Faith

Alabama Evangelical Leaders Want to Inspire Congregants to Take a Stand on Immigration

Immigration continues to be a highly-contentious issue. As states like Arizona and Alabama battle with the federal government over new laws that are seen, by some, as discriminatory and unfair, the faith community is also weighing in. But some leaders feel as though evangelicals have been a voice missing in the discussion.

The Roman Catholic, Episcopal and United Methodist churches took Alabama to court over the law, which these faith groups call “merciless” and immoral. But evangelicals, in contrast, have been much quieter about the issue.

The law — called HB 56 — gives police the right to question crime suspects about their immigration status (and arrest those who are believed to be illegals). Also, it requires individuals who seek to rent a house or buy a car to verify their legal status, among other restrictions.

Here‘s the ACLU’s not-so-positive take on the law (as illustrated through UW Clemon — the nation’s first African American federal judge):

Hispanic evangelicals, in particular, are taking note of the dearth of opinion among their fellow Christians. Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, a California-based religious group, is one leader who feels that evangelicals aren’t stepping up to the plate on the immigration issue.

“What is happening in Alabama is incredible,” he says. “It is a repeat of the chapter lived by African-Americans, but now the African-Americans are Latinos and immigrants.”

Carlos Campo, the president of Regent University, a Christian college founded by broadcaster Pat Robertson, echos the issue’s importance. “This is…a moral issue,” he says. “…The religious community cannot stand idly by and allow a moral issue like this to go without a comment.”

But while these pastors feel passionately about this issue, it seems their congregants are nowhere near as vocal. CNN has more:

“The pastors are failing, within the evangelical movement, in contextualizing the message to their members to call the elected officials at the local and federal level, and encourage an immigration reform that is not amnesty, but is not Alabama either. We have to find something in the middle that has a biblical balance,” said Rodriguez, whose group represents churches with a membership of about 16 million.

According to a recent Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life Survey, more than 45% of Alabama residents identify themselves as evangelicals. But Campo said that group is not speaking with a unified voice.

These leaders feel as though evangelicals are behind their Catholic and Methodist counterparts in coming forward to address this important issue. While the religious groups’ lawsuit was inevitably dismissed, provisions they were concerned about — portions that deal with the criminalization of transporting illegal immigrants — were blocked in a separate case.

Read more about this contentious issue on CNN’s Belief Blog.

Comments (116)

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  • gregreck
    Posted on November 15, 2011 at 10:31am

    Racism is still alive and well in America, sad to say. For those who deny history is repeating itself have blinders. How dare any of you cite the name of Jesus or Christianity in support of these injustices. Would Jesus support taking a child away from a Latino mother because she can’t speak English and give the child to a white couple? Would Jesus support arresting a mother for shopping at Walmart and taking her kids to Welfare authorities for a year. My Jesus would not! If you think otherwise, you DO NOT KNOW HIM. Spend time listening to Him and reading His Word before you profess to speak on His behalf.

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    • JackDamaris
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 10:44am

      You are living in a dream world, these people are criminals, they have no rights here as Americans. Jesus would tell them to go back home and then come to America in a legal fashion. Jesus never supported going against the law of the land. He told us to give to Ceaser what is Ceasers. When you break the law there are always consequences and you must be ready to face them.

      Report Post » JackDamaris  
    • HAPPYRWE
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 10:51am

      The Progressives set this up and they are guilty….The Communists, socialists, liberals, Rinos, etc.
      The end justifies the means
      Divide and Conquer
      Please understand it’s us Christians and you “useful idiots” who are being set up for destruction.
      It is us against the big “them”. You are being sold a lie please actually listen to Glenn Beck who is preparing, informing and helping you understand what we have been set up for.

      Report Post » HAPPYRWE  
    • 4truth2all
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 11:12am

      Yo Gregreck:
      Please read….Philemon… that’s what Jesus would do…. no guess work needed. We’re talkin bout borders, not shoppers at Wal-mart.

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    • TH30PH1LUS
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 11:30am

      SIMILARITY TO SLAVERY: illegal immigration IS similar to the story of slavery in America in this way = DEMOCRATS wanted all slaves counted in census to boost their political power in the Federal Government. So they could permanently institutionalize the horror of human slavery in the Southern States. TODAY, the same DEMOCRAT party wants to “recognize” illegal aliens for the very same reason.

      CRIME is crime. There‘s a reason why it’s called ILLEGAL immigration. Because there’s a LEGAL way to do it. They way my grandparents did it. The way a good friend of mine has done it. It CAN BE DONE. There’s a process. If the Federal Government turns a blind eye to illegal immigrants, then they should issue a FORMAL APOLOGY and a total refund to every single legal immigrant who saved and scraped together the money to pay for fees, and spent time going through paperwork, etc etc etc.

      IF you are in favor of ILLEGAL immigration, you are also in favor of human trafficking, prostitution, drug smuggling, rape, destruction of private and public property, destruction of wildlife areas, and the collapse of our medical services and our social support system. You can’t have it both ways.

