Arizona Pastor’s Worry: Criminalization of Ministry Work

A Phoenix-based youth pastor is worried that his ministry could face legal troubles under Arizona’s new immigration law.

“We don’t ask people for their documents to come hear about Jesus,” said Ian Danley, youth pastor at Neighborhood Ministries, during a conference call with immigration reform advocates Wednesday afternoon.

The evangelical pastor said regular ministry work, such as driving teens to worship events, could be “criminalized” under the new Arizona law if a church worker knowingly transports youths who are illegally residing in the United States.

“The local community here feels under attack,” Danley said. “Recent high school graduates in my youth group are looking at what should be a bright future with little hope.”

Danley was among a group of Christian leaders, businessman, researcher, and policy experts that spoke during the Conservatives for Comprehensive Immigration Reform conference call. The leaders updated participants on how the Arizona immigration law has affected local residents and the national public opinion about comprehensive immigration reform, and how members of Congress feel about taking up the issue.

In April, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed SB1070 – an immigration bill seeking the toughest laws against illegal immigrants in the nation.

Under the legislation, immigrants in Arizona are required to carry their alien registration documents at all times or face possible arrest. State police are given the power to interrogate, arrest and charge people suspected of illegally entering the country. And people are prohibited from knowingly transporting illegal immigrants.

Christian groups and leaders across the political and theological spectrum have strongly denounced the new Arizona law.

Earlier in May, conservative evangelical leaders – including Southern Baptist leader Richard Land, National Association of Evangelicals president Leith Anderson, and Liberty Counsel founder Mat Staver – endorsed an ad published in “Roll Call” urging Congress to pass immigration reform.

Faith communities throughout the nation – soon after Arizona passed its new immigration law – held prayer vigils to call on Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform.

Presently, as many as 17 states are considering to pass Arizona-type immigration law.

“We sympathize with so many who are frustrated in Arizona. But the solution is not piecemeal enforcement that targets Latino,” said the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference. “We need a better solution to make us all safe.”

To Republican lawmakers, Rodriguez said true conservatism is not preserving the white majority but propagating the ideas of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

According to a recent national survey by Public Religion Research Institute, 56 percent of the American public oppose efforts to deport illegal immigrants back to their home countries. The survey also found that three-quarters of Americans agree that, given the opportunity, illegal immigrants would work hard to earn a chance at citizenship.

Courtesy of http://www.christianpost.com/article/20100526/ariz-youth-pastor-worries-work-could-be-criminalized/index.html

17 more states planning Arizona ‘illegal’ crackdown

By Bob Unruh
© 2010 WorldNetDaily

In what is developing into a standoff between states and the federal government that could be bigger than gun control or even health care, 17 states have launched versions of Arizona’s immigration law, even as federal officials say they may not bother to process illegal aliens caught by the states.

William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, which has been trying to get officials to address the open southern border for years, warned the consequences could be dire.

“Over the last couple days, Obama and the chief of ICE have refused to honor their oaths of office,” he said. “Their constitutional requirement is to enforce existing laws.

“They’ve told the American public to go eat cake,” he said.

His organization is assembling the list of state efforts to emulate the Arizona law, which makes it illegal under state as well as federal law to be in the state without documentation.

Seventeen states are now filing versions of Arizona’s SB 1070, which is designed to help local police enforce America’s existing immigration laws,” ALIPAC said in a report today.The report said numerous national and local polls indicate 60 to 81 percent of Americans support local police enforcing immigration laws.

“Our national network of activists have been working overtime trying to help the state of Arizona and the brave Arizonans who have passed this bill,” he said. “Arizona no longer stands alone and we have now documented state lawmakers filing, or announcing they will file, versions of the Arizona bill in seventeen states! We will not stop until all states are protected from invasion as required by the U.S. Constitution.”

Gheen said the states where some form of immigration crackdown is under development include Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas and Utah.

President Obama several times has said he doesn’t like the Arizona law. He’s called it misguided and ordered a review by the Justice Department.

