Evangelicals push 'workable' solution for illegals
by Charlie Butts
OneNewsNow
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=1009790
May 12, 2010
The National Association of Evangelicals and a group of evangelical leaders are endorsing immigration reform in an ad in a Washington, DC, newspaper.
The resolution that will appear in Thursday's Roll Call ad includes several references to scripture and calls for a path to citizenship for those who are in the country illegally but "who desire to embrace the responsibilities and privileges that accompany citizenship." Some critics of that approach have labeled it as "amnesty."
Evangelical leaders identified in the ad include Mat Staver, dean of the Liberty University School of Law and founder of Liberty Counsel. Staver says he does not support what would be considered "comprehensive immigration reform," such as in the Bush administration, but believes there needs to be a workable system to address the situation. OneNewsNow asked Staver about people who support the rule of law and believe that those who are in the country illegally should not be rewarded for breaking the law.
"We cannot condone lawbreaking," he says flatly. "On the other hand, we have to deal with these 12-million or so illegals who are living in the shadows. To some extent, our flawed immigration policy has created that process." But at the same time, Staver believes immigration policies ought to require such individuals to pay a price to become citizens.
"[They ought] to pay penalties and fines for their lawbreaking, to not get put to the front of the line, to not get special treatment, but to go to the back of the line and go through the process legally and then go through an assimilation process," the attorney suggests. And those who choose not to go that route, adds Staver, ought to be deported.
At the same time, the Liberty Counsel founder believes the federal government must protect its borders for the sake of national security, as well as to reduce the flow of illegal immigrants into the U.S. He also stresses that immigration is a problem the federal government should deal with -- not the state.