      Report Post » TH30PH1LUS  
    • TH30PH1LUS
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 11:37am

      I will also add here, that it is TIME for American pastors to stop playing political games for a paycheck and shout the truth from their pulpits. Let the chips fall where they may. It’s way overdue. Get to it, shepherds.

      Report Post » TH30PH1LUS  
    • sWampy
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 11:43am

      The horror of slavery my ass, the slaves were treated 10 times better than the poor free white people in the south. The slaves were the tractors/combines of the time, you drive through the south today, and you will see lots of that 99% of the farms, the tractors and combines are housed in more expensive barns than the homes the farmers lived in. Then each slave was as valuable as the home the farmers lived in, just as today you will see many with hundreds of thousands of dollars in equipment while living in a double wide trailer worth a few thousand dollars. Back then, if you and a slave was sick or hungry, you took them to the doctor and fed them before you went to the doctor or ate if times were hard, because if they were not able to work, neither of you ate. Just as today, I know many that have tractors break down, and spend their money fixing the tractors while they go hungry. The fantasy plagiarized by Alex Haley stolen from the fiction of Hal Courlander, was completely fabricated, and couldn’t have depicted slavery in a more false light.

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    • bruce_baker
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 12:11pm

      Jesus said, “Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s, and render unto Got that which is God’s.” That means that we are to obey the laws of the established government.

      While I am concerned about the salvation of those souls, that in no way excuses breaking the law. If you don’t like the law, get it changed. While it is the law, it needs to be enforced. If we had been enforcing the law all along there would not be 12 – 20 million illegal aliens here. Once a group is “established”, then efforts to enforce the law are seen as “mean”. Nonsense. Just like with the Bible, the law is the law.

      “In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person’s becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American…There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag… We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language.. And we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.” – Theodore Roosevelt, 1907

      Report Post » bruce_baker  
    • Holliston777
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 1:08pm

      These so called “religious Leaders” do not speak for me. There is a reason for the rule of law, to create order and justice. The people who came here and our leaders have ignored them. I am not supporting the building of ‘Babylon”. The religious leaders especially the Catholic leadership need these peoples to gain power and fill there couffers. These subversive, emotional, rhetorical excuses have no effect on me. Yes, I know you would say it is a hardness of heart. I call it conviction, logical, truth, and even Christian. Be careful that the head does not become the tail.

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    • stm62
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 1:37pm

      Didn’t Jesus say something like Render unto Caesar what is Caesars? I take that to mean obey the law.

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    • gregreck
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 1:57pm

      Philemon… Paul wrote to him asking him to forgive the runaway slave who had stolen from him. Not only was Philemon to welcome the slave back personally, but the church was to welcome him as a new and useful addition to its fellowship.
      The hatred spewing forth from these posts is astounding. It sure is convenient to call them “illegals” so we don’t have to call them people. If we call them illegal then we can treat them as animals, who cares if they live or die. No wonder America is in such bad shape.
      I feel sad for people who live with such hate.
      A man known as Morris Dees fought against the Ku Klux Klan. You want analogies, Morris Dees is against this law and fighting hard for justice. If I take your analogies (being for an illegal is like being for rape and murder, astounding) being for this law is being for the Ku Klux Klan. Like one poster said, you can’t have it both ways.

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    • TH30PH1LUS
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 2:03pm

      STM62: Yes, Christ did say that. And his apostle Paul wrote: “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.”

      You will find it in his letter to the Romans. Whatever these churches are – or whoever these pastors are that advocate illegal immigration – they are disobedient and in rebellion against the clear Word of God.

      Report Post » TH30PH1LUS  
    • TH30PH1LUS
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 2:11pm

      Faith stands firmly in FAVOR of obeying the law. American law dictates a legal way for a person to become an American citizen. My grandparents did it. I know people who have done it. It can be done.

      DEPORT the illegal aliens. NO ONE (who is a sane and stable person) is advocating “treating people like animals”. Just deport them. Send them back. A crime is a crime.

      Here in California we have closed DOZENS and dozens of hospitals due to unpaid expenses from illegal aliens. Unchecked and un-enforced immigration law is ruining this country.

      Deport the criminals or issue an apology and a refund to EVERY legal immigrant. The law is the law.

      Report Post » TH30PH1LUS  
    • navypop
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 7:46pm

      would Jesus come into this country illegally ?

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    • SerikFox
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 11:01pm

      And I suppose you know with absolute certainty what Jesus would have done. You sound like a pharisee. I do agree with you on one point – we shouldn‘t take their children because they can’t speak English. But they shouldn’t be here in the first place. It might sound heartless – but in order to make sure we are safe as a nation we have to defend our borders and send them *and* their children back with them.. I am all for reducing restrictions to allow for legal immigration. If they want to come and be a part of America they need to do so legally – we cannot keep a promise to protect our citizens and simultaneously allow our borders to be open to all. That invites both good and bad. To live in America you must respect the law, even if you don’t agree with it. If you don’t then you can expect the government to go after you – it’s the purpose of the governments existence to create and uphold the law.