John Morton, who heads the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, said his agency might not process illegal aliens caught under state jurisdiction, the Chicago Tribune reported.

He insisted that only the federal government should respond to the problem.

“I don’t think the Arizona law, or laws like it, are the solution,” Morton said.

One blogger expressed concern that “a senior Homeland Security official has openly declared that he won’t be doing his job.”

“Morton has sworn an oath to uphold the laws of the United States. He is not allowed to pick and choose which ones he likes and which he doesn’t.”

Gheen said the Arizona law and the plans it has spawned in other states is a victory for Americans. But he said those are just battles, and winning the war will require success in elections this fall.

A “comprehensive” solution to the problem will arrive when there are enough “hostile” members of Congress to tell the administration to uphold the existing immigration and border laws or the impeachments will start, he said.

“[We need to send] to Washington a hostile Congress that is going to encircle the executive branch and tell them to [follow the law] or we’ll impeach all the way down to the speaker of the House,” he said.

Gheen said he is alarmed over the pending release, expected sometime just before the election, of a movie called “Machete,” which reportedly is the story of a Mexican uprising in the United States.

Gheen said the message in the movie reportedly is that Americans will either submit to the “rape” of their land or else.

He said he believes the project is intended to create turmoil just as the mid-term elections draw near.

“There is nothing as important right now as getting [people] fully involved with all the campaigns,” he said.

ALIPAC already has helped to pass some form of immigration enforcement legislation in more than 30 states. And Gheen has developed a national reputation for defeating socially progressive plans to hand out licenses, in-state tuition and other taxpayer benefits to illegal aliens.

“It is incumbent upon our states to protect American lives, property, jobs, wages, security, and health, when the executive branch fails to honor its constitutional responsibility to do so by enforcing our existing border and immigration laws,” he said.

The Arizona law, which strictly prohibits racial profiling, empowers local police to enforce immigration laws.

To monitor the growing number of states considering similar legislation, ALIPAC utilizes a public forum in which members can update the organization with news articles and other information from states where the push for an Arizona-like law is making headway.

In Arizona’s neighboring state Utah, for example, Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem, reportedly is drafting a bill that would similarly require immigrants to carry proof of status and require law enforcement officers to check for it.

“Utah is seen as state that welcomes illegal immigrants. We almost encourage it with driving privilege cards and in-state tuition for illegals,” Sandstrom told the Salt Lake Tribune. “With Arizona making the first step in this direction, Utah needs to pass a similar law or we will see a huge influx of illegals. The real issue is just establishing a rule of law in our state.”

Across the country in Maryland, Baltimore’s WBAL-TV reported earlier that State Delegate Patrick McDonough, R-Baltimore County, is drafting a bill identical to Arizona’s. He’s also planning to poll his fellow legislators before the bill is filed.

Courtesy of http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=156985

Arizona Religious Leaders Press for ‘Pathway to Citizenship,’ Say U.S. Has Moral Obligation to Stop Influx of Drugs

By Edwin Mora

 
Suspected illegal immigrants are detained by law enforcement officials in Phoenix after a drop house was raided Thursday, April 29, 2010. Police said there were nine illegal immigrants and three suspected human smugglers in this raid. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Washington (CNSNews.com) – The United States has a moral obligation to secure the Southwest border against the flow of drugs smuggled from Mexico, according to a delegation of faith leaders from Arizona who came to Washington to press for comprehensive immigration reform. 
 
But the leaders also agreed that securing the border is only one aspect of immigration reform. The United States must find “legal avenues” to deal with people coming into the country illegally as well as those illegal aliens who are already here, the delegation agreed.
 
According to the Justice Department’s National Drug Threat Assessment for 2010, one in five U.S. teenagers used drugs last year, many of which were smuggled into the U.S. from Mexico.
 
When CNSNews.com asked the religious leaders if United States has a “moral duty” to secure the U.S.-Mexico border against the influx of drugs, Bishop Gerald Kicanas from the Tucson Roman Catholic Diocese responded, “Absolutely.”
 
