Thursday called on Congress to pass legislation that would create a pathway to citizenship for immigrants living illegally in the U.S.
They are part of the Evangelical Table, a coalition of faith leaders who support revamping the nation’s immigration system “consistent with biblical values.” The coalition’s statement of principles also calls for respecting the rule of law and securing the nation’s borders.
Several Georgia members of the coalition held a news conference about their cause Thursday at First Baptist Church of Tucker. Some are planning to travel Tuesday to Washington to meet with congressmen.
“We find that over and over again,” said David Park, pastor of Open Table Community, an Evangelical Free Church of America location in Chamblee, “God instructs his people to love and welcome immigrants, to ensure they are treated justly, and to protect the unity of the family, the institution that God has established as the cornerstone of society.”
Evangelicals are divided on the topic. Another group — Evangelicals for Biblical Immigration — has issued an open letter calling on Congress to scrap the Senate’s bipartisan immigration legislation and start over, saying it is “flawed to the point of being unworkable.” Now stalled in the Republican-led House, the Senate bill would create a route to citizenship for millions of immigrants without legal status.
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