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    • PooRBuckToe
      Posted on November 16, 2011 at 2:22am

      The child will not be taken away because the mother because she cant speak english. The mother is here illegally and she either had the child here as anchor baby so she could stay and collect welfare to send home or she brought the child here illegally to get free education and welfare benefits at cost to the taxpayer.

      a mother wouldn’t be arrested for shopping at Walmart . She would be arrested for being in the U.S. illegally. Also most hispanics that come here illegally are utilizing some sort of assistance they do not have legal right to use.

      Your post is a complete misrepresentation of the truth and purposely misleading i.e. lying.

      If you say your a believer in Jesus Christ you have dishonored Him today with your lies.

      Jesus is The Way THE TRUTH and The Life.
      You should get off your self righteous high horse and get on your knees and repent.

      You advocate for theses illegal immigrants to continually come here and steal money from hard working honest Americans by letting them have free benefits that they haven’t paid for and will not pay for. You advocate thievery.

      Maybe you are a ravenous wolf in sheeps clothing.

      Report Post » PooRBuckToe  
    • Obama Been Lauding
      Posted on November 16, 2011 at 6:28am

      Please, examine the facts, as to why “Illegal Immigration” should be stopped!!!!
      You mentioned Jesus, and that he wouldn’t be against it. Why did Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, go to the census takers at the time, about 2000 years ago? You know, when Jesus went to the temple to preach!!!! It was because it was “The Law of the land”.
      I believe every low income person, poor, needy, etc. needs to protest these “Illegals”, because the “Illegals” are receiving benefits, that should be for “Taxpayers” only.
      Within the last 6 months, I read an article about how much was paid out for “Illegals”, from social programs, in the previous year, from Los Angeles County alone. Over $600 Million dollars, in one year. And this did not take into consideration Education. This is from the “U.S. Taxpayers”,
      Count up Education, Medical, Social Programs, Deportation Costs (Lawyers, Judges, Court Costs), across the U.S., and I am sure it would be in the hundreds of Billions, each year.
      “Occupy Illegals” for a while, to let them know, that “We The People” will not stand for this, and we will take care of “Legal U.S. Citizens”, and not let criminals(Illegals), take what is rightfully for our own.
      Send these “Illegals” back to their home country, on their dime.
      Confiscate all of their assets, and “Pool” the moneys’.
      Obama was all for “Redistribution of Wealth”, so let the “Illegals” wealth be Redistributed, and use it to send them back, “On Their Dime”, no
      Stand up pe

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    • LIBERTARIAN T38
      Posted on November 17, 2011 at 10:10am

      Watching people such as Nancy Pelosi and Gregreck speak ‘in the name of Jesus” is sickening. Yes, racism is alive and well among liberals who are using illegal immigrants as political pawns. Liberals who want open borders for one group, illegal hispanics, are racist. I agree. Liberals think all non-whites should get special rights because they are too stupid to make it on their own. Liberalism is racism. Letting only hispanics come and go across the border is racism. This whole argument is hilarious…

      Report Post » LIBERTARIAN T38  
    • gregreck
      Posted on November 17, 2011 at 11:47am

      Every single one of you have missed the point. Unbelievable. Actually I an anti-Liberal and extremely pro Conservative. The point is these are still people. All of you think you are so superior because you were born in America. Thank God you chose where you were born. Oh wait, you had nothing to do with that did you? Jesus actually sat and ate with the “criminals” but scolded the hypocritical Pharisees that preached in the name of His Holy Father but did not look after his fellow man. Which one are you? Your words have already made that abundantly clear. Never were the words “Repent for your time is near” so applicable. Love your neighbour as yourself, ever heard of that one? Seriously, justifying hate because of a border. My Jesus has no tolerance for hatred. Examine your hearts, I dare you to spend one hour in the Word and ask Him what message He has for you. Moral courage is needed here, do you really want to spend another day living in hate. Sad, so sad.

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    • TH30PH1LUS
      Posted on November 17, 2011 at 4:38pm

      @ gregreck:

      where did Jesus EVER advocate lawlessness? Having compassion does NOT = lawlessness!

      But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? Luke 6:46

      The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness. Matthew 13:41

      Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 2 Corinthians 6:14

      Report Post » TH30PH1LUS  
  • Drakkhanlord
    Posted on November 15, 2011 at 10:27am

    Hmmm , let me see…Mr Pope man is for a one world govt and 1 world bank …US politicians do everything they can to help illegals , the Resident in chief calls the US citizens the “ENEMIES” , It goes on trips to encourage the illegal entry into the US …

    Solution…stop all funding to the US govt , Hang all involved as windchimes…
    (pay no taxes , no fines , no fees )
    Elect Americans that follow the Constitution , Keep Govt very small and very controlled by the Citizens.
    btw , there is no such animal as a Hyphenated American…Take you PC bs and shove it …

    btw2…
    To the sick SOBS who have been covering us with chemtrails and Haarp , to the makers of the poisons used in forced injections into our children and ourselves …
    Your days are numbered , we are gathering names ,addresses and contacts…your justice will be swift and most painful…
    btw 3…If people knew a tenth of the sick , twisted sheet this govt does to it’s own citizens…all would shoot politicians on Sight…

    Live Free …

    Report Post » Drakkhanlord  
  • Verum Ad Potentia
    Posted on November 15, 2011 at 10:27am

    “It is a repeat of the chapter lived by African-Americans…” Well, except for the American part, & the slavery part, and the Jim Crow part, yeah, sure, it’s exactly the same.