“Drug trade is a criminal act, and it is harming young people and harming our societies,” Kicanas said. “The violence among the drug trade is worrisome, and that is why, yes, there needs to be border security, but in it of itself, that is simply not going to solve the problems we face as a country. We need to find legal ways for that to happen.”
 
Bishop Kicanas said the U.S. also needs legal means for dealing with people who are here illegally. He suggested a “pathway towards citizenship,” which he said is not amnesty.
 
“Illegal immigration is not good for anyone,” Kicanas told CNSNews.com. “It’s not good for someone dying in the desert, trying to come into this country to work. It’s not good for country to not know who is entering the country. We need legal avenues, which would prevent the difficulties we currently face.”
 
Bishop Minerva Carcano from the Arizona Desert Southwest Conference of The United Methodist Church echoed Bishop Kicanas’ sentiment. She told CNSNews.com the U.S. has a “responsibility” to stop the flow of drugs from Mexico by securing the Southwest border.
 
However, she also said that dealing with the drug flow from Mexico “is one element that is part of this comprehensive immigration reform, but it is simply one element. There are so many other elements.”
 
Rabbi John Linder from Arizona’s Temple Solel said it is the federal government’s responsibility to secure the border, and he suggested that the U.S. provide a “pathway to citizenship” for immigrants already here and for those who are planning to come here.
 
“We need to look at the broader picture for those in this country and a pathway for the workers that are necessary to be able to legally come in this country and have a pathway to citizenship,” Rabbi Linder told CNSNews.com. 
 
Rev. Jan Flaaten, executive director of the Arizona Ecumenical Council, said that stemming the flow of drugs coming across the border from Mexico is not only a moral duty, but also a national security issue.
 
CNSNews.com asked Bishop Kicanas how the U.S. should go about securing the border—whether he preferred a virtual fence, a physical barrier, or a combination of the two.
 
“Criminal elements are very clever, they’re very determined, there is a lot of money involved, but if there could be some way to address the issue of allowing people to come into the country who want to work in a legal way, that would also provide border security,” Kicanas said. “Because in fact we would know who is our country and we would know who’s crossing the border and we would be eliminating the criminal element, which is always going to be operative, and then we could focus our border security not on people who are simply coming here to work, but who have real criminal intents.”
 
The Arizona religious leaders talked to CNSNews.com Thursday during a press briefing on Capitol Hill. They also made various stops on Capitol Hill (Sen. John McCain’s office) and elsewhere in Washington (the Justice Department and the Homeland Security Department), urging the enactment of immigration reform.
 
All of the religious leaders said they oppose Arizona’s new immigration law making it a state crime to be in the country illegally. The law also allows police to question a person if there is “reasonable suspicion” that the person is in the United States illegally. 
 
Faith in Public Life, which sponsored the religious leaders’ trip, has described the Arizona law as “an extreme measure that will likely lead to increased discrimination and racial profiling, and penalizes families and faith communities already living in fear.”   
 
Transcript:
 
CNSNews.com: According to the Justice Department, one out of five teenagers used illicit drugs last year, most of which came from Mexico, Do you think the U.S. has the moral duty to secure the border against the influx of these drugs?
 
Bishop Gerald Kicanas: Absolutely. Drug trade is a criminal act and it is harming young people and harming our societies. The violence among the drug trade is worrisome, and that is why, yes, there needs to be border security, but in and of itself, that is simply not going to solve the problems we face as a country.
 
We need workers, workers need work. We need to find legal ways for that to happen. Illegal immigration is not good for anyone. Is not good for someone dying in the desert trying to come into this country to work. It’s not good for country to not know who is entering the country. We need legal avenues, which would prevent the difficulties we currently face.
 
CNSNews.com: Do you share the sentiment of the gentleman who answered my question?
 
Bishop Minerva Carcano: Yes, we do have a responsibility. We have a responsibility to protect our young people and protect our citizens and certainly that is a concern. That is one element that is part of this comprehensive immigration reform, but it is simply one element. There are so many other elements.
 