    Report Post » Verum Ad Potentia  
  • elosogrande
    Posted on November 15, 2011 at 10:24am

    Come on Barack, it’s not an exact repeat of the chapter on African-American. Mexican immigrants come into this country illegally because they want to work and earn a living. The Democratr Party has taken that desire to work away from American minorities, by giving them a phony education that has no value, rather than preparing them to join the workforce and do something productive.

    Minorities should wake up. The Democrat Party is destroying you, by giving you two or three hours of classes in social b.s. evfery day, instead of teaching you how to read, write, and make your own way.

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  • blazer809
    Posted on November 15, 2011 at 10:21am

    hey church leaders…….let’s pull the money for these illegals from your offering plates. Now that’s an idea worth spreading. So NO to FAKE preachers!

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  • sbmmomma
    Posted on November 15, 2011 at 10:11am

    This is an enforcement of a long neglected Federal Law. Hey, doesn’t this make these politically active churches taxable…or is that only if they are against liberalism? Already we have seen very few students leave but with much more federal and DOJ demands on why, where and other interferance. If the feds had inforce their law at any time in the last 20 yr, this would be a different or mute arguement now.

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  • JackDamaris
    Posted on November 15, 2011 at 10:01am

    Most evangelicals support the laws such as Alabama’s to keep out and deport illegal immigrants. The idea that biblical believing Christians would support allowing illegals to remain goes against the very foundations our our faith. We do want to be able to help and have compassion for all people, but thay must be willing to obey the laws of this land for our support.

    Report Post » JackDamaris  
    • your sensei
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 10:07am

      Yes! Unconditional Christian love . . . with a few conditions.

      Report Post » your sensei  
    • bruce_baker
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 12:24pm

      “In God We Trust”. All others pay cash. All others obey the law. All others who want to immigrate, do it legally. Millions have; why didn’t you? It’s not our fault you chose to disobey the law and are now paying the consequences.

      If you’d have had a chance to rescue Hitler from the bunker, and save him from suicide or certain Russian capture, would you have done it? No. Why? Because even though he was “technically” a child of God, he proved by his actions that he was deserving of punishment. Don‘t do the crime if you’re unwilling to do the time. Actions have consequences, even in America. The fact that innocent children are involved just makes the crimes of the parents more reprehensible. It does not excuse them at all.

      Report Post » bruce_baker  
    • esv
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 3:19pm

      @YOUR SENSEI … I’m a Christian and really do love and want to help all the people I can. Let‘s say tonight I’m sleeping and someone breaks into my house. Do I forfeit my love for them by calling the police and having them arrested? Does love mean that you allow people to walk all over you and obey only the rules they want to obey?

      The fact is, they are doing something illegal. We are either a nation that obeys the laws or one that doesn’t. And if we are one that doesn‘t we can’t pick which laws to follow and which to ignore.

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  • Rajabear1
    Posted on November 15, 2011 at 9:30am

    Does he loose his tax exempt status? Or because it sides with administration, he’s alllll goooooood? That’s what I thought.

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    • ashestoashes
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 9:45am

      Can these so called “churches” fully support all the illegals? Can they support 338.3 billion in the costs that we are now spending on them? Or are they just looking to get that money out of the illegals.?

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    • your sensei
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 10:08am

      rajabear . . . Maybe you should ask Pat Robertson. He’ll give you the straight skinny

      Report Post » your sensei  
    • robert
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 10:11am

      Jobs are scarce and will be harder to come by as we go into 2012, and the decline and stagnation will continue.

      This country needs the creation of about 150,000 new jobs every month to keep up with population growth. That doesn’t included legal and illegal immigrants, nor does it include refugees.

      The people hurt most by immigrants are mostly blacks, because it is low tier jobs that are mostly taken up by both legal and illegal entries into this country. For some reason the black leadership doesn’t understand that, or they are so anxious to water down the white percentage of the population they’re willing to allow black unemployment to increase.

      Whatever the case, financially, blacks are being set back to levels common decades ago, and their economic power is rapidly dwindling to lows of yesteryear. In short blacks are being hurt more than any other segment of the population by illegal and legal immigration, and that will continue to increase.

      Too, it has to be recognized, as Pat Buchanan and hundredds of others are warning about, the present situation is unsustainable.

      The result will be riots and complete and utter chaos. I find it ironic that politicians on both the left and right don’t seem to mind….or at the least they’re too dense to see an obvious crucial problem that is going to have devastating consequences.

      This country has always waited until disaster occurs to try to find solutions.

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    • sWampy
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 1:54pm

      Robert, the black leaders just don’t care, they are liberals, liberals will eat their own kids if they think it will bring them a little more power.

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  • Timothy_Reid
    Posted on November 15, 2011 at 9:20am

    I’m sick of the comparison to what happened to black people once upon a time. That’s a flat out lie. Black people at the time of the issues they faced were LEGAL AMERICAN CITIZENS facing discrimination and inequality. This is about people who are here ILLEGALLY. People keep wanting to compare this and call it racism, but it is not. If it were Canadians the same should be done. But they like their country for the most part so they are contented to follow the rules.

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  • KICKILLEGALSOUT
    Posted on November 15, 2011 at 9:09am

    If you ever find out your church is supporting illegal immigration leave IMMEDIATELY and find a church that stands for the law and justice and what is right in the community.

    Report Post » KICKILLEGALSOUT  
  • KICKILLEGALSOUT
    Posted on November 15, 2011 at 9:03am

    So let me get this straight. Christians are supposed to support and aid those who are criminals and are breaking laws? That is what Jesus wants us to do? Break the law. So I guess since illegal foreign criminal invaders coming to America don‘t need to follow our immigration laws then Americans don’t either? So next time to get pulled over and asked for your drivers license you tell them that it is a civil rights violation, next time you leave the country and the airport ask you for your passport you tell them they are racist and it is a civil rights violation, how dare they ask for your passport. I guess what they are saying is that if it is ok for foreigners to break the law then American citizens can do the same? Oh yes, and because we are Christians we aren’t supposed to worry about our taxes getting raised to provide free public services to millions of anchor babies. They don’t need to because Christians are supposed to be forced by the government to pay for them and for them to have as many children as they want. These are dangerous days when groups of churches are standing together to say Christians are to break the law and support those who break the law. God is going to judge these false teachers severely.

    Report Post » KICKILLEGALSOUT  
  • mwhaley
    Posted on November 15, 2011 at 8:38am

    Everyone paid a price to get into this country. We had the early settlers that tamed the wilderness, indentured servants that died working so their children could be free, and those forced into slavery that died slaves with no hope or promise of ever being free. Having a person illegally enter America, draped in their own flag and never intending to ever melt into the American culture, this infuriates me.

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    • Locked
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 8:47am

      I paid no price, personally. I was born here; as were my ancestors, back to the Mayflower on my father’s side, and back to the 1800s on my mother’s. The “we all paid a price, or our forefathers did” is a ridiculous argument, akin to African-Americans saying “we deserve affirmative action because 150 years ago my family members were slaves.”

      In my opinion it’s what you do NOW that matters. Fix immigration: make it easier for people to get citizenship or to immigrate annually (as now it’s capped due to NAFTA). Keep out known criminals, but improve the process for those who want to apply legally. For those here illegally and caught, check their background and deport them if they have any other crimes, or give them the chance to apply for citizenship/work visas or pay fines and be deported. Tax them once they’re citizens. And shut down the companies using illegal workers; cracking down on the people hiring would have much larger effect than those seeking jobs.

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    • Fantastic Four
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 10:08am

      @ Locked most of what you write is already on the books but illegals are being used for political purposes and that’s why the law is not being followed. My Grandparents came here legally in the 60‘s and always talked about coming to America to be free and be part of America and it’s way of life. My Grandfather was the first to come here and worked with the Government to apply for his whole family. He worked till he could afford for his oldest to come and so on and son till finally my Grandmother came over too to be a family in America. My Grandparents happily melted into society and celebrated all of America’s traditions. As a child we often went back to Mexico to visit family and share the family history and friends that I made are still my friends to this day. My feelings and they are from expierence from those that come here illegally don’t really appreciate what America is and what it really offers. Oh and they sure get lessons on how to game the system and that I HATE.

      Report Post » Fantastic Four  
    • your sensei
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 10:11am

      Locked . . . It’s so refreshing to hear someone admit that their lineage back to the Mayflower is meaningless and irrelevant. It’s so sickening to hear people brag about their early American ancestry as if it bestows upon them some special honor. They have nothing whatsoever to do with that time in our past, and it has zero impact on their character or contributions today. Thank you for putting your ancestors in their place – the grave.

      Report Post » your sensei  
    • 4truth2all
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 11:04am

      Yo Fantastic:
      You appreciate it because of the way (the right way) your family did it .Good for you and yours.

      Simple fix to the problem… close the borders, enforce the law…make it easier if need be.
      Had this been done there would be no bull ___ to shovel.
      Evil likes chaos….

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    • Your Sensie
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 12:47pm

      My ancestry also goes back to the Mayflower, they were rats aboard the ship that stowed away and ate the provisions that were provided for the crew. Once in the new world they quickly spread like a disease.