Rabbi John Linder: Yes, I think it’s a responsibility of the federal government to secure the border. Certainly with drugs coming across the border – and I appreciate Sen. McCain’s focus on that and share the views of my clergy partners here that that’s not the only focus of a healthy immigration policy — that we need to look at the broader picture of those in this country and a pathway for the workers that are necessary to be able to legally come into this country and have a pathway to citizenship.
 
Rev. Jan Flaaten: I think it is a moral duty, but it’s actually a national security issue — a national security issue that really, I mean there is a criminal element that does come across, and we need to deal with that and we don’t, you know, we are as a religious community, we want to kind of help people, build people up and not tear them down with either drugs or violence.
 
CNSNews.com: How do you think the U.S. should go about securing the border? Do you favor physical barrier over a virtual, virtual fence or do you think a combination of both should be used?
 
Bishop Kicanas: Border security, I believe, has it limits on what it will be able to accomplish. Criminal elements are very clever, they’re very determined, there is a lot of money involved, but if there could be some way to address the issue of allowing people to come into the country who want to work in a legal way, that would also provide border security because in fact we would know who is our country and we would know who’s crossing the border and we would be eliminating the criminal element, which is always going to be operative and then we could focus our border security not on people who are simply coming here to work, but who have real criminal intents.

 Courtesy of http://cnsnews.com/news/article/65922

Arizona Gov. Signs Controversial Immigration Bill

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law on Friday a contentious immigration bill that has drawn heavy criticism from President Obama and a group of Christian leaders.

In addition to the bill, which imposes some of the nation’s toughest laws on illegal immigrants, Brewer also issued an executive order requiring more training to police officers on how to carry out the new laws without being guilty of racial profiling.

On Friday, prior to the bill’s signing, President Obama criticized the legislation as “misguided” and said it threatens to “undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans” and weakens the trust between police and their communities. Obama said he has directed members of his administration to monitor the bill closely to see what effects it might have on civil rights.

Under the legislation, immigrants in Arizona are required to carry their alien registration documents at all times. State police, meanwhile, are given the authority to interrogate, arrest and charge people suspected of illegally entering the country. Officers can arrest people who cannot prove their legal residency upon questioning – a change from the previous law, which allowed officers to check someone’s immigration status only if the person was suspected of another crime.

Other new laws include prohibiting people from blocking traffic for reasons related to day labor services and making it illegal for people to deliberately transport illegal immigrants.

Critics of the legislation say it amounts to racial profiling since police are not trained to know how to identify illegal immigrants.

Cardinal Roger Mahony of the Los Angeles archdiocese in his blog Sunday denounced the immigration legislation as “retrogressive, mean-spirited and useless.”

Mahony also said the bill would encourage “German Nazi and Russian Communist techniques.” Such a law, he said, would encourage people to “turn one another in to the authorities on any suspicion of documentation.”

“Are children supposed to call 911 because one parent does not have proper papers? Are family members and neighbors now supposed to spy on one another, create total distrust across neighborhoods and communities, and report people because of suspicions based upon appearance?” the cardinal wrote.

A group of 14 Arizona religious leaders, mostly pastors from mainline denominations, recently sent a letter to the Arizona governor urging her to veto the bill. They said the bill, among other problems, would make immigrants too scared to approach the police, even to report a crime.

Proponents of the immigration bill, however, say the new laws would help the state’s crime problem. Arizona state Sen. Russell Pearce, who sponsored the measure, defends his bill by pointing to the state’s crime rate and to the recent murder of local rancher. The rancher, who lived near the Mexico border, is suspected of being murdered by an illegal immigrant involved in drug trafficking.

“When do we stand up for Americans and America? Enough is enough,” Pearce told Fox News on Tuesday. “Arizona has become ground zero. We’re number two in the world in kidnapping … We’re not taking it anymore. We’re going to enforce our laws, with compassion.”

Courtesy of Christian Post at http://www.christianpost.com/article/20100423/ariz-gov-signs-controversial-immigration-bill/index.html