      Report Post » Your Sensie  
  • cece959
    Posted on November 15, 2011 at 8:22am

    It is not like the African American experience. Africans were brought here on slave ships, kept here against their will and they lived on plantations. Back then, they did not feed off the government teat. Illegal immigrants of today cross our borders willingly, stay here of their own accord, and take advantage of whatever assistance our government gives them. No, no pastor…this is definitely NOT like the African American experience.

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    • mwhaley
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 8:50am

      If Illegals were thought of as a republican voting block the boarders would be impossible to penetrate. For a black judge comparing illegals to the fight of Americans trying to obtain the same rights as other Americans is not right. Anyone with an open mind can see through this as purely political.

      Report Post »  
    • HAPPYRWE
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 10:28am

      Yes African Americans paid the price to live here, and I am glad they were brought here, even through many sorrows, the black man can be free here in America, and here he is American with all others who came here for freedom.

      It is the politicians and special interest groups that have destroyed America and what she stand for…Freedom under God. God gives us true freedom, Satan forces and destroys, building up a false sense of freedom.

      I want good people of every nation here to live under the Constitution and to fight for it as well! That being said we still have laws to protect and guide and if those laws are not founded upon the will of God we will all suffer.

      Those who don‘t understand God don’t understand that His freedom is true freedom, we are allowed to try and fail and make mistakes to learn and grow but consequences are also a part of the equation. Our obligation here in America is to live according to Constitution under God with Liberty for all. Our obligation is to change congress, change the anti-American laws and to transform ourselves back into a Nation under God with Malice towards none and Liberty for all.

      God, Family, Country. If we put truly put God first all else will fall into place…………..

      Report Post » HAPPYRWE  
  • HumbleMan
    Posted on November 15, 2011 at 8:00am

    How did this man become a judge when it’s clear he lacks critical thinking. Everything I hear about this law is coming from “emotion” not reason.

    The law (which reflects the federal law) is about forcing out ILLEGALS. What part of the word illegal do these people not understand?

    Report Post » HumbleMan  
  • Amos37
    Posted on November 15, 2011 at 7:45am

    Didn’t Jesus teach us that they would try to go over or under the gate?

    Report Post »  
    • KICKILLEGALSOUT
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 9:13am

      Haha, nice pun.

      John 10:1
      Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

      Report Post » KICKILLEGALSOUT  
  • GeoffTN
    Posted on November 15, 2011 at 7:40am

    I find this thread interesting but somewhat disheartening. Commenting on immigration got me banned from Free Republic, but I’ll risk it again. This law went into effect because the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT has failed to do its job in regulating the influx of illegals – no fence, declined Border Patrols, non-enforcement of the federal laws. That said, it is still right and good to assist the less fortunate; escaping the present militarized drug wars and hopelessness of Mexico should not result in more abuse here. YES, I KNOW – they are here illegally. YES I KNOW we cannot afford the cradle to grave care now being offered to them by our leaders. YES I KNOW this is something the states cannot afford, either. All of that does not change the reality that they are here, and are feeling the same way that the blacks have – downtrodden and persecuted in the land of the American dream. The Republicans need to be very, VERY aware that this is not a winnable battle. Most of these people are not criminal other than crossing the river to escape the wretchedness of their lives in central and south America. End socialism and vastly restrict government entitlements. Samuel Rodriguez is a conservatively-minded man whose real problem with the Alabama law is that it removes our humanity toward`the poor. YES I KNOW, they are here illegally…

    Report Post »  
    • trench99
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 8:13am

      “most are not criminals…” you seem sincere so I will appreciate your postion as one who is ill informed. Unfortunately besides the crossing into the country illegally, most ARE criminal by our standard of law. Fraud, identity theft, rape, violence, smuggling, and child endangerment to name just a few common issues. If these churches wanted to address the “human aspect” then they would work towards cleaning up latin america NOT trying to turn the USA into mexico. These illegals do not want nor attempt to become American. Their culture is fine with men raping young girls. There IS such a program as “migrant worker visas” in fact many migrant workers have a regular agenda & work in various locations depending on the season & the crops, they do very well for themselves, and they are here working legally. The majority of illegals come here to make money they send back to home country, they help put American in farming, & construction out of work, they pay to have their families smuggled over, who then raid our school & welfare systems. Americans need to take our country back. This is a non violent occupation by a foriegn force.

      Report Post »  
    • JackDamaris
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 10:09am

      It does not remove our humanity. No country can absorb such an influx of people unwilling to adopt the culture of this nation. Our infrastructure is collapsing because of them. Many more will suffer because of this. That is why limits have to be enforced so we can absorb them in reasonable numbers. Remember, charity is not supposed to be a government function. We can help noone if our resources are destoyed by this unchecked influx of people.

      Report Post » JackDamaris  
    • bum
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 10:57am

      Trench – They hopped our borders ILLEGALLY and live HERE ILLEGALLY. I‘m sure there’s a lot of nice people but they are ALL criminals.

      Report Post » bum  
  • TulsaYeeHaw
    Posted on November 15, 2011 at 7:23am

    And excuse you Rodriguez, head of the HISPANIC (notice THEY insert race) Evangelicals, YOU AREN’T SLAVES AND NOBODY IS CHASING YOU IF YOU LEAVE.
    It isn’t the same.
    You are LYING.
    You are a disgusting excuse for an ambassador of Christ on earth.

    Report Post »  
  • TEARS FOR AMERICA
    Posted on November 15, 2011 at 7:11am

    If we are not a nation of laws there will be anarchy- this is not about the color of your skin. It is about coming into America the right way, like our forefathers did. This is not new racism…it is reality.

    Report Post » TEARS FOR AMERICA  
    • decendentof56
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 7:45am

      Tears……
      Thank You!

      Report Post »  
    • decendentof56
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 9:16am

      Tears…..
      Happened back here and re-read your post. You seem to have read our founding papers.
      Yes, we are a “nation of laws, not men.”
      However, you probably realize, like me, that those above words no longer apply in a nation of later-day immigrants who are not required to understand our founding. As well, when you allow too many to come here at one time, along with no requirement to understand our Constitutional Republic, you have created a toxic mix that is sure to take us to civil war.
      My quess is, that unless we have a miraculous awakening with regards to the consequences of allowing our country to be fragmented into separate ethnic enclaves, each with their own agendas, that we are headed for that civil war I mentioned above.

      Report Post »  
  • Windwalker
    Posted on November 15, 2011 at 7:01am

    As stated before, illegal is illegal. Just so happens that the majority of the illegals in this country are Hispanic, but there are a host of middle east aliens, Asians, Russians, and plenty of others who are illegal and are remaining in this country with expired visas, etc. The idea that anyone should be issued a drivers license when they cannot read English is prepostorous, and yet DMV offices in more than a few states offer the drivers test in Spanish. Further, years ago in this country, parents had to provide a birth certificate when registering a child for public education and no one considered it a ‘discriminatory’. practice. Insinuating Alabama schools are out of line asking for birth certificates is nothing new….it used to be the norm. The piper of political correctness has created monsterous consequences in this country, and we are going to be paying him for a long, long time.

    Report Post »  
    • smackdown33
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 7:11am

      Divide and conquer is the oldest strategy in history. It is used on every level: gays, feminists, blacks, Hispanics, SPLC, ADL, NAACP, ACLU… . It is a weapon that allows a minority to control the majority.

      Report Post »  
    • decendentof56
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 7:35am

      Walker………
      The words justice and illegal mean nothing to this justice department under Eric Holder and Obama. They both have a racial agenda. There’s a “score” to be settled….. an “injustice” to be righted. If you read of the “civil rights” division of the DOJ, and its equally guilty ‘voter section’ unit, you will see how our elections are becoming a farce, similar to those in a third-world country.

      Do a search on Ike Brown, for example. He spear-headed the drive for illegal voting (in favor of Black candidates, of course) and either intimidated or outright squelched White voters/votes in Noxubee County, Miss. He still operates, albeit a little less openly, to this day. He has a racist agenda….a score to settle. The DOJ “civil rights’ division, along with its counterpart ‘voters section’, is filled with radical Black activists with backgrounds in left-wing groups, if not outright hate groups.

      “Injustice”… by J. Christian Adams, a former 5-year DOJ employee who worked on the New Black Panther case, has written a book that well describes the blatant,revenge-driven racism in the Holder DOJ. Warming: It will make the hair on your arms stand straight out.

      Report Post »  
  • grady52
    Posted on November 15, 2011 at 6:57am

    When you see aclu just think of it as trash.

    Report Post »  
  • decendentof56
    Posted on November 15, 2011 at 6:53am

    Our Fed Gov is complicit in changing this nation……forever. I fear what lies ahead, especially, for my grand-children.
    Yes, there was discrimmination towards Blacks at one time, and it was wrong. Now, we see Black radicals with an entirely different agenda of retribution and a vile hatred of their own do the same to Whites. Should I mention that this retribution is backed by the Justice Dept. by one of those radicals, Eric Holder and, as well, the President himself?
    So, discrimmination to satisfy a lust for revenge is now ok.

    Now, we have illegal Mexicans, some hard workers, for sure, and some militant, with no intention of becoming Americans with allegiance to our flag.

    Taxpaying, flag honoring Americans who came here from Europe, who assimilated to ‘our’ culture, are being forced to pay medical, housing, and educational costs for those illegals, all in the name of “multiculturalism.”

    Multiculturalism for America will mean ethnic enclaves, hostile towards each other and with no common bond. You already see it. Look at the towns in the southwest that place the Mexican flag above the American flag. La Raza and other groups openly say the southwest belong to Mexico, yet our gov. does nothing, all for the sake of a one-world vision.

    We, of course, must continue to fight, for it is a fight worth waging. It is, after all, for your gr-kids freedom.

    Report Post »  
    • smackdown33
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 6:57am

      These are the barbarians who took down Rome. History never changes.

      Report Post »  
    • TulsaYeeHaw
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 7:20am

      Yes, and the barbarians who took down Rome moved there to do cheap labor, refused to become Roman, developed a serious sense of entitlement to Roman wealth, then when the Romans figured out it was a problem tried to evict them. The barbarian tribes, feeling screwed out of the pay they were promised (they had a point) as well as starving and freezing went on the offensive. They united all over the empire and tore it apart. They were already inside the country.

      Report Post »  
    • techengineer11
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 11:18am

      decendentof56: you sir are correct.. It has alll been well planned in advance while our Greatest Generation was basking in the glory of the outcome of WW2 another needless War by the way.. Indeed our Nation has been subverted from within just like so many before us yet we‘re searching for scapegoats now and we don’t understand what has gone awry.. We have Dr. Beck telling us that is was Woodrow and his progressive hoards while others are naming all sorts of nefarious groups but interestingly enough there‘s one group from the list of culprits that’s always missing??? Yet they’ve been invovled in such efforts so many times before.. Just read what our Hero Churchill said about the Russian Revolution in his 1920 article…

      We just don’t understand though do we? We’re all confused. What happened? The Progressives, the democrats the liberals the Masons the bilderbergs the CFR skull and bones Bohemian Grove etc etc… lol Yet like I say one group is always missing?? lol

      Report Post » techengineer11  
    • decendentof56
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 3:23pm

      TECH11…..”We just don’t understand though do we? We’re all confused. What happened? The Progressives, the democrats the liberals the Masons the bilderbergs the CFR skull and bones Bohemian Grove etc etc… lol Yet like I say one group is always missing??” lol

      Well, Tech, I have to say I certainly do not understand everything which happened before. I DO think Beck has convincingly (for me) able to piece together the various groups who have collaborated at various levels since Wilson. I haven’t read much about Wilson, so I‘ll have to take Beck’s word on that one. I only have so much time.
      I try to stay focused on policies from The Great Society till the present, since thats what I’m most familiar with.
      I mentioned the current DOJ, for instance. There is little doubt of the loading of leftists, some very radical, into especially the DOJ’s civil-rights (and really, the voter sections) ranks. So….those are the current things I look at.
      I’ll have to say…..I find your statement that “one group is always missing” confusing. Who knows all the groups which could be missing?
      My guesses are, in no particular order:
      Multi-National corps
      Communists
      Islamists/other religious groups
      Other than Islamists, the first two could be included with the ones you mentioned above.

      Report Post »  
  • searching for the Truth
    Posted on November 15, 2011 at 6:43am

    Yes, Immigrants pay a heck of a lot of tithes.

    Report Post »  
  • smackdown33
    Posted on November 15, 2011 at 6:28am

    Illegals are illegal. If some can ignore the laws of the land, then all can ignore the laws of the land. Certainly, if illegal non-civilians can ignore the law, then surely legal civilians can do the same.

    Law enforcement officers have an obligation to enforce the law. When they do not, they have abrogated their responsibility and others must pick up where they have failed. Vigilantism is the only other alternative, which is why we had law enforcement officers. The choice is ours.

    Report Post »  
  • momsense
    Posted on November 15, 2011 at 6:24am

    What are these people coming in here bringing to the table of this country?Iit’s all well and good if they come, but do it legally. We can’t afford to be the gravy train any more. Obozo can’t set policies that destroy businesses and then invite the freeloaders in to pick our bones in order to keep his sorry a@@ in power.

    Report Post »  
  • BurntHills
    Posted on November 15, 2011 at 6:20am

    how many times lately have we seen the Catholics and Methodists [DEMOCRATS] are as anti-semitic as it gets, and COMMUNIST. them wanting to flood America with illegal immigrants and the diseases and crime they bring is all part of obama’s grand plan to ghetto America into a 3rd World.

    Report Post » BurntHills  
    • smackdown33
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 6:38am

      Anti-Semites? I don’t think so: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2010/11/03/2741566/the-chosen-jewish-members-in-the-112th-us-congress

      The communists/progressives are Jewish.

      Report Post »  
    • techengineer11
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 9:51am

      lol! Smackdown33 is obviously correct. I suggest that you go back and study the 1964 Immigration Law my friend in order to see who was initially behind the big push to flood America with Immigrants which continues to this day! We”ve been had!

      Report Post » techengineer11  
    • HAPPYRWE
      Posted on November 15, 2011 at 10:38am

      Yes just because someone is Jewish does not mean they follow God. Many Jews…possibly Maher, Stewart, etc..left their faith and are serving another. Progressives have pitted Jew against Jew, black against black, white against black etc etc. It’s all divide and conquer……..sigh

      This is why judge on their heart not the color of their skin……..So glad Beck is flooding America with her real history! Can’t wait till the Marxists Leftists are put on the stand to defend their lies against the all powerful truth………………

      Report Post » HAPPYRWE